We are pleased to announce that NEURO2019, the joint meeting of the 42^nd Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society and the 62^nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Neurochemistry, will be held from July 25 (Thu) to 28 (Sun), 2019 at the Toki Messe Niigata Convention Center in the west coast of the main island of Japan. It has been six years since these organizations held the previous joint meeting in Kyoto in 2013.

Both societies were formed several decades ago with the aim of furthering understanding of the way the brain and nervous system function, with the Japan Neuroscience Society taking a neurophysiological approach and the Japanese Society for Neurochemistry, a neurochemical approach, and each making significant advances in their respective disciplines. Yet in recent years, studies of neural systems have increased in scope significantly, expanding beyond the traditional fields of biology, medical science and pharmaceutical science to cover the disciplines of economics, psychology, infotech, system engineering, education and chemistry as people try to use the knowledge of neuroscience to simulate trends in social behaviors and economic phenomena. Indeed, the borders that have separated realms of neuroscience and neural research are becoming increasingly murky. In light of such trends, the NEURO2019 joint meeting has been organized with the aim of bringing together a broad range of multidisciplinary fields of study.

With such impressive developments being made with modern neuroscience – such as molecular manipulation techniques for neurons and glial cells in the brain, control techniques for neural circuits, visualization methods of human brain activity, and computational neuroscience – we are gaining a better understanding of how the activities of groups of neural cells can regulate the various brain functions of "mind", and we are elucidating the pathological mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Under the general consensus that we, humans, have obtained these tools to reveal the fundamental ways how human brains operate, policy initiatives are taken by the governments around the world to promote further advances in brain research.

As neuroscience and neurochemical research continue to expand on a global scale, the Japan Neuroscience Society and the Japanese Society for Neurochemistry have organized NEURO2019 as a joint meeting with the theme of "Brain Science Takes Flight: Bridging the Mind and Life," by focusing on the most recent developments in modern neuroscience and providing an avenue to discuss potential future developments. To achieve this goal, NEURO2019 will invite internationally distinguished researchers for plenary lectures and leading Japanese neuroscientists for special lectures, and medical education programs will also be implemented. An additional focus has been placed on training of young researchers, with the program such as oral presentations of young researchers, education-related seminars. Thus, the Neuro2019 program will provide an extensive range of learning and discussion opportunities covering fundamental knowledge through to advanced fields catering to a broad range of researchers including both student/postdoctoral trainees and principal investigators.

Recently Japan is going through heat wave in summer, we encourage you to wear light and cool clothes to attend the conference in Niigata.

We look forward to receiving your submission and participation!