About Us

The Cornell Department of Neurobiology and Behavior (NBB), established in 1964, was one of the founding units of the Division of Biological Sciences at Cornell and one of the first programs in the United States to merge neurobiology with the study of animal behavior, making it a pioneering interdisciplinary initiative. As a result, Cornell is recognized as a key birthplace of Neuroethology, the field that studies behavior and neurobiology in a comparative and evolutionary context. The combination of neurobiology and behavior was a bold and innovative idea at the time, driven by the belief that the interface between these disciplines held tremendous research and intellectual potential. This vision has since been realized and emulated by other institutions.

Nationally, the program is renowned for its groundbreaking research in several areas: sensory detection and central nervous system coding of animal communication signals; sensory guidance and orientation through these cues; the generation of motor patterns that govern both simple behaviors like feeding and more complex ones like communication, as well as their modification by neuromodulators and hormones.

Looking ahead, the department is committed to expanding its interdisciplinary focus to encompass emerging areas of study, such as genome biology and computational neuroscience, ensuring the continued growth and leadership of NBB for many decades to come.

Support NBB: Graduate Student Research Fund

Alumni and Faculty have teamed up to establish an endowment that will have a lasting impact on graduate student research in Neurobiology and Behavior. This endowment generates funds devoted exclusively to supporting our in-house program of Research Grants for graduate students, and we need your help to grow it.

Make a tax-deductible donation today!

NBB News

Two people wearing fashionable red, white and black winter clothing sit back to back on a large rock, each holding a book. They are surrounded by snow

Your January 2025 reads

This month’s featured titles – most by A&S authors – include a work of nonfiction about honeybees, a kids’ picture book, and a novel set in rural Nova Scotia.

Neuroscientist Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz wins Scialog Award

“This project sits at the cross-roads of neuroscience, ethology and artificial intelligence."

Evolution is not just survival of the fittest. It’s also survival of the luckiest — and this science proves it

Luck can change life later on. “We wanted to know,” Matthew Zipple, a Postdoctoral Associate in the Sheehan Lab in the neurobiology and behavior department at Cornell University told NPR, “if we create a society where everyone starts out with the same genetics, has access to the same resources in th...

Two mice perched on flowers and facing each other

Mice use their tongues to ‘see’ tactile targets

Cornell scientists have identified the neural pathway mice use to direct the tongue to tactile targets.

Mouse peering out of a white paper cup set in a grassy field

Small wins in early life lead to inequality in adulthood

Lucky breaks in a male mouse’s youth can lead to large advantages in adulthood, especially in groups that compete for food, territory and mates.

Pupil size in sleep reveals how memories are sorted and preserved

The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the pupil is key to understanding how, and when, the brain forms strong, long-lasting memories, Cornell researchers have found.

MouseGoggles offer immersive look into neural activity

Thanks to their genetic makeup, their ability to navigate mazes and their willingness to work for cheese, mice have long been a go-to model for behavioral and neurological studies.

A wooden box covered with bees, with more in the air; Thomas Seeley in a t-shirt and glasses, holding a jar, is watching them.

New book explains mysteries behind bee behavior

"The take-home message from my book is that these small creatures are extremely intelligent. They may well be the most intelligent of all the insects."

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