The Brain and Cognition programme emphasizes theory development, attempts to base explanations for cognitive phenomena on neurobiological principles, and has a focus on using cognitive research to understand clinical findings. The research covers three subprogrammes:

• The Perception and Action programme focuses on the way the human brain processes information and transforms it into adaptive behaviour;
• The Memory and Language subprogramme aims to identify the processes underlying memory retrieval and the factors affecting memory retrieval; and
• The Consciousness subprogramme seeks to explain the difference between conscious and non-conscious information processing and to identify the neural substrate of this difference.

The three subprogrammes are highly integrated and there is extensive collaboration across the subprogrammes.