Taken together, the Geneva Neuroscience Center (Centre Interfacultaire de Neurosciences, CIN) and the Interfaculty Centre for Affective Sciences (ICAS) of the University of Geneva pool resources from over 60 workgroups from the University of Geneva and from all 6 faculties of the University which dedicate their research to the understanding of the human brain and behaviour, ranging from molecular and neuronal research to social, psychological, philosophical and artistic research.
Geneva Neuroscience Center (Centre Interfacultaire de Neurosciences, CIN)
Reflecting the multidisciplinarity of Neuroscience, the Geneva Neuroscience Center regroups research groups affiliated to several departments and faculties within Geneva University. Members of the Center conduct cutting-edge research in various areas of Neuroscience, in relation to both health and disease, for human beings (adults and children) as well as for animals. Questions such as: How does the nervous system generate complex behaviours and mental processes such as thoughts or emotions? What are the mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric diseases? How does the activity of neurons coordinate to provide us with sensation and volition? are among some of the fundamental questions that researchers in the Center try to answer. Researchers in the CIN are also participating to the the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) on Synaptic bases on mental disorders.
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (SCAS)
The CSAS hosts the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) Affective Sciences, financed by the Swiss federal government and administered by the Swiss National Science Foundation. It is the first research centre in the world dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of emotions and their effects on human behaviour and society.
The NCCR in Affective Sciences brings together disciplines which study the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of affect. The different scientific projects aim to provide a better understanding of affective phenomena (e.g., emotions, motivations, moods, stress, well-being) from various research perspectives and multiple levels of analysis. With its scientists stemming from various backgrounds such as psychology, philosophy, economics, political science, law, criminology, psychiatry, neuroscience, education, sociology, literature, history, and religious and social anthropology, the NCCR places a particular emphasis on the interdisciplinary and integrative collaboration between these different domains of research.
The Geneva Neuroscience Center and the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences jointly coordinate the Brain and Behaviour Laboratory (BBL). The BBL brings together a wide range of cutting-edge techniques from neuroscience and psychophysiology to measure brain activity, as well as peripheral body changes and complex motor or social behaviour, in experimentally controlled conditions. It is the first laboratory of its kind to combine an extraordinarily large diversity of methodologies and disciplines allowing scientists to carry out research into cognition, emotion, consciousness, sleep and dreams, both in health and in diseases.
The different laboratories of the BBL include one functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging unit, two electroencephalography labs equipped with peripheral physiological recording devices, a virtual reality lab and video cameras to record naturally occurring behaviour in dyadic and group interactions, an acoustic lab and a sleep research room equipped for sleep and vigilance monitoring.
Swiss artists-in-labs 2011
Artist: Jeremie Gindre
picture credit: Sophie Jarlier, University of Geneva
