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The Neurosciences Institute (NSI) was a small, nonprofit scientific research organization that investigated basic issues in neuroscience.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.nsi.edu )〕 Active mainly between 1981 and 2012, NSI sponsored theoretical, computational, and experimental work on consciousness, brain-inspired robotics, learning and memory, sensory processing, and motor control. NSI was founded by Nobel Laureate Gerald M. Edelman in 1981 in New York City. It remained an active research center until shortly before his death in 2014.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/science/gerald-m-edelman-nobel-laureate-and-neural-darwinist-dies-at-84.html )〕 In 1993 NSI moved to San Diego, California—first into temporary quarters and then, in 1995, into a newly constructed complex on the campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). Designed by the firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, the three-building complex received much acclaim for its Modernist style〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/neurosciences )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.twbta.com/index.php?p=wc&flashid=1744 )〕 and especially for an auditorium〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2012/20120801auditorium.html )〕 that became a favored venue for music and performing arts in the area. In October 2012, plagued by financial problems and as part of a sharp contraction in its research efforts, NSI moved into leased space in an office building in the village of La Jolla, several miles from its old location.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/08/neuroscience-institute-to-move-from-architectural-icon-into-office-space.html )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.lajollalight.com/2012/08/23/neurosciences-institute-will-relocate-operations-to-the-village/ )〕 Its former home, including the auditorium, formally became part of TSRI. The Institute's size varied considerably over the years of its existence.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.nsi.edu/index.php?page=scientific_report )〕 At its peak, it included three dozen Ph.D.-level research scientists (called "Fellows") and a comparable research support staff. Following the 2012 contraction, fewer than half a dozen Ph.D.-level research scientists remained.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.nsi.edu/index.php?page=scientific_staff_2 )〕 This number dwindled in the year preceding Edelman's death. == History == NSI was established in 1981 as an independent entity on the campus of The Rockefeller University in New York City. In founding the Institute, Edelman argued that the quest for fundamental understanding of brain functions was being impeded, at most existing institutions, by artificial barriers between scientific disciplines and by a reward structure that favored modest, incremental research rather than high-risk, high-payoff research.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.nsi.edu/index.php?page=history )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.webofstories.com/play/15782?o=MS )〕 Edelman claimed that he would be able to break from this reward structure by securing private, unrestricted funding for research at NSI. However, he was mostly unsuccessful at this and NSI struggled financially throughout its existence. In its very early years, NSI sponsored conferences, workshops, and other activities for visiting scientists; these programs were generally organized around a focused research problem. More than 1000 scientists from 300 institutes and 24 countries visited the Institute over its first two decades.〔 NSI's financial problems in the decade before its 2012 contraction curtailed these activities, save for the Neurosciences Research Program meetings (see below). In 1988, NSI began its own program of research in theoretical and computational neurobiology. Carried out by a small group of resident Fellows, the program was designed to develop biologically-based theories of higher brain functions.〔 In 1993, following its relocation to San Diego, NSI added a program of experimental research, which would eventually include molecular, cellular, systems, and behavioral studies and would utilize flies, rodents, non-human primates, and humans.〔 In 2012, severe financial problems forced NSI to vacate its San Diego complex, reduce its computational programs, and shut down its experimental and theoretical programs entirely.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-neurosciences-institute-lab-liquidation-auction-164577556.html )〕 The three buildings constituting its former home were ceded to TSRI. What remained of NSI was housed, in the year immediately preceding Edelman's death, several miles away in rented office space in the La Jolla business district.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Neurosciences Institute」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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