Daniel Llano

Dr. Daniel Llano is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, with additional affiliations at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Carle Neuroscience Institute. His research bridges basic and clinical neuroscience, focusing on auditory processing, aging, and neurodegenerative disorders.

Research Interests:

• Elucidating corticocollicular circuits in complex sound processing
• Investigating thalamic reticular nucleus dynamics in sensory modulation
• Exploring aging/Alzheimer's disease-related auditory network dysfunction

Laboratory Approach: Combines electrophysiology, optogenetics, super-resolution ultrasound imaging, and computational modeling to study layer-specific cortical projections and pathological auditory changes.

Students & Collaborators: Mentors graduate students in neuroscience and audiology programs, collaborating with Duke University's Pengfei Song and SIU School of Medicine's Donald Caspary.