A new journal entitled Translational Neuroscience and Clinics first appeared in September 2015. Its main purpose is to publish articles focusing on information derived from human experimentation so as to optimize the communication between basic and clinical neurosciences.

In the field of medical science, it has been advocated since 1990s that the 21^st century would be the “Century of Brain”. The structure and functions of almost all human organs have been elucidated during the latter half of the 20^th century. Thus, the only unknown organ will be the brain. In comparison with other organs, there are still many questions and mysteries surrounding the brain.

Recently, significant progress has been made in the neural circuit along with a better understanding of higher brain functions. For example, new techniques for cellular imaging with fluorescent proteins, in vivo optical probes for biological imaging, and the production of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells were introduced to advance the clarification of the nervous system at the molecular, cellular and neural network levels. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including functional MRI (fMRI), MR spectroscopy (MRS), near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and other imaging methods have provided clues for analyzing the pathogenic mechanism of various diseases of the nervous system. In addition, several big clinical data bases have recently become available in the fields of neurology and neurosurgery, one after another.

Understanding the human brain and its disorders will then be one of the greatest challenges facing 21st century science. As the background the rapid aging of the population might be the biggest social issue of this century.

The following is a summary of a new investment in science supported by President Barack Obama in April 2013.

“Today, at a White House event, the President unveiled a bold new research initiative designed to revolutionize our understanding of the human brain. Launched with approximately $100 million in the President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative ultimately aims to help researchers find new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury.”

In October 2012 the European Union (EU) launched the Human Brain Project (HBP) in order to accelerate the understanding of the human brain, to make advances in defining and diagnosing brain disorders, and to develop new brain-like technologies. The project’s total costs are estimated to be €1.19 billion within 10 years. The EU announced that a major goal of this project is to deliver a collaboratively built first draft “scaffold” model and a simulation of the human brain by 2023. This will not be a complete simulation of every detail of the human brain, but rather, will provide a framework for integrating data and knowledge related to the structure and functions of the brain based on basic researches and clinical studies from around the world.

In addition to the big projects in the United States (US) and the EU, many Asian countries including China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Israel have drafted large-scaled policies and budgets for the researches in the fields of neurotechnology and neuroscience.

However, as the shift towards specialization continues, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain a complete view among system neuroscience, molecular neuroscience and clinical neuroscience. Therefore, to foster a comprehensive understanding of neuroscience mind with a broader vision, the communication between basic researches and clinical ones will be imperative.

Base on this background, we believe that our journal Translational Neuroscience and Clinics will be most appropriate for this purpose at this time. The aim of this journal is to provide an opportunity for closer interactions between basic and clinical neuroscientists by publishing original articles that expand our understanding of brain structure, functions and diseases and then to translate this knowledge into clinical applications and novel therapies of nervous system disorders. Volume 1 and the upcoming Volume 2 contain a lot of valuable articles from basic neurosciences to clinical ones and as well as translational researches.

We hope that this journal will contribute to the development of neuroscience in terms of the communication between basic researchers and clinicians in the field of neuroscience.

Finally, we are indebted particularly to the contributors who kindled and nurtured our interest in comprehensive neuroscience, and to all of our editorial board members worldwide. We are also indebted to Dr. Chen Lin (Tsinghua University, Yuquan Hospital) who have provided enthusiastic support for the editing of this journal. Finally, we owe special thanks to Tsinghua University Press, who provided excellent support throughout the publishing process for this journal.