Welcome Dr. Tatsuya Tsukahara

We would like to welcome Dr. Tatsuya Tsukahara (Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto) to the CPIN Program. 

The Tsukahara lab seeks the logic of adaptation, by which neurons use the molecular language – in forms of altered gene and protein expression – to encode diverse signals from the inside and outside world and optimize neural and circuit functions. Adaptation enables the remarkable flexibility of animal behavior in an experience-dependent manner and is one of the most fascinating features of the nervous system; its failure is often associated with neurological disorders such as autism spectrum disorders. Based on Dr. Tsukahara’s recent discovery of a long-term and transcriptional adaptation in primary sensory neurons in the mouse olfactory system, his lab also aims to understand how adaptation at the periphery impacts the brain circuits and behavior across the life span and in disease conditions like autism model mice. His lab employs cutting-edge techniques at the intersection of neuroscience and systems biology, including single-cell and spatial transcriptomics and chromatin profiling, proteomics, calcium and voltage imaging, optogenetics and chemogenetics, and computational behavioral analyses.