The McGovern Symposium on “Normal and Abnormal Social Behavior: Multiple Neuroscience Approaches” was held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on November 4, 2013. Researchers from the McGovern Institute in Beijing were invited to give talks on their recent studies. The symposium therefore served as a venue for the exchange of ideas among MIT colleagues. After Professor Bob Desimone and Professor Rao Yi presented their opening remarks on behalf of the McGovern Institute in MIT and Beijing, respectively, 14 speakers from the McGovern Institute in Beijing began their academic talks, which were grouped into three categories: neurobiology of sensory/perceptual processing, neurobiology of disease and learning, and memory and mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases. A variety of interesting topics in neuroscience were approached from the viewpoints of genetics, electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and behavior performance, with important questions addressed in the realm of perception, disease, and high-order cognitive processes, such as learning and memory. Overall, the excellent talks and discussions made the event a great success.