NB&B offers a broad range of courses and research opportunities for undergraduate students, making it the most popular biology concentration at Cornell.
The associated graduate field of Neurobiology and Behavior encompasses all aspects of neuroscience and behavioral research on Cornell’s Ithaca campus. The graduate program's goal is to advance the understanding of neurobiology and behavior by training the next generation of scientists working at this exciting interface.
Academic Resources
Spotlight on BIONB2210/2220
Our teaching mission is to integrate research themes into two flagship courses, BioNB 2210 (Introduction to Behavior) and BioNB 2220 (Introduction to Neuroscience), and to explore them in greater depth in our upper level courses. In the videos below, NBB faculty instructors give an overview of the structure and significance of these two keystone courses:
Student Spotlight: Eliza Baird-Daniel '15
A recent Cornell graduate with a concentration in NBB, Eliza Baird-Daniel fondly remembers her time participating in research in the lab of Professor Jesse Goldberg:
"Dr. Goldberg, in particular, has been an incredible source of encouragement and guidance. I am so honored to have worked with someone who is such a remarkable teacher, and has allowed me the intellectual power and freedom to design experiments and explore scientific questions."
Profiles of Recent NBB Alums
NBB News
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...
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Mice use their tongues to ‘see’ tactile targets
Cornell scientists have identified the neural pathway mice use to direct the tongue to tactile targets.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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Scientists find sleep's secret power. It is related to your memory
Our brain cells remain active while we sleep, allowing for new memories to form. Azahara Oliva, assistant professor of the Neurobiology and Behavior Department at Cornell University is quoted, “This means that memory is a two-fold process, with neural circuits that enhance the consolidation of a...
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Researchers assess whether animals feel emotion
An interdisciplinary group of animal behavior researchers from the fields of biology, psychology, anthropology and philosophy were included in the survey. Klarman Fellow Matthew Zipple is first author.
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