Mu Yang

Director of the Mouse NeuroBehavior Core
Columbia University Medical Center

Mu Yang is a behavioral neuroscientist and the director of the Mouse NeuroBehavior Core at Columbia University Medical Center. She received training in animal behavior and neuroethology in the lab of the late Robert Blanchard at the University of Hawaii, where she earned her Ph.D. In 2006, she joined the lab of Jacqueline Crawley at the National Institute of Mental Health for postdoctoral training. She spent 2012 to 2016 as an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and a faculty member at the MIND Institute at the University California, Davis. In 2016, she joined Columbia’s Institute for Genomic Medicine to lead the university’s first centralized state-of-the-art mouse behavior phenotyping facility. Since summer 2017, her team has provided testing and data analysis services to over 30 Columbia research groups.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Shifting neural code powers speech comprehension

Dynamic coding helps explain how the brain processes multiple features of speech—from the smallest units of sounds to full sentences—simultaneously.

By Claudia López Lloreda
5 March 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of astrocytes in a mouse brain.

Astrocytes orchestrate oxytocin’s social effects in mice

The cells amplify oxytocin—and may be responsible for sex differences in social behavior, two preprints find.

By Holly Barker
4 March 2026 | 5 min read
Tick on a leaf raises its forelegs.

Neuro’s ark: Spying on the secret sensory world of ticks

Carola Städele, a self-proclaimed “tick magnet,” studies the arachnids’ sensory neurobiology—in other words, how these tiny parasites zero in on their next meal.

By Calli McMurray
3 March 2026 | 6 min read

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.