Benjamin Cowley

Benjamin Cowley is an Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), leading the Cowley Laboratory. He holds a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University (2018) and completed postdoctoral research at Princeton University. His research focuses on computational neuroscience, developing data-driven models to understand neural computations in sensory processing and behavior. Cowley’s work emphasizes adaptive stimulus selection and compact model development to interpret brain activity efficiently.

Education:

• Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 2018
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University, Princeton Neuroscience Institute

Research Interests: Cowley’s group studies neural circuit models and machine learning applications to decode how the brain processes sensory information. They leverage closed-loop experiments and deep neural networks to uncover computations underlying visual perception and social behavior in organisms like fruit flies. Key areas include model interpretability, neural population dynamics, and the interplay between neural activity and decision-making.

Publications: Recent work includes high-impact studies on population codes for social behavior (Nature, 2024), compact neural network models (bioRxiv, 2023), and neural drift signatures (Neuron, 2020). These contributions highlight his interdisciplinary approach to bridging theory and experimental neuroscience.

Lab & Teams: The Cowley Laboratory at CSHL fosters collaboration between computational and experimental neuroscientists. Their work aims to advance AI-driven insights into neural mechanisms, with implications for therapeutic applications and artificial intelligence.