This website was developed through an initiative of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to encourage resources for digitization of, and access to, late 20th century developments (history) in science and technology. It is the aim of the History Committee of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) to identify and develop more detailed accounts of the full range of topics that will likely be of interest and value to future historians. Examination of the discoveries, practices, social interactions, politics and other features of context that risk being lost if serious efforts do not develop rapidly for collecting, cataloging and archival storage. These efforts to collect and store the 'research history' of neuroscience on the world wide web was instigated by the Sloan Foundation, and is endorsed by the SFN as a means of storing scholarly materials that are largely inaccessible and often unpreserved by print media. The project was initiated early in 1999; comments, criticisms and contributions are especially welcome during this early nascent stage.

The logo is from a drawing of the base of the human brain by the young Christopher Wren for the Cerebri Anatome (1664) of Thomas Willis; clicking on the brain will open an explanatory link about the architecture of the website and the relevance of selecting a contribution from the architect, Sir Christopher Wren, for introducing the history of neuroscience.

The WREN webpage was generated by the chair of the History Committee of the Society for Neuroscience, Dr. Lawrence Kruger, with the assistance of Neuroscience Archivist Russell Johnson and Web Designer Howard Kim, all at UCLA; the server location of links actively used by neuroscience historians.