This is an image of the mouse nasal cavity taken using confocal microscopy. Pictured are the nasal turbinates, cribiform plate and olfactory sensory neurons. Olfactory sensory neurons are labeled in cyan.

Neuroscience Institute

Facilitating scientific excellence, collaboration, education, and networking between neuroscientists at Penn State

The Neuroscience Institute: Where Insights Turn Unknowns Into Breakthroughs
Learn more about our newly launched undergraduate degree programs in neuroscience here


The Penn State Neuroscience Institute (PSNI) provides oversight and coordination for neuroscience-related activities in education, research, patient care, and outreach while promoting an intellectual environment that enhances the interdisciplinary neuroscience educational experience from the undergraduate to postdoctoral levels.

PSNI at University Park is comprised of over 125 faculty, and over 75 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff. Faculty in the institute provide immersive research experiences to over 350 undergraduate students.

Click here to learn more about the recent BIG10 Neuroscience Annual Meeting July 21-22, 2025 at the University Park campus.

Learn more about how your support of the Institute can help accelerate the speed at which we solve the brain and the mind

Penn State Neuroscience Institute Tagline: Where insights turn unknowns into breakthroughs Our Priorities A Vibrant, Multidisciplinary Neuroscience Community at University Park 120+ faculty affiliates 6–10 post-doctoral fellows 60+ graduate students representing over 12 graduate programs 350+ undergraduate students involved in research representing over 30 distinct majors Strong Integration & Collaboration with Other Centers One Health Microbiome Center Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics Center for Reproductive Biology and Health Center for Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Bidirectional Partnerships that Strengthen Impact Penn State College of Medicine Approximately 25% of University Park faculty actively collaborate with College of Medicine investigators Pillars of Excellence 1. Environmental and Behavioral Neuroscience Focus on interactions between environment, behavior, and neural systems. 2. Brain Development and Aging Research spanning infancy through older adulthood. 3. Neuroplasticity, Mental Health, and Addiction Understanding brain adaptability, psychiatric health, and substance use disorders. 4. Neural Engineering, Biodevices, & Artificial Intelligence Advancing technology-driven neuroscience and computational tools.

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News

Novel biogel may solve a hairy problem for wearable brain-monitoring systems

A vital tool for healthcare practitioners, electroencephalography (EEG) systems measure electrical activity in the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp, but getting reliable readings can be surprisingly difficult. Hair interferes with contact between the electrodes and skin, and the gels used to improve those connections often dry out over time, weakening signal quality. Researchers at Penn State have developed a reusable material designed to solve both problems at once. The material is a thermoreversible semiconducting ionic biogel, meaning it becomes liquid when gently heated so it can move through hair and reach the scalp, then returns to a stable gel as it cools, keeping its conducting and semiconducting character.

$3M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. To better understand the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce this biological memory and exaggerated fear response, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

Dipanjan Pan named Huck director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems

Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has named Dipanjan Pan, Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor in Nanomedicine and professor of materials science and engineering and of nuclear engineering, to serve as the Huck’s first director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

News

Novel biogel may solve a hairy problem for wearable brain-monitoring systems

A vital tool for healthcare practitioners, electroencephalography (EEG) systems measure electrical activity in the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp, but getting reliable readings can be surprisingly difficult. Hair interferes with contact between the electrodes and skin, and the gels used to improve those connections often dry out over time, weakening signal quality. Researchers at Penn State have developed a reusable material designed to solve both problems at once. The material is a thermoreversible semiconducting ionic biogel, meaning it becomes liquid when gently heated so it can move through hair and reach the scalp, then returns to a stable gel as it cools, keeping its conducting and semiconducting character.

$3M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. To better understand the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce this biological memory and exaggerated fear response, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

Dipanjan Pan named Huck director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems

Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has named Dipanjan Pan, Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor in Nanomedicine and professor of materials science and engineering and of nuclear engineering, to serve as the Huck’s first director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

How can the same genetic mutation lead to different clinical outcomes?

Individuals that share the same deletion of a portion of chromosome 16 are at risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, but some experience severe intellectual disability or developmental delay, while others may only exhibit milder psychiatric features like depression or anxiety. How can this be? To answer this, a team led by Penn State scientists has developed methods to evaluate how genetic variants elsewhere in an individual’s genome work with the deletion to help determine the features that the individual will manifest.