Associate Professor
Kavli Institute for Brain Science
Columbia University
Randy Bruno is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Columbia University and the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. He earned his Ph.D. in Neurobiology with Professor Daniel J. Simons at the University of Pittsburgh and performed postdoctoral research with the Nobel laureate Bert Sakmann at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Bruno’s own laboratory investigates how the circuitry of the thalamus and cerebral cortex enables sensation, perception, and decision making. His lab recently discovered that the upper layers and deep layers of the cortex comprise two separate systems, which can operate independently. His major current effort is to understand the computational and behavioral roles of these two halves of the cortex. Experiments in the lab utilize the barrel system, which mediates rodents’ sense of touch with their large facial whiskers. This facilitates electrophysiology, cellular imaging, and optogenetic experiments during controlled behaviors.