Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute

Congratulations to neuroscientist Joseph Gogos and physician-scientist Stephen Kushner, whose innovative research advancing the understanding and treatment of mental illness is being recognized by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. bbrfoundation.org/content/brai... @columbiamed.bsky.social

Amyloid fibers are best known as hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases. But they recently turned up in a surprising place: in sperm, shuttling genetic material. New research from the @fitzpatricklab.bsky.social lab holds potential for gene-editing technologies. tinyurl.com/37pdmhf8

Congratulations to the Mesgarani lab’s Xiaomin He and alumnus Vishal Choudhari, who received the Best Student Paper Award at Interspeech 2026 for their brain-controlled hearing research. 👏🧠👏 Read more: isca-speech.org/ISCA-Awards @columbiamed.bsky.social

Save the date: Wednesday, October 28, is #ColumbiaGivingDay! Your donation goes directly to supporting the students and postdocs who make research possible: the next generation of neuroscientists discovering incredible things about mind, brain and behavior. givingday.columbia.edu/pages/the-mo...

Why bring writers and neuroscientists together? Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Hernan Diaz explored that question in the @financialtimes.com, sharing how his experiences as a writer-in-residence at @columbiauniversity.bsky.social Zuckerman Institute shaped his novel Ply. www.ft.com/content/eb43...

I'm very honored that our research was covered by the New York Times! @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social wrote a beautiful piece that captures the science & mystery of cephalopod camouflage: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/s... I want to emphasize that this project is the result of an incredible team effort...

Why study cuttlefish in a neuroscience lab? This @nytimes-news.bsky.social article dives deep into this creature’s ability to mimic on its skin what it sees in the environment. tinyurl.com/y5hrjnhy @tessamontague.bsky.social , @connorjgibbons.bsky.social , @gthomasbarlow.bsky.social, Erika Shook.

As we congratulate @columbiauniversity.bsky.social economist Michael Woodford on his Nobel Prize, we remember a collaboration he undertook years ago with neuroscientist Jacqueline Gottlieb on why we pay attention to certain pieces of information. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF7h...

Things are getting spooky at Saturday Science! Join us on October 17 for Spooky Senses, an afternoon of hands-on activities exploring the science of the brain and our senses. Bring the whole family for some spooky science fun! Free and open to all ages! Register at bit.ly/Oct2026SS

👏 Congratulations to Columbia University Professor Michael Woodford for receiving the 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, along with Robert E. Hall: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2026/summary/ 📷 Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

This year’s Nobel Prize honors optogenetics: a tool that has revolutionized neuroscience by allowing scientists to turn specific brain cells on and off with light. We congratulate the pioneers of this technology @stanforduniversity.bsky.social, @humboldtuni.bsky.social and @uni-wuerzburg.de. 👏🧠👏

This year's prestigious Wolf Prize in Medicine goes to our very own @columbiauniversity.bsky.social Charles Zuker: "For revolutionizing our understanding of taste, the last of our senses to be elucidated.” zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/wolf-prize-g... @columbiamed.bsky.social

Don't miss next week's event, Embodied Memory: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/embodied-mem... Sarah Ruhl, Kathy Chalfant, and Daphna Shohamy, PhD, will explore the connections between storytelling, performance, and the science of the mind.

Have you seen Dr. Genevera Allen’s Faces of IICD feature? 🎥 A Professor of Statistics, @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social affiliate, & IICD core member, Dr. Allen develops machine learning and statistical methods to turn complex data into scientific insight. Watch the full feature: youtu.be/ReVQT3MAjuw

Don't miss our Stavros Niarchos Foundation Brain Insight Lecture: Finding Meaning in Memories. Tomorrow, 6:30 PM (EST): zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/stavros-niar... Three experts will bridge computational and experimental neuroscience approaches to examine the role memory plays in our lives.

Congratulations to Briana McRae, PhD, for her new @rockefellerinst.bsky.social New York State Science Policy Fellowship! The fellowship recognizes her research on motherhood brain changes and her advocacy for federal research funding: rockinst.org/news/article...

We're thrilled to announce our third cohort of NYS Science Policy Fellows! These PhD scientists are working with the NYS executive and legislature to bring additional scientific expertise to bear on important policy problems. 👇 Meet the fellows! 🧵 rockinst.org/news/article...

@npr.org reports on a recent Sawtell lab discovery of brain cells that keep electric fish from blinding themselves while sensing their environment. Listen here! www.npr.org/2026/09/04/n.... Read more at zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/electric-fis...

Join us in October for the Teacher Institute for Neuroscience & Society! NYC middle school educators will explore the intersection of neuroscience and climate change through four interactive workshops. Earn a $400 stipend & 10 CTLE credits. Apply now bit.ly/teacher-neur...

Imagine yelling while trying to listen. That’s kind of what electric fish do when they scan their environs by emitting and detecting electric fields. Nate Sawtell & team have discovered the mental circuitry that makes this feat possible @nature.com zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/electric-fis...

Which computer models of the brain best capture what an actual brain does? The Kriegeskorte lab and colleagues are answering this question by forcing AIs to disagree with each other, using bespoke images. Learn more in @natneuro.nature.com zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/why-are-scie...

Join us for Embodied Memory: a closing conversation with playwright and Alan Kanzer Writer-in-Residence Sarah Ruhl. Featuring actress Kathy Chalfant, and neuroscientist Daphna Shohamy, PhD. 🗓️ October 5th, 4:00 pm Learn more and register: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/embodied-mem...

What is the source of consciousness in the human brain? Read more from Michael Shadlen, a neuroscientist who studies decision-making: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/how-consciou...

Join us for our next Stavros Niarchos Foundation Brain Insight Lecture: Finding Meaning in Memories. Wed 09/16, 6:30 PM. Experts will bridge computational and experimental approaches to examine the role memory plays in our lives. Learn more & register: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/stavros-niar...

Columbia's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute is seeking a Magnetic Resonance Technologist and Safety Officer (MRSO) to support the Magnetic Resonance Research Platform. Applicants interested, please apply here: opportunities.columbia.edu/jobs/mr-tech...

A lab within the Zuckerman Institute @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social has an open Associate Research Scientist position. Candidates can apply using the following link: apply.interfolio.com/189593

A lab within the Zuckerman Institute @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social has an open Associate Research Scientist position. Candidates can apply using the following link: apply.interfolio.com/189598

Where does curiosity come from? Neuroscientist @jenbussell.bsky.social wants to know. She found that mice, like us, seek information with no external benefit. Her new Nature Neuroscience research links this desire for knowledge to cells in the brain's orbitofrontal cortex. See tinyurl.com/3xjt8e5c

A lab within @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social has an open Associate Research Scientist position. Candidates can apply using the following link: apply.interfolio.com/189572

Summer is here, with camps and cook-outs — and the flies they bring! What's the best way to swat these seasonal pests? Join neuroscientist Gwyneth Card for a peek inside their brains, which contain not only the secret to squishing the bugs but also lessons in how our brains work youtu.be/-bOi8pBSdIc

🎥 Faces of IICD: Meet Dr. Genevera Allen! A professor at @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social and @columbiauniversity.bsky.social and an IICD core member, she develops machine learning and statistical methods to uncover insights from complex data. Watch: youtu.be/ReVQT3MAjuw

Scientists have long debated whether neurons are jacks of all trades or tend to specialize in one thing. Now @stefanofusi.bsky.social, @lorenzoposani.com & Liam Paninski present new evidence in @nature.com shedding light on how the brain performs complex tasks. tinyurl.com/yj3ew8en

The Zuckerman Institute is seeking a Scientific Programs Manager. Candidates can apply using the following link: opportunities.columbia.edu/jobs/manager...

What was the Zuckerman Institute up to in the 2025-2026 academic year? See for yourself in our Yearly Recap: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/2025-2026-ac...

A lab within the Zuckerman Institute has an open Associate Research Scientist position. Candidates can apply using the following link: apply.interfolio.com/188457

🧠✨Saturday Science will be at Manhattanville Community Day! Free activities for children of all ages to explore the science of the brain. And featuring the BioBus Mobile Lab! 📍605 W 129th St 🗓️ Saturday, June 27 ⏰ Drop in anytime from 12–3 PM Register at bit.ly/SatSciJune2026

A lab within @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social has an open Associate Research Scientist position. Candidates can apply using the following link: apply.interfolio.com/188236

What does a perfect soccer play look like to a neuroscientist? The actions we see on the field, which seem to happen one after another, actually overlap inside the player’s head, says Miguel Vivar-Lazo, PhD @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social @columbiamed.bsky.social #FWC26 ⚽ youtube.com/shorts/xVEym...

What does neuroscience research look like in practice? 🧠 IICD Summer Research Program students visited Dr. Darcy Peterka’s lab at @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social, where they took a look at the IICD two-photon microscope and learned how researchers study the brain in cancer research. #SummerResearch

Is forgetting useful? This was among the deep questions about how memories are formed and used explored at Local Circuits, a symposium that brought together leading experts in biological and artificial intelligence @columbiauniversity.bsky.social zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/symposium-me...

Join us on June 18 for the capstone event of our Jazz Artist-in-Residence, Linda May Han Oh. The performance will be followed by a conversation reflecting on her residency, key learnings, ongoing questions, future projects, and collaborations: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/afternoon-li... 🎶🧠🎶

💭 Do cockroaches get lonely? ✍️ @inkfish.bsky.social: knowmag.org/4uLtFPx

🧠✨ What is the physical form of a memory? Join us on 06/18 for the opening of The Shape of Memory, a new site-specific installation by artist Maya Ciarrocchi, created in collaboration with neuroscientists @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social RSVP: bit.ly/AELmemory

This week, IICD and @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social hosted middle school students from Q StudioLab for a visit focused on science, research, and discovery. Students had the opportunity to connect with IICD scientists over lunch and learn more about careers in STEM! #CancerResearch #Outreach #Education

In a paper published today in Nature Neuroscience, researchers led by Nima Mesgarani have shown for the first time that brain-controlled hearing technology can help people single out one conversation in a crowd in real time.