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Scientists at the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics analyze and trace the path of signaling in neural circuits cascading across the whole brain and body.
Our approach is focused on how the parts of the brain work together to produce behavior. Teams of researchers develop next-generation neurotechnologies that capture rich data that are shared with the wider scientific community.
We are doing science in the open. Our data and tools are openly available to the community.
We work in a coordinated manner to address complex and deep scientific challenges, leveraging the joint strengths and expertise of diverse scientists and technical staff.
The Surgery team offers a variety of aseptic rodent surgical procedures ranging from stereotaxic injections to headpost implantation and cranial windowing.
The Neuropixels platform uses pioneering technology for highly reproducible, targeted, brain-wide, cell-type-specific electrophysiology to record neural activity from defined neuron types across the brain.
The Molecular Anatomy platform combines innovative histology, imaging, and analysis techniques to map the morphology and molecular identity of neuron types across the whole brain.
The Fiber Photometry platform enables optical measurement of neural activity in live animals to study neural circuits' function and dynamics in behaving animals.
The Behavior platform uses advanced technology to implement a standardized, modular, multi-task virtual reality gymnasium for mice, with the goal to study brain function across different behaviors at scale.
We are developing and using genetic, electrophysiological, optical, and behavioral approaches to investigate how the brain adaptively controls behavior. The team focuses on understanding the descending circuits that control the execution of actions and how they change when actions are reinforced and refined.
We are using large-scale electrophysiology to study how distributed brain regions coordinate their spiking activity to guide behavior in changing environments.
We are uncovering how neural signals are transmitted from subcortical brain regions via the thalamus to modulate cortical activity and thereby influence behavior.
Open Data from the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics
At the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, we are collecting neurophysiology and behavior data to understand how the neural dynamics across brain-wide circuits drive decision-making and learning. In this tutorial, we will introduce the AIND data resources as well as our open data platform for collaborative research.
The 2026 Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain is an intensive, project-based residential course with a focus on the neurobiology of sensory processing, coding, and neural population dynamics. This program is intended for researchers at the graduate and postdoctoral level with an interest in developing the intersection of their scientific knowledge and their computational skills.
Applications are due February 1, 2026.
