SPIE Brain 2017, part of SPIE Photonics West BiOS, highlights research that describes the development of innovative technologies that will increase our understanding of brain structure and function. The special section in this issue of Neurophotonics complements SPIE Brain 2017 by providing a forum for peer-reviewed journal publication. The five papers in the section address key topics from the conference, which covers imaging, sensing, optogenetics, optical manipulation, and clinical and translational neurophotonics. SPIE Brain has become an important source of research at the interface of neuroscience and photonics. Neurophotonics can likewise become the premier source in which that research is published.