The history of the department began in 1966, when Dr. György Ádám, associate professor at the Institute of Physiology of the Budapest Medical University, was invited to the Department of Zoology of the ELTE, appointed professor and entrusted with the establishment of a new department. Thus, in 1968, the Department of Comparative Physiology was established, the first of its kind in the country. The systematic use of chronic animal surgery and the variety of chronic physiological and neurological studies, as well as human experimental studies and experiments, were the special features of the Department. In the 1990s, at the start of PhD training, the PhD school "Neurobiology of Behaviour" was among the first to be accredited, and Professor Adam became its director.

Dr. György Ádám, the founding professor, retired in 1992 and was succeeded by Dr. Tibor Kukorelli, associate professor. In the following years, the name of the Department changed to the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology to reflect the changing research profile. The academic research group was also transformed and continued to operate under the name of HAS-ELTE Neurobiological Research Group until the end of 2006, first under the leadership of Dr. Tibor Kukorelli and then Dr. Gábor Juhász. From 2000, the Department was headed by Prof. László Détári and from 2015 by Dr. Ildikó Világi, associate professor. During this period, Professor László Détári also supported the work of the Faculty of Natural Sciences as Deputy Dean. Prof. Árpád Dobolyi took over the leadership of the Department in 2018, Dr. Katalin Schlett in 2021, and Prof. Árpád Dobolyi again from 2024,

As a result of the transformation of the education system, the Department organises and manages the sub-specialisation "Neuroscience and Human Biology" in the Biology Master programme, and from 2018 the MSc specialisation, and the programme of the same name within the Doctoral School of Biology. The two Research Groups of the Department, led by Dr. Katalin Schlett and Dr. Árpád Dobolyi, have been participating in the National Brain Research Programme since 2014. In 2017, the Fusarium Mycotoxins Research Group was established under the leadership of Dr. Ildikó Világi, and the HAS-ELTE Molecular and Systems Neurobiology Research Group was established under the leadership of Dr. Árpád Dobolyi.

Research in our department is carried out in various areas of neuroscience and neurobiology, ranging from the histological, molecular and electrophysiological analysis of neurons to the study of animal behaviour. In addition to basic research, we are also dedicated to applied neuroscience.

Former and actual Head of Department