Significant progress has been achieved world-wide in the past three decades in understanding the human brain function due to an ever growing community of researchers as well as unprecedented technical and technological innovations that have occurred. Most notable are the developments in molecular biology and brain imaging. These advanced tools have provided new windows into the functioning of the brain, resulting in neuroscience becoming one of the most rapidly developing scientific fields. Further, acknowledging the tremendous disease burden caused by neurodegenerative disorders and the paucity of treatments, several large scale efforts have been launched in both North America and Europe. These efforts have emphasized an integrative approach to understanding brain function using tools from molecular genetics to imaging and bringing together large groups with diverse expertise to address the complex challenges required to understand brain functioning.