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Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics

Exploring the brain’s activity, at the level of individual neurons and the whole brain, to reveal how we interpret our environments to make decisions.

Goals and Approach

How do our brains understand the world around us to guide fundamental human behaviors? To answer these questions, scientists at the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics are analyzing and tracing the path of neural signals in neural circuits cascading and interacting across the whole brain and body. Their approach is focused on how the brain works rather than what it is made of at a cellular or molecular level. Teams of researchers working collaboratively develop next-generation neuro-technologies that capture massive amounts of data that are shared with the wider scientific community. The goal is to catalyze scientific discovery that will lead to treatments and therapies for brain disorders.

We aim to discover how neurons’ activity – and changes in that activity – allow the brain to perform complex but fundamental computations and drive flexible behaviors.

Our experiments and open resources will shed light on behavior, memory, how we handle uncertainty and risk, how we and other animals chase rewards, and how some or all of these complicated cognitive functions go awry in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, ADHD, or addiction.

Research Projects

Meet our advisors

Neural Dynamics projects

Cell Types & Learning
Investigating how specific brain cell types change their activity during novelty and learning using calcium imaging and spatial transcriptomics.

Dynamic Routing
Studying how the brain flexibly reroutes neural activity during task-switching in mice.

OpenScope
A shared neuroscience platform where global researchers propose experiments that are executed using advanced tools at the Allen Institute.

Single-Cell Computation
Exploring how individual neurons compute by tracking synaptic inputs and outputs at single-synapse resolution in living brains.

Brain-Wide Neuromodulation
Examining how different neuromodulator neuron types influence learning and decision-making across brain networks.

Credit Assignment During Learning
Using brain-computer interfaces and optical mapping to understand how the brain updates synapses during learning without disrupting existing knowledge.