The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is housed in Ames, Dunning, Krieger and Macauley Halls on the Homewood Campus of the Johns Hopkins University. Each faculty member has a state-of-the-art laboratory for his or her research.

Computational Facilities

The department’s laboratories contain dozens of microcomputers (PCs and Macs), as well as many Unix-based Sun, Silicon Graphics, and Hewlett-Packard workstations for experimental control and for computational studies, simulation, data analysis, and manuscript preparation.

Laboratory Facilities

The laboratories in developmental and cognitive psychology contain, in addition to extensive computer equipment, special-purpose research equipment, including image-processing and large-format graphics systems, eye-movement monitors, speech-recognition and analysis systems, stereoscopic graphics systems, video equipment, and other stimulus-presentation and response-collection devices (including a TMS rig and an EEG system).

The biopsychology labs have outstanding facilities for conducting research in biopsychology. They include equipment for behavioral and operant testing, electrophysiology, histology, surgery, neurochemistry, and systems for the analysis and synthesis of audio signals. In addition, there are facilities for psychopharmacology, neuroanatomical imaging, and hormone, neurotransmitter, and immune products analysis. Environmental chambers for the control of light/dark and temperature cycles are used for research in seasonal behavior. Various species of animals are tested; refer to individual research pages for more information. Animal colony space and animal care services are excellent.

University Resources

The Johns Hopkins University has all the resources of a major research university, with the added benefits of having one of the world’s leading medical institutions as one of its divisions.

Because of its broad scope, the study of psychology and related disciplines extends beyond the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences to other departments and organizations within the university.

• Several faculty members in the nearby Department of Cognitive Science collaborate closely with members of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
• The Zanvyl Krieger Mind-Brain Institute, also adjacent, is a center for the study of cognitive neuroscience, and houses several primate neurophysiology labs.
• The F. M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging is housed in the Kennedy Krieger Institute and provides outstanding facilities and support for conducting fMRI studies of human brain activity in cognitive tasks. The center offers research-dedicated 3.0T and 7.0T MRI scanners, optimized for research in cognitive neuroscience.