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The Institute was originally founded in 1914 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in Berlin-Buch, which in turn had been preceded by the Neurological Central Station established in 1898 by Oskar Vogt. In 1948 the Institute was incorporated by the Max Planck Society. Research at the Institute addresses the principles of the organization of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) at many different levels of analysis, ranging from molecular to behavioral studies. Anatomical, biochemical and physiological methods are applied to identify general principles of organization which are shared by the brains of animals and humans.
The different research departments of the Institute can be seen in a hierarchy of rising complexity. (1) The Neurochemical Department: is engaged in basic questions of neuronal connectivity and examines the molecular processes on individual synapses. (2) In the Neuroanatomical Department: a simple network of neurons (the retina) is explored in order to understand its structure, function and complexity. (3) Finally, the Neurophysiological Department: is concerned with the question of how a highly complex structure like the cerebral cortex is organized and accomplishes cognitive functions.
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