The first meeting of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) took place on August 25. The working group, co-chaired by NINDS Director Story Landis and NIMH Director Tom Insel, is composed of 14 outstanding extramural neuroscience researchers and a neuro-ethics expert, in addition to three ex officio members representing Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The purpose of the working group is to provide input on a variety of issues to the advisory councils of the 10 NIH Institutes participating in the BRAIN Initiative. The meeting included an overview of the BRAIN Initiative, an overview of the working group’s responsibilities, and a discussion of the applications received in response to the NIH’s initial six BRAIN Initiative funding announcements. In the afternoon, concepts for potential future BRAIN funding announcements were presented for input and approval.