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TheMolecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute (MBNI) at theUniversity of Michigan (UM) is an interdisciplinary research institute, which played a key role in the development ofgeneral systems theory.[1] Formerly the Mental Health Research Institute, over the years it developed a specific interest inneuroscience andbiological psychiatry and was subsequently renamed in the new millennium. The Regents of the University of Michigan plan to demolish the building by September 25th, 2024.[2]
The institute was established as Mental Health Research Institute at the University of Michigan in 1955 with the goal of "applying scientific methods to the study of human behavior."[3] Many neuroscientists have conducted research at the MBNI, includingHuda Akil. In the 1950s, initial members of theSociety for General Systems Research (SGSR) were hired by the MBNI, such as biologist and founding director of the instituteJames Grier Miller, mathematicianAnatol Rapoport, physicistJohn Platt, urban plannerRichard L. Meier, economistWalter Cannon, neurophysiologistRalph Gerard, among others likeMargaret Mead andRichard F. Ericson.[1]