U.S. President Barack Obama walks off stage after announcing his administration's BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) initiative at the White House in Washington, April 2, 2013.

The brain

Nine-year-old Ashley, who was born with a rare brain condition known as static encephalopathy, at home in the state of Washington. Her parents have approved growth-stunting medical treatment that will ensure she has a child's body for the rest of her life.

An anesthetized monkey has its brain activity monitored, 1971.

A lateral X-Ray of the head of a 38-year-old man shows two Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) leads with four electrodes attached to each implanted in the subcortical area of the brain called the thalamus. A little bit of current may calm the tremors of Parkinson’s disease, ease depression and epilepsy, and awaken those with terrible injuries.

Engaging the brain with games like mah-jongg can delay the onset of dementia but lead to faster-progressing disease once it emerges.

Temple Grandin authored the memoir <i>The Autistic Brain</i> with Richard Panek ( )

The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas

MRI scan of brain.

President Obama looks at brain cells through a microscope with Dr. Marston Linehan as he tours the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., before making a major announcement regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

A side view of the human brain, showing the two cerebral hemispheres

A scan of a brain.

"Double trouble" "Your brain pays a price for the violent cycling—it's scarred by it," says Malhi (right), with Lagopoulos

Computationally reconstructed 3D rendering of a mouse brain.

Adderall (amphetamine-dextroamphetamine), 20mg. Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant that affects chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control. Adderall is used to treat narcolepsy and ADHD (attention de

Adderall (amphetamine-dextroamphetamine), 20mg. Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant that affects chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control. Adderall is used to treat narcolepsy and ADHD (attention de

Junior Seau, #55, during a 1994 NFL game. The National Institutes of Health diagnosed Seau with CTE, a brain-disease associated with football head trauma. (Stephen Dunn / Getty Images Sport)

Dr. Thomas Harvey (1912 - 2007) was the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Einstein at Princeton Hospital in 1955. The stranger-than-fiction tale of Einstein's brain — which Harvey controversially removed during the autopsy, carefully sliced into sections, and then kept for years for research purposes -- and the intrigues long-associated with the famous organ, are far too convoluted to go into here. However: on the day that Einstein died, Ralph Morse was able to take a few quick photographs of Dr. Harvey at the hospital. Morse says he's certain that that is not Einstein's brain under Dr. Harvey's knife in this previously unpublished picture. Then, after a pause, Morse says: "You know, it was fifty-five years ago. I don't remember every detail. So, whatever he's cutting there ..." His words hang in the air. Then, mischievously, Morse laughs.

Dr. Thomas Harvey (1912 - 2007) was the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Einstein at Princeton Hospital in 1955. The stranger-than-fiction tale of Einstein's brain -- which Harvey controversially removed during the autopsy, carefully sliced into sections, and then kept for years for research purposes -- and the intrigues long-associated with the famous organ, are far too convoluted to go into here. However: On the day that Einstein died, Ralph Morse was able to take a few quick photographs of Dr. Harvey at the hospital. Morse says he's certain that that is Einstein's brain under Dr. Harvey's knife. Then, after a pause, he qualifies that certainty: "You know, it fifty-five years ago. Honestly, I don't remember every single detail of the day. So whatever he's cutting there ..." Morse's words hang in the air. Then, mischievously, he laughs.

Original caption from LIFE magazine. "Rigid, semiconscious, his face an ashen mask, Senator Kennedy lies in a pool of his own blood on the concrete floor, a bullet deep in his brain and another in his neck. Juan Romero, a busboy whose hand Kennedy had shaken before the shots, tried to comfort him."

There's strong evidence that adolescents are getting smarter. Could the teen brain be evolving?

Neuroscientist Ricaurte was the first to record the effects of MDMA on the brain; he says it damages certain cells

BRAIN CHILDREN: Sophia Dominguez, 14, and her sister Leticia, 15, of Montgomery Village, Md., are among the hundreds of young volunteers who come to Dr. Giedd every two years to be scanned

University of Illinois-Chicago computer scientist Jason Leigh, co-inventor of the CAVE2 virtual reality system, poses with a pair of specially designed 3D glasses in the CAVE2 where the system's 72 stereoscopic liquid crystal display panels encircles the viewer 320 degrees and creates a 3D environment that can take you to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, a flyover the planet Mars, or through the blood vessels of the brain.

William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk speaking into his communicator with James Doohan as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott and Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov in the background in the STAR TREK episode, "Spock's Brain."