The brain’s ability to recognize and tune out sensory stimuli produced by the body’s own actions — to distinguish ‘self’ from ‘other’ — is a long recognized, yet poorly understood, biological phenomenon. Nathanial Sawtell, a principal investigator at Columbia’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, focuses his research on uncovering how it works.

New findings may help understand the processes that contribute to conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, epilepsy, and schizophrenia — and could lead to the development of drugs to counteract these conditions.

Columbia scientists have identified a gene that allows neurons that release serotonin — a neurotransmitter that regulates mood and emotions — to evenly spread their branches throughout the brain. Without this gene, these neuronal branches become entangled, leading to haphazard distribution of serotonin, and signs of depression in mice.

Dr. Jacqueline Gottlieb talks about what her latest research has revealed, what it could mean for people with attention deficit disorder and how it might improve artificial intelligence.

The results of a study by Columbia researchers suggest that a breakdown in the synchronized behavior of small group of brain cells could produce the classic disordered thinking and perceptions associated with schizophrenia.