Recognizing that much of the current activity in the flourishing neurosciences is unwritten and largely unexplored, the study of recent history constitutes an attempt to document the development of key technologies, specific discoveries and laboratory dynasties and their offspring. Some of these advances are being addressed by short journalistic pieces, listed as the Society for Neuroscience's (SFN) Brain Briefings. Important examples of the cultural anthropology of the field will be found in the on-going activity of collecting autobiographies and video interviews of selected prominent neuroscientists.

The objective in establishing a website devoted to the history of neuroscience is to provide:

• A platform for specific topics in recent history in which scholarly activity can be preserved in digital form and to which contributions and or comments can be received.
• A listing of recent topics that have appeared in the Society for Neuroscience Newsletter during the "Decade of the Brain" cited as Brain Briefings, principally explaining how basic neuroscience discoveries lead to clinical applications, are made available and some links to references are provided.
• An interactive medium for addressing queries. Brain Backgrounders, a Society for Neuroscience website, allows for electronic submission of questions which are responded to by brief articles, some of which remain listed.
• Links are provided to publications of the Society for Neuroscience dealing with "recent history." These include the volumes of Autobiographies and Video interviews of prominent contemporary neuroscientists; these items are available for purchase from the Society for Neuroscience office.
  
• Links to established archival resources: The Neuroscience History Archives at UCLA, HISTNEUR-L (The Neuroscience History Internet Forum, an e-mail-based discussion list), and RETICULUM, a gateway to Internet resources (announcements, current activities in the history of neuroscience, etc.) for exploration of the history of neuroscience.