Nikolay Kukushkin

Nikolay Kukushkin

Clinical Associate Professor of Life Science

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Nikolay Kukushkin is a clinical associate professor of life science at Liberal Studies and a research fellow at the Center for Neural Science, NYU. He holds a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Oxford and a bachelor's degree in biology from St. Petersburg State University. His research deals with the role of time patterns in memory formation. His academic work has been published in Nature Communications, Nature Medicine, Neuron, and PNAS among others. He is the author of a bestselling, award-winning book One Hand Clapping: Unraveling The Mystery of the Human Mind.

A close-up of a spotted nudibranch with translucent, pointed cerata on a brown underwater branch against a black background, inviting reflection on the intricate nature of consciousness in marine life.
In this excerpt from "One Hand Clapping," Nikolay Kukushkin makes the case that neurons reveal how memory, meaning, and even consciousness emerge from the same biological roots in humans, sea slugs, and beyond.