CMU Neuroscience Institute

We have openings for a Senior Academic Program Coordinator and a Assistant Professor tenure-track position in Neuro-Technology.
Apply here:
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The Long Game: Years of CMU Discoveries Drive New Parkinson's Treatment - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University For more than a decade, Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Aryn Gittis has been unraveling the mystery of how the brain controls movement. Her research is now pointing toward new treatments for...

"For more than a decade, Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Aryn Gittis has been unraveling the mystery of how the brain controls movement. Her research is now pointing toward new treatments for Parkinson’s disease."

www.cmu.edu/ni/news/2025...

Elizabeth Lee Awarded 2025 Sutherland-Merlino Fellowship - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon first-year Ph.D. student recognized for academic excellence, interdisciplinary research and commitment to community

Carnegie Mellon University’s Neuroscience Institute has awarded Elizabeth Lee, a first-year Ph.D. student in the Program in Neural Computation (PNC), the 2025 Sutherland-Merlino Fellowship.

tinyurl.com/ymaw6nvx

Senior Academic Program Coordinator - Neuroscience Institute Carnegie Mellon University is a private, global research university that stands among the world’s most renowned education institutions. Understanding how the brain works is one of the biggest puzzles ...

We have an opening for a Senior Academic Program Coordinator at the Pittsburgh campus. We are looking for a dynamic individual to add to our team to provide administrative and programmatic support to a new Masters program within the Neuroscience Institute: tinyurl.com/27w9mvcs

At Tuesday’s Pirates-Cubs game, fans joined CMU neuroscientists to learn about the neuroscience of baseball at PNC Park for the first of our “Teach-Out” series, designed to highlight the value of science through direct public engagement.

#CMU #cmuscience #neuroscience #baseball #PittsburghPirates

Better screening tool for sickle cell disease progression - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Researchers explore near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a non-invasive screening tool for adults with sickle cell disease, advancing prior studies by measuring dynamic cerebral autoregulation and res...

"Researchers explore NIRS as a non-invasive screening tool for adults with sickle cell disease, advancing prior studies by measuring dynamic cerebral autoregulation and responses during breathing to better assess oxygenation and aging-related mechanisms."

www.cmu.edu/ni/news/scre...

YouTube video by Brain Inspired BI 219 Xaq Pitkow: Principles and Constraints of Cognition

On the latest Brain Inspired podcast episode, Xaq Pitkow shares his principles to study cognition in our imperfect brains and bodies, and how AI and machine learning are contributing to our efforts to understand brains and minds.

youtu.be/ugorctvkCa0?...

An Alphabet For Hand Actions in the Human Brain - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University According to a new study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Coimbra, the human brain has a specialized system that builds these actions in a surprisingly systematic w...

"Using a corkscrew, writing a letter with a pen or unlocking a door by turning a key are actions that seem simple but actually require a complex orchestration of precise movements. So, how does the brain do it?"

#neuroscience #CMU #psychology #carnegiemellonuniversity

tinyurl.com/na3w8dbc

Laurie Heller Is Changing How We Understand, and Potentially Treat, Misophonia - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Throughout her career, Laurie Heller has listened closely — not just to words, but to sound itself. In the Auditory Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, the psychology professor explores how the brain i...

"Heller estimates that at least 5% of young adults in the United States experience misophonia. They don’t just dislike sounds like chewing or pen clicking. Sounds can trigger real emotional or even physical discomfort, interfering with work, relationships and daily life."

tinyurl.com/hf9m5ru8

What Happens in the Brain When it Learns Something New - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Memories of significant learning experiences — like the first time a driver gets a speeding ticket — are sharp, compared to the recollection of everyday events — like what someone ate for dinner two w...

"The discovery, while seemingly intuitive, could have widespread implications for understanding how humans learn and inform new ways to address learning challenges."

tinyurl.com/5n8jyy77

Brown Awards Shinn-Cunningham BEAM Award - Mellon College of Science - Carnegie Mellon University Brown University's School of Engineering recognized Barbara Shinn-Cunningham as its 2025 Brown Engineering Alumni Medal winner.

🎉 Congratulations to Glen de Vries Dean of MCS, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham on receiving the 2025 Brown Engineering Alumni Medal (BEAM)!🏅The award annually honors engineering graduates of Brown University who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in their careers. #womeninstem @barbsc.bsky.social

Awesome work completed by @reecedkeller.bsky.social, graduate student in the Program of Neural Computation and president of the Neuroscience Institute Student Organization! #NeuroAI

Physics Powers Li's Neuroscience Discoveries - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Physics underpins how the universe works. For recent Carnegie Mellon University graduate and future physician-scientist Yunshu Li, it's a gateway to breakthroughs in medicine and neuroscience.

Physics 🤝 Neuroscience

Yunshu Li, a recent CMU physics grad, earned the Fugassi & Monteverde Award for her interdisciplinary approach to neuroscience research, studying how the brain processes & isolates specific sounds in noisy settings 🔊🧠 @barbsc.bsky.social

Read more about her CMU experience ⬇️

Setting the SCENE for Neuroscience Breakthroughs - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University CMU and Pitt researchers selected for $80M Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE), a 10-year initiative exploring how the brain encodes perception into action.

CMU and Pitt researchers Xaq Pitkow and Aaron Batista join the $80 million Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE), a 10-year initiative bridging neuroscience and machine learning to study perception and action in natural environments. Read more about their research focus and goals ⬇️

CMU Neuroscientist Has Big Plans for Guggenheim Fellowship - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Timothy Verstynen has always been fascinated by how organisms explore their environments — from the human quest to map the surfaces of distant planets to the itty-bitty journeys of single-celled bacte...

Tim Verstynen, Interim Director of the NI, has been awarded the 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship! 👏

Awarded annually to "trailblazing artists and scholars," Tim will be inducted into the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows on June 2.

Read more about his upcoming "exploration of exploration."
🌎 ⬇️

Congratulations to our Ph.D. graduates! 🎓🎉

On May 9th, the Neuroscience Institute proudly celebrated five students completing the Program in Neural Computation and the PNC/Machine Learning Joint Program.

Best wishes for your continued success - we look forward to seeing all that you achieve!

Advancing Neuroscience While Removing Racial Bias - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University In 2017, a family member volunteered to be part of Jasmine Kwasa’s (ENG 2021) auditory neuroscience experiments using EEGs. Jasmine pointed out that “Black hair and EEGs don’t get along,” and was stru...

Jasmine Kwasa, current post-doc fellow at the Neuroscience Institute, was recently recognized as one of this years "Tartans on the Rise", which celebrates select CMU alumni for their leadership, innovation, and career achievements 🎉 👏

Read more about how she develops accessible, unbiased EEG tech ⬇️

Research Rising Stars: SURF Students Take on Complex Biomedical Challenges - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program provides funding for undergraduates to work full time on research projects during the summer. Many students continu...

"Research is about a lot of failures...(but) progress comes from knowing why things failed and then building on it," says CMU undergrad Anyssa Oden, who shares her research journey through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program in this featured article! ⬇️ #CMU #undergradresearch

Keen Mind - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Barbara Shinn-Cunningham Installed as Glen De Vries Dean of the Mellon College of Science

The Queen is officially in! Last week, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, founding director of the Neuroscience Institute, was installed as Glen De Vries Dean of the Mellon College of Science. We are all so excited to see the positive impacts her leadership and direction will bring! Congratulations Barb!!🎉

How does the brain work?

Scientists are closer to the answer with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. 🧵

🧠📈

Chase elected to AIMBE College of Fellows - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced that Steven Chase, professor of biomedical engineering and the Neuroscience Institute, has been inducted into its Co...

Congratulations to Steve Chase, professor in BME and the Neuroscience Institute, for his recent induction into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows!! 🎉 Learn more about this distinguished achievement and Chase's outstanding work below! #CMU

Neuroscience Institute Celebration 2025! 🎉 It’s always a fun time when students, faculty, and administrators at the NI get together! Huge thanks to Velum Fermentation for providing such a fun and active place for us, and to Cold Friends Kitchen for their hard work and amazing food!

"What makes an artificial system a good model of intelligence?" Researchers at CMU are addressing this question with a focus on artificial brain models.

Read more about how the proposed "NeuroAI Turing Test" offers a standard benchmark to develop "truly brain-like AI"! arxiv.org/abs/2502.16238

Carl Olson, Professor of the Neuroscience Institute at CMU, died Nov. 23, 2024. Carl was a renowned neuroscientist who provided insights into fundamental issues in the neural basis of cognition. Read more about Carl's life and legacy in his published obituary. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Teaching computational neuroscience on the African continent - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University CMU-Africa, CMU-Pittsburgh, and the non-profit TReND in Africa held a summer school focused on computational neuroscience and machine learning. What began as an idea from two postdocs turned into a hi...

In 2024, CMU-Africa, CMU-Pittsburgh, and the non-profit TReND in Africa held the CaMinA summer program in Kigali, Rwanda. There, students received both theoretical and hands-on training in basic concepts of computational neuroscience and machine learning. Learn more in this featured article! #CMU

A New Minimally Invasive Method for Deep Brain Stimulation - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Allegheny Health Network have developed a new method for deep brain stimulation. The technique, called “DeepFocus,” uses transcranial electrical stimula...

Researchers from CMU and Allegheny Health Network have developed a new method for deep brain stimulation. “DeepFocus” offers a steerable, minimally invasive and more accurate way to treat deep brain areas in comparison to implants or traditional scalp electrodes. Read more in this featured article!

Researchers Propose Framework to Identify Food Selectivity Origins in the Brain - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Human evolution has revolved around food, from identifying and foraging for it to growing and preparing it. Carnegie Mellon University researchers have identified a region in the brain's visual cortex...

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have identified a region in the brain's visual cortex that responds to food. They've developed a theoretical framework that could explain the origins of this selectivity. Read more in this featured article or in their Trend in Neuroscience paper! #food #brain

Developmental Psychologists and Statisticians Come Together To Ensure Research Tools Measure Up - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Developmental Psychologists and Statisticians Come Together To Ensure Research Tools Measure Up

Developmental psychologists and statisticians team up to investigate the accuracy and reliability of research tools used to assess how children learn. Read more about how CMU researchers statistically evaluate spatial arrangement tasks with nontraditional data in this featured article! #research

Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellows Map Language in the Brain - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University’s Neuroscience Institute (NI) aims to attract diverse, world-class talent and create an unmatched collaborative community. Its Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Program ...

The NI's Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Program invites early career applicants to collaborate with university-wide faculty working on brain research. Read more on how the two newest fellows, Julien Dirani & Chiara Repetti-Ludlow, map language in the brain! www.cmu.edu/ni/news/dist...

Neuroscience Institute Spurs Collaboration, New Discoveries - Neuroscience Institute - Carnegie Mellon University Key discoveries in modern neuroscience rely on transdisciplinary approaches, linking biology, cognitive psychology, computer science, statistics and engineering. Tackling the toughest and most impactf...

The Neuroscience Institute at CMU brings together interdisciplinary expertise to understand & improve brain function, invent & apply novel neural technologies & tools, and educate the next generation of neuroscience leaders.
Click to learn about NI's achievements & goals:
www.cmu.edu/ni/news/neur...