Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute
@zuckermanbrain
Created by @columbiauniversity.bsky.social to be the world's foremost neuroscience institute, we are deciphering the brain — how it develops, works, endures and recovers.
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...
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
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
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...
🧠✨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
Join us on June 29 for a closing conversation between acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl, the Alan Kanzer Writer-in-Residence, and Daphna Shohamy, Director of @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social Learn more and register: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/stories-we-c...
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... 🎶🧠🎶
🧠✨ 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
Tiny changes can have profound effects on life. Lochlan Krupa, an undergraduate working in the @bendeskylab.com lab, knows this well. He recently discovered that the duplication of a single gene gave fish a new ability to make a vitamin from their food zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/science-life...
Read more: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/brain-contro...
What different insights might a playwright and a neuroscientist have about memory? Our own Daphna Shohamy, Alan Kanzer Writer-in-Residence Sarah Ruhl and Carol Becker shared stories from their lives about how memory affects their work: news.columbia.edu/news/neurosc...
Check out the new @pbs.org South Florida documentary “The Resilient Brain” featuring our own @columbiauniversity.bsky.social @kenmiller.bsky.social discussing the mind, brain and behavior: allhealthtv.com/program/the-...
What can science teach us about brain health? @columbiauniversity.bsky.social ’s Daphna Shohamy and other leading neuroscientists discuss the latest research on memory, the mind and brain health with @pbs.org @southfloridapbs.bsky.social. Tune in and learn more! youtu.be/RtIN0Qhq0Zo?...
Congratulations to our own @michaelshadlen.bsky.social , MD, PhD, who was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences! This recognition celebrates excellence and leadership in the sciences and across disciplines.
🧠 ✨ Join us for Saturday Science on April 25, 1–4 PM. Through hands-on activities and interactive demos, explore how the brain gathers information, builds connections and supports learning at every stage of life! Free and open to the public: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/saturday-sci...
Join us for our next SNF Brain Insight Lecture: The Brain-Body Connection, on 04/22 Experts will bring together perspectives from neuroscience, genetics, and physiology to uncover what the fruit fly can tell us about our own brain-body connection. zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/stavros-niar...
A rare opportunity to meet our director, Daphna Shohamy, live in Rome! Don’t miss her talk on ‘The Neuroscience of Memory and Meaning’ on April 14, during Galileo Week at the American Academy in Rome. 🔭🧠🇮🇹
How does one study memory? What questions do you ask? What methodologies do you use? How does memory construct the present? How do we use it to reconstruct the past in stories, memoir, and dramatic work? Join us on April 9 for Where Ideas Come From: Art, Neuroscience, and Memory. bit.ly/4sM7uaW
By analyzing brain activity throughout the lives of mice, Itamar Kahn, Gagan Wig, Ezra Winter-Nelson & team found that the rodent’s brain ages similarly to that of a human. Studying mice could therefore be a way to learn about how our brains decline as we grow old. @pnas.org tinyurl.com/38xwm5hv
🧠 ⚙️ Saturday Science: The Human Machine How does your brain help you think, move, learn, and adapt to the world around you? Join us on Saturday, March 28, from 1–4 PM to explore the incredible systems that make the human brain work. bit.ly/SatSciTHM #SaturdayScience #Neuroscience #BrainWeek
Curious about the mind and brain? Join us during #BrainAwarenessWeek and learn more about the questions our scientists are asking about the brain. Be curious with us! 🧠 🔍💡 zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/curiosity-co...
Our #BrainWeek is off to a good start! We always love talking about memory, the brain and health with @pbs.org South Florida and colleagues from @sinaibrain.bsky.social @mpfneuro.bsky.social. Stay tuned for air dates!
It’s #BrainAwarenessWeek! We are part of s an international campaign to celebrate the wonders of the mind and brain. Join us for free public events! zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/brain-awaren...
How do jazz musicians keep time together? How does the brain stay in sync with the rhythms of day and night? Join us at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem on March 19, 2026, for Music on the Brain! 🧠🎼 www.eventbrite.com/e/music-on-t...
Our Saturday Science program welcomed the 10,000th brainy visitor last month! Join us at our next free, public event on March 28! Have some hands-on fun and explore how the brain helps us think, move and learn. Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/saturday-s... 📸 Photos by Sirin Samman
What’s the best way to work as a team across continents on some of the biggest challenges in #neuroscience? Our researchers and colleagues at the @intlbrainlab.bsky.social reveal 20 lessons from their partnership: www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...
Neuroscientists are always looking for new tools that can bring the brain into sharper focus. For postdoc Daniel Du, that means shooting lasers at state-of-the-art microscopes to take better snapshots of the building blocks of the brain: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/science-life...
How do you make one of the best microscopes in biology even better? Postdoc Daniel Du of the Fitzpatrick lab zapped electrons with a laser. The new research in @elife.bsky.social with Cornell’s Maxson lab promises improved snapshots of the brain: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/making-world...
This Valentine’s week, find out what fighting fish and jazz soloists have in common. 🐟🎷❤️ Next Thursday, 02/12, join us for Music on the Brain: The Dance Before the Embrace, an evening of live jazz and brain science at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. bit.ly/MotBFeb2026 #jazz #neuroscience