Dan Feldman photo

Research Bio

Dan Feldman is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on sensory processing, synaptic plasticity, and neural circuit function in cerebral cortex.  His work uses electrophysiology, imaging, and computational modeling to reveal how the somatosensory cortex encodes touch, the structure of neural codes in sensory cortex, and how experience modifies neural connections to shape perception and learning. Feldman's work provides insight into the mechanisms for brain plasticity, and how the brain continuously adapts to maintain proper cortical function across age and experience. He also studies the neural circuit mechanisms that drive altered sensory processing in severe genetic forms of autism. 

He is Professor and Chair of the Neuroscience Department, and a member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.  He mentors students in cellular and systems neuroscience.

Research Expertise and Interest

neurobiology, learning, neurophysiology, sensory biology

In the News

Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.
January 24, 2019

Study Reveals 'Inhibition' Theory of Autism is Wrong

Neuroscience News
A study using four mouse models is challenging a long-held hypothesis about the brain's activity in autism. The idea has been that neurons in the brain receive too little inhibition or too much excitation in cases of autism, but the new study indicates that the imbalance could be a response mechanism that helps stabilize a brain affected by the disorder. "Many groups are searching for ways to increase inhibition in the brain, either through drugs or through gene therapy, on the assumption that increasing inhibition will restore the brain back to normal," says molecular and cell biology professor Daniel Feldman, a member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the study's lead author. "But actually, our results suggest that loss of inhibition might represent a useful compensation that the brain is doing, or might be unrelated to disease symptoms. And if you go in there and increase inhibition, you might make things worse or you might not affect things at all." This story originated at Berkeley News. It has been reprinted in more than a dozen sources.
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Teaching

Courses taught during the three most recent terms
2026 Spring

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [MCELLBI 199]  

  • Research  [MCELLBI 292]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [MCELLBI 99]  

  • Honors Research  [MCELLBI H196A]  

  • Honors Research  [MCELLBI H196B]  

  • Circuit, Systems and Behavioral Neuroscience  [NEU 100B]  

  • Senior Research Thesis  [NEU 191]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [NEU 199]  

  • Circuit and Systems Neuroscience  [NEU 250]  

  • Applied Statistics for Neuroscience  [NEU 273]  

  • Neuroscience Graduate Research  [NEU 292]  

  • Neuroscience Research Review  [NEU 295]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [NEU 99]  

  • Honors Research Thesis  [NEU H196A]  

  • Honors Research Thesis  [NEU H196B]  

2025 Fall

  • Research  [MCELLBI 292]  

  • Senior Research Thesis  [NEU 191]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [NEU 199]  

  • Neuroscience Graduate Research  [NEU 292]  

  • Neuroscience Research Review  [NEU 295]  

  • Survey of Neuroscience Research  [NEU 77]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [NEU 99]  

  • Honors Research Thesis  [NEU H196A]  

  • Honors Research Thesis  [NEU H196B]  

2025 Summer

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [MCELLBI 199]  

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [MCELLBI 199]  

2025 Spring

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [MCELLBI 199]  

  • Research Review in Neurobiology: Sensory Processing and Plasticity in Cerebral Cortex  [MCELLBI 269Q]  

  • Research  [MCELLBI 292]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [MCELLBI 99]  

  • Honors Research  [MCELLBI H196A]  

  • Honors Research  [MCELLBI H196B]  

  • Circuit, Systems and Behavioral Neuroscience  [NEU 100B]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [NEU 199]  

  • Neuroscience Graduate Research  [NEU 292]  

  • Neuroscience Research Review  [NEU 295]  

  • Survey of Neuroscience Research  [NEU 77]  

  • Supervised Independent Study  [NEU 99]  

  • Honors Research Thesis  [NEU H196A]  

  • Honors Research Thesis  [NEU H196B]