Neuroscience refers to the scientific study of the nervous system. Breaking it down further, it is a multidisciplinary discipline that incorporates physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, computer science, and math.
Neuroscientists are getting closer to understanding how brain circuits operate, and what might be done to correct them, thanks to projects like the BRAIN Initiative. Scientists may take photographs of the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see how human neural networks work in real time.
Doctors can use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to activate brain circuits in psychiatric patients to help them feel better. Genetic engineering advancements have even led to devices that allow scientists to regulate neuronal circuitry with light.
Ian Wickersham and coworkers at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research are developing novel optogenetics techniques that target particular neurons in wild animal studies that have not been genetically transformed, thanks to BRAIN EAGAR funding.
A research group at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine has been examining the viability of the next generation of DREADD technology to humans rather than the current limitation of animals.