Michael Goard

Michael Goard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), part of the College of Letters & Science. His lab focuses on understanding cortical circuits underlying visual processing, decision-making, and navigation using advanced techniques like two-photon calcium imaging, optogenetics, and electrophysiology. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from Reed College (2004) and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UC Berkeley (2009). As a postdoc at MIT, he pioneered methods for imaging and manipulating neural activity in behaving mice.

His research explores how the brain integrates sensory information with internal states to guide behavior, with a focus on retrosplenial cortex circuits linking environmental context to motor choices. He has received grants from the NIH BRAIN Initiative, NSF NeuroNex, and the Whitehall Foundation. His lab is supported by the Hellman Fellows Fund and the Harvey Karp Discovery Award, among others.

Key contributions include discoveries about stimulus-dependent neural drift in primary visual cortex, stable naturalistic movie representation, and the role of retinoic acid in retinal degeneration mitigation. The lab collaborates within UCSB's vibrant neuroscience community and employs cutting-edge tools to study spatial navigation, decision-making, and cortical circuit dynamics.

• Education: B.A. Psychology (Reed College), Ph.D. Neuroscience (UC Berkeley)
• Techniques: Two-photon imaging, optogenetics, electrophysiology
• Awards: NIH BRAIN Initiative Grant (2021), Whitehall Foundation Grant (2019), Hellman Fellowship (2017)
• Lab Affiliations: UCSB Neuroscience Research Institute, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics collaborations