Michael C. Wiest, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Wellesley College, where he investigates the neural basis of perception and consciousness. His work has implications for understanding human disorders that disrupt perceptual integration, such as Alzheimer’s disease, dyslexia, and attention deficit disorders.

His research aims to uncover how distributed patterns of neural activity in the brain are integrated to produce coherent sensory experiences. To explore these questions, Wiest focuses on sensory integration in rodents, recording electrical activity from large populations of neurons during behavioral tasks that require accurate sensory discrimination.

Wiest is deeply committed to undergraduate education and mentorship. He teaches a range of neuroscience courses, from introductory classes to advanced seminars. His teaching includes an intermediate course on neurophysiology and behavior, an upper-level course in computational neuroscience emphasizing mathematical modeling and simulation, and a first-year seminar exploring intelligence and consciousness across biological and artificial systems. In the laboratory, students gain experience with core neuroscientific techniques, including electrophysiological recordings and histological analysis.

He earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College and both his M.S. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Outside of academia, Wiest enjoys playing rock and roll guitar, backpacking, and practicing aikido.