Anthony Zador
Professor
The Alle Davis and Maxine Harrison Professor of Neurosciences
M.D., Ph.D., Yale University, 1994
zador@cshl.edu | (516) 367-6950
My lab studies how circuitry in the brain gives rise to complex behaviors, one of nature’s great mysteries. We study how the auditory cortex processes sound, and how this is interrupted in autism. We also seek to obtain a wiring diagram of the mouse brain at the resolution of individual neurons. Our unusual approach exploits cheap and rapid “next-gen” gene sequencing technology.
Anthony Zador and colleagues study how brain circuitry gives rise to complex behavior. Work in the lab is focused on two main areas. First, they ask how the cortex processes sound, how that processing is modulated by attention, and how it is disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism. Recently, the lab found that when a rat makes a decision about a sound, the information needed to make the decision is passed to a particular subset of neurons in the auditory cortex whose axons project to a structure called the striatum. In the second major line of work in the Zador lab, they are developing new methods for determining the complete wiring instructions of the mouse brain at single-neuron resolution, which they term the “Connectome.” In contrast to previous methods, which make use of microscopy, these methods exploit high-throughput DNA sequencing. Because the costs of DNA sequencing are plummeting so rapidly, these methods have the potential to yield the complete wiring diagram of an entire brain for just thousands of dollars.
Watson School alumni spotlights
May 19, 2019
This year, Watson School celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first entering class and looks back at some notable alumni from over the years.
Watson School 2019 Ph.D.s
May 19, 2019
Seven students were awarded Ph.D. degrees from Watson School this May. Here, they reflect on their time at the Laboratory as they look to the future.
The year of CRISPR
December 26, 2018
A look at the various labs across CSHL that utilize CRISPR in their research, and the groundbreaking discoveries they help uncover.
Dr. Zador wins Transformative Investigator award
August 8, 2018
CSHL professor Anthony Zador wins Gill Symposium prize for his innovative work on MAPseq
Portrait of a Neuroscience Powerhouse
April 27, 2018
A relatively small neuroscience group at CSHL is having an outsized impact on a dynamic and highly competitive field
Revolutionary brain-mapping technique provides new blueprint for cortical connections
March 28, 2018
Researchers used MAPseq, a revolutionary brain mapping method, to make a discovery that will force neuroscientists to rethink how areas of the cortex
New leadership roles in BRAIN Initiative and International Brain Lab reflect CSHL’s excellence in neuroscience
October 24, 2017
The BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network establishes a Center and a Collaboratory for the Mouse Brain Cell Atlas at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
The brain atlas
December 14, 2016
This episode of BasePairs looks at the problems of neuropsychiatric drug discovery, and the method by which they may soon be resolved.
Revolutionary method to map the brain at single-neuron resolution is successfully demonstrated
August 19, 2016
MAPseq can trace the long-range projections of large numbers of individual neurons from a specific region to wherever they lead in the brain.
If you thought all neuroscientists work with neurons, you’re wrong
February 25, 2016
Neuroscientists talk about the importance of the intersections between theory and experiment, and how it has shaped their work.
Znamenskiy, P. and Zador, A. M. (2013) Corticostriatal neurons in auditory cortex drive decisions during auditory discrimination. Nature, 497 pp. 482-485.
Zador, A. M. and Dubnau, J. and Oyibo, H. K. and Zhan, H. and Cao, G. and Peikon, I. D. (2012) Sequencing the Connectome. PLoS Biology, 10(10)
Jaramillo, E. S. and Zador, A. M. (2010) The auditory cortex mediates the perceptual effects of acoustic temporal expectation. Nat Neurosci, 14(2) pp. 246-51.
Otazu, G. H. and Tai, L. H. and Yang, Y. and Zador, A. M. (2009) Engaging in an auditory task suppresses responses in auditory cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 12(5) pp. 646 - 654 .
Wehr, M. and Zador, A. M. (2003) Balanced inhibition underlies tuning and sharpens spike timing in auditory cortex. Nature, 426(6965) pp. 442-6.
Additional materials of the author atCSHL Institutional Repository