Our multidisciplinary faculty spans biology, psychology, human physiology, math, physics, and computer and information sciences. Through a network of labs across campus, they collaborate in research groups in four major areas of interest:
Developmental Biology
The Developmental Biology program combines research activities in various labs and research groups, to study development in zebrafish, fruit flies, mice, the three spine stickleback, the nematode, Neurospora, and evolving gene families.
Systems Neuroscience
The Systems Neuroscience faculty share an interest in the mechanisms by which neural circuits produce perception and behavior. The model organisms and techniques they use are highly diverse with individual labs typically integrating multiple approaches.
Computational Neuroscience
Our Computational Neuroscience research aims to understand how the collective activity of large networks of neurons leads to the emergence of cognitive function and behavior, how information processing in the brain arises through learning and plasticity, and how it is modulated by context and behavioral states.
Motor and Cognitive Neuroscience
The Motor and Cognitive Neuroscience research group investigates action and cognitive control, executive function, attention, perception, and memory in healthy and diseased human populations.
Observing Neurons in Action
"During my four years at UO, I was a student researcher in the Eisen Lab, where I explored the effect of different bacterial signaling pathways on zebrafish neuro-immune development. The most influential part of this experience for me was being able to take a tiny zebrafish brain and use a special microscope that produces an image of its neurons and other cells. I would sit down for hours analyzing data and watching these neurons make connections to one another. I would see these types of images in the textbooks and lectures of my upper-division Neuroscience courses, so to be able to experience it hands-on was very impactful for me and sparked my passion for research!"
—Dana Zaidan, neuroscience major, '23
Conducing Research in Interdisciplinary Labs
"I've been lucky to gain research experience within two Neuroscience labs: the Cognitive Dynamics lab and the Aging & Vascular physiology lab. Working in the Cognitive Dynamics psychology lab helped me to understand statistical data analysis of human datasets as well as theoretical cognitive neuroscience topics. Working in the Aging and Vascular Physiology lab allows me to witness and partake in mechanistic research that aligns with a more clinical focus: Alzheimer's disease. Through the AVP lab, I have learned to conduct vascular biology research, which includes techniques for studying blood vessel function ex vivo and cognitive behavior tests in mice."
–Nayantara Arora, neuroscience major, '24