In the real world, flexible behavior arises from the constant interplay between the channeling guidance of instinct and the molding hand of learning. More than a half-century of research in neuroscience has delineated finely balanced mechanisms that empower the brain to continuously update itself with each new experience. Simultaneously, work in parallel has revealed the genetic and neural circuit architecture of instincts that endow species subject to diverse pressures with an edge for survival. Modern behavioral neuroscience requires a nuanced, multilevel conception of what it means for behavior to be innate. Instinctive patterns bias and constrain what can be learned, and learning can influence the selection of innate actions, a negotiation that Peter Marler termed 鈥榯he instinct to learn.鈥� The broad goal of my research program is to understand mechanistically how this negotiation plays out in neural circuitry. My lab is therefore working to synthesize: 1) Concepts and approaches developed by groups that have deconstructed the elements of animal learning using complex structured tasks, with 2) An ethological perspective borrowed from the rich literature on genetically-specified and hard-wired circuits that execute the most primitive biological imperatives.
For my first decade as an independent PI, my research program focused on the proximal mechanisms for social communication: detecting and interpreting social signals in sensory systems. In the coming decade, my lab will ask deeper questions about the mechanisms of social cognition听and how they are they are impaired in neurodevelopmental disorders. These include:听How do organisms use individual pieces of social information to assign value to social actions and partners? How do they coordinate social decision making across widespread brain networks?听听and, How do emotional processing circuits interact with sensory data to assign significance to social cues?听Asking these complex questions will require innovative and thoughtful approaches to behavior. In each case, behavioral responses reflect the modulation of innate behaviors by context and experience
Brains on babies
May 21, 2026
Are some animals built for babysitting? CSHL postdoc Katie Day unpacks the 鈥渄opamine loops鈥� underlying maternal behavior.
Mind-blowing neuroscience research
July 22, 2025
Over the last year, CSHL has made many key discoveries in brain development and neurological conditions, from autism to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
A perception quiz to blow your mind
March 26, 2025
Ready to think differently about how you see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and make sense of the world around you?
Mixed signals: How the brain interprets social cues
January 6, 2025
A new discovery from CSHL鈥檚 Shea lab helps explain how the brain processes multisensory information. It may have big implications for autism research.
At the Lab Season 1 Research Rewind: Neuroscience
October 15, 2024
What do you think? How do you know? And who are you anyway? We probe each of these questions with the help of Cold Spring Harbor鈥檚 neuroscientists.
Cocktails & Chromosomes: Of mice and moms
June 13, 2024
The latest installment in our public science talk series fell right between Mother鈥檚 Day and Father鈥檚 Day. CSHL鈥檚 Stephen Shea took it from there.
At the Lab Episode 6: Supermoms to the rescue
May 7, 2024
Happy almost Mother鈥檚 Day! What drives a supermom to come to the rescue when her child is upset? CSHL鈥檚 Stephen Shea shares the biological backstory.
Animal behavior quiz
December 20, 2023
Take this short quiz to see how much you know about the science of social behavior.
Reactivate, repurpose, and rewire the brain
October 4, 2023
New CSHL research on Rett syndrome could also have implications for autism spectrum disorders, dementia, and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
CSHL celebrates 20th graduating class
May 9, 2023
Friends, family, and faculty applauded 11 Ph.D. recipients at the CSHL School of Biological Sciences鈥� 2023 commencement.
All Publications
25 Jun 2025 | Neuroscience Research | 218:104928
Day, Katherine; Shea, Stephen;
26 Nov 2024 | Current Biology
Nowlan, Alexandra; Choe, Jane; Tromblee, Hoda; Kelahan, Clancy; Hellevik, Karin; Shea, Stephen;
16 Oct 2024 | bioRxiv
Kelberman, Michael; Rodberg, Ellen; Arabzadeh, Ehsan; Bair-Marshall, Chloe; Berridge, Craig; Berrocoso, Esther; Breton-Provencher, Vincent; Chandler, Daniel; Che, Alicia; Davy, Oscar; Devilbiss, David; Downs, Anthony; Drummond, Gabrielle; Dvorkin, Roman; Fazlali, Zeinab; Froemke, Robert; Glennon, Erin; Gold, Joshua; Ito, Hiroki; Jiang, Xiaolong; Johansen, Joshua; Kaye, Alfred; Kim, Jenny; Kuo, Chao-Cheng; Liu, Rong-Jian; Liu, Yang; Llorca-Torralba, Meritxell; McCall, Jordan; McElligott, Zoe; McKinney, Andrew; Miguelez, Cristina; Min, Ming-Yuan; Nowlan, Alexandra; Omrani, Mohsen; Poe, Gina; Pickering, Anthony; Ranjbar-Slamloo, Yadollah; Razquin, Jone; Rodenkirch, Charles; Sales, Anna; Satyasambit, Rath; Shea, Stephen; Sur, Mriganka; Tkaczynski, John; Torres-Sanchez, Sonia; Uematsu, Akira; Vazquez, Chayla; Vreven, Amelien; Wang, Qi; Waterhouse, Barry; Yang, Hsiu-Wen; Yang, Jen-Hau; Zhao, Liping; Zouridis, Ioannis; Weinshenker, David; Vazey, Elena; Totah, Nelson;
24 Aug 2023 | Journal of Neuroscience | :JN-RM
Rupert, Deborah; Pagliaro, Alexa; Choe, Jane; Shea, Stephen;
25 Jul 2023 | Cell Reports | 42(7):112771
Corona, Alberto; Choe, Jane; Muñoz-Castañeda, Rodrigo; Osten, Pavel; Shea, Stephen;
31 Jan 2023 | bioRxiv
Rupert, Deborah; Pagliaro, Alexa; Choe, Jane; Shea, Stephen;
13 Dec 2022 | Neuron | :S0896-6273(22)01073
Xie, Yunyao; Huang, Longwen; Corona, Alberto; Pagliaro, Alexa; Shea, Stephen;
2022 | bioRxiv
Corona, Alberto; Choe, Jane; Muñoz-Castañeda, Rodrigo; Osten, Pavel; Shea, Stephen;
20 Oct 2022 | Nature Neuroscience
Furlan, Alessandro; Corona, Alberto; Boyle, Sara; Sharma, Radhashree; Rubino, Rachel; Habel, Jill; Gablenz, Eva; Giovanniello, Jacqueline; Beyaz, Semir; Janowitz, Tobias; Shea, Stephen; Li, Bo;
23 Aug 2022 | Cell Reports | 40(8):111262
Yoles-Frenkel, Michal; Shea, Stephen; Davison, Ian; Ben-Shaul, Yoram;