Michael E. Goldberg

David Mahoney Professor of Brain and Behavior
Columbia University

Michael E. Goldberg is David Mahoney Professor of Brain and Behavior in the departments of neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry and ophthalmology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, director of the Mahoney-Keck Center for Brain and Behavior Research, and is an active clinical neurologist. His neuroscience research focuses on the physiological basis of cognitive processes such as visual attention, spatial perception and decision-making. He earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1968. From 1978 to 2001, Goldberg was a senior investigator at the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a past president of the Society for Neuroscience, and now chair of the society’s Committee on Animals in Research.

Explore more from The Transmitter

A worm made of circuitry.

Whole-brain, bottom-up neuroscience: The time for it is now

Applying new tools to entire brains, starting with C. elegans, offers the opportunity to uncover how molecules work together to generate neural physiology and how neurons work together to generate behavior.

By Edward Boyden, Konrad Körding
20 October 2025 | 9 min read
Collage of fruit fly and money.

Fly database secures funding for another year, but future remains in flux

The FlyBase team’s fundraising efforts have proven successful in the short term, but restoration of its federal grant remains uncertain.

By Calli McMurray
17 October 2025 | 3 min read
Nachum Ulanovsky sits against a black background with one bat in his hands and another with its wings spread above his head.

Diving in with Nachum Ulanovsky

With an eye toward realism, the neuroscientist, who has a new study about bats out today, creates microcosms of the natural world to understand animal behavior.

By Claudia López Lloreda
16 October 2025 | 14 min listen

privacy consent banner

Privacy Preference

We use cookies to provide you with the best online experience. By clicking “Accept All,” you help us understand how our site is used and enhance its performance. You can change your choice at any time. To learn more, please visit our Privacy Policy.