Terry Semel, CEO of Yahoo! and his wife recently donated $25 million to UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute, making it one the nation's largest gifts solely directed toward the study of the brain.

The Institute has a twofold purpose: to cure brain disease and to help prevent it, shared the institute's director Peter Whybrow. "We want to help not only brain diseases – such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia – but we also want to learn how to minimize it and to teach people how to be good custodians of their health." Whybrow said. Many of the problems society faces today, such as anxiety disorders and obesity, arise from a "demand-driven environment," he added.

The institute is among the largest in the world, with 700 clinical faculty, 1,300 staff members and operating revenues of more than $200 million.