About
The Mind Brain Behavior Initiative (MBB) connects faculty, students, and researchers across Harvard to investigate how the mind, brain, and behavior work. We support an undergraduate track and secondary field, graduate and postdoctoral funding, cross-disciplinary faculty grants, and a community of scholars.
- MBB hosts an undergraduate "track" program and a secondary field in mind, brain, and behavior.
- MBB sponsors research awards to collaborating faculty and interdisciplinary postdocs, and MBB undergraduates.
- MBB sponsors travel and interdisciplinary research awards to graduate students and postdocs.
- MBB sponsors grants to support community events.
Oversight
Mind Brain Behavior is one of many interfaculty initiatives that report to the Provost’s Office.
Website Artist Statement
Artist Elizabeth Jameson is a pioneer in creating artwork at the intersection of medical technology, neuroscience, and art, utilizing magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of her own brain. Jameson celebrates the complexity of the brain while exploring the universal experience of living in an imperfect body.
Jameson’s fascination with MRIs is deeply personal. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she confronted stark images of her brain that were equally frightening and mesmerizing. Rather than accepting these sterile, computerized images solely as evidence of disease, Jameson transforms the unsettling medical imagery by using solar etchings, embroidery, and textiles, turning them into vibrant landscapes that reflect the awe and beauty of the human brain.
Jameson’s artistic journey followed a career as a public interest lawyer representing children with disabilities and children incarcerated in juvenile institutions. When MS made practicing law too difficult, she became an artist with the goal of serving others, discovering art as a way to open up conversations about how to maintain dignity and a sense of self in the face of disease and disability.
Jameson’s artwork is held in permanent collections worldwide, including the National Institutes of Health, Harvard University's Center for Brain Science, and the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences.
She also has written articles sharing her experiences of illness, disability, and aging, published in various publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.