Dr. Ning-long Xu is the Head of the Laboratory of Neural Basis of Perception. He received his B.S. degree in Bioengineering from Si Chuan University (1999) and his Ph.D. degree in Neurobiology from the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2006. After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Xu conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Zach Mainen at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (2006-2008) and with Dr. Jeff Magee at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus (2008-2013). Dr. Xu joined ION as a Principal Investigator in August 2013, and was promoted as Senior Investigator in 2020. His research combines novel behavioral task designs with advanced neuronal imaging and circuit manipulation technologies to investigate neural circuit mechanisms underlying fundamental cognitive functions, including perception and decision-making.