Faculty Directory

Francis, Nikolas

Francis, Nikolas

Assistant Professor
Brain and Behavior Institute
Biology
1205 Bioscience Research Building
Website(s):

Dr. Francis is Assistant Professor at UMD at the Brain and Behavior Institute with joint appointment in the Department of Biology. His research combines methods in animal behavior, neurophysiology, and data analysis to advance our understanding of how we listen to sound. Dr. Francis received his Ph.D. from MIT in 2011, where he used otoacoustic emissions to study brainstem control of the human cochlea. His post-doctoral work at UMD investigated the neural basis of auditory attention, memory, and decision-making, using 2-photon imaging and multi-channel electrophysiology in auditory cortex.

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Researcher Beats His Own Drum in Considering How Brains Process and Understand Sound

Every time Francis crashes a cymbal, taps a tom-tom or brushes a snare drum, it’s both an art and a science.

Nikolas Francis on the Neurophysiology of Listening

New Brain and Behavior Institute and Department of Biology faculty hire brings wide-ranging expertise to collaborative neuroscience endeavors at UMD.

UMD researchers find listening to sound changes how neurons interact within the brain

The brain encodes not only the acoustical properties of sounds, but also the behavioral meanings and decisions we make based on what we hear.

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