The State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology in January 2025, and is jointly based in the Institute of Psychology and the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The laboratory's predecessor was the State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science.

CSMH focuses on the frontiers of cognitive science, with significant emphasis on serving the nation's major needs. It concentrates on exploring the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying cognition, from perception to the emergence of consciousness. It provides a new perspective to understand the essence of mental health, aiming to elucidate the normal and abnormal mechanisms of consciousness emergence, and comprehensively facilitate in the objective quantitative evaluation, and effective and precise intervention of mental health.

The main research directions include:

(1) Investigation of the mechanism of consciousness emergence

(2) Objective assessment of abnormal states of consciousness emergence

(3) Precision intervention of mental health

The CSMH boasts the largest and most comprehensive functional brain imaging research center in China. The center operates one 9.4T, two 7T, and three 3T whole-body human MRI systems; one 15.2T (under construction) and one 11.7T animal MRI systems, a PET-MR, a conventional MEG system and a self-developed OPM-based MEG system. In addition, there are multiple EEG, animal PET, TMS, TCS, and various optical imaging devices. CSMH has also accumulated rich resources in genetics, brain imaging, behavioral science, and network big data. The establishment of a mental health service network platform in the lab lays a solid foundation for the conducting sustained basic research and applied services in mental health.

Guided by the mission to "lead scientific frontiers and address national needs," the CSMH aims to drive the development of mental health promotion strategies, and lay a solid scientific foundation for advancing the "healthy China" agenda.