Arkarup Banerjee
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., CSHL School of Biological Sciences, 2016
abanerjee@cshl.edu | 516-367-6878
During a conversation, our brain must interpret what we hear and control our vocal response. How does the brain transform these auditory sensations into action? My laboratory uses singing mice as a model system to investigate the neural circuits in the brain that underlie vocal communication in mammals.
Social animals must interact with each other to cooperate and compete. Using sounds for such interactions is common across many taxa. Humans engaged in conversation, for example, take rapid turns to go back and forth–a feat that most of us tend to perform effortlessly, but which breaks down during neuropsychiatric disorders. Our understanding of neural circuits that underlie vocal communication, especially in mammals, remains quite rudimentary. Recently, we have discovered that a neo-tropical rodent, Alston’s singing mouse, engages in fast vocal interactions, even under laboratory settings. The Banerjee lab, using this novel model system, seeks to pursue two complementary questions. First, how does the auditory system interact with the motor system to generate the sensorimotor loop required for vocal communication? Second, what are the neural circuit modifications that allow behavioral novelty to emerge during evolution? Various rodent species exhibit marked differences in vocal behaviors. Genes that determine such behavioral differences, for example between the singing mouse and the lab mouse, must act via neural circuits within the brain. Yet, the structural and functional changes in the brain that specify the distinct vocal repertoires across related species remain unknown. Research in the lab combines cutting-edge systems neuroscience and comparative evolutionary analyses of neural circuitry across rodent species to bridge this knowledge-gap.
2017 Selected as a Junior Fellow at the Simons Foundation Society of Fellows, NY.
2016 National Science Foundation Travel Award, AREADNE conference, Santorini, Greece.
2015 Best Talk at the Graduate Student Symposium, CSHL, USA.
2007 Karyn Kupcinet International Summer Fellowship, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
Alien language: CSHL returns to Cinema Arts Centre
March 12, 2024
March 26: CSHL neuroscientist Arkarup Banerjee discusses “Mysteries of Language & Communication” at a special screening of sci-fi blockbuster Arrival.
How a mouse’s brain bends time
January 30, 2024
How does the brain govern communication? It’s all about timing. CSHL investigates with the help of a “musical” mouse from Costa Rica.
Cocktails & Chromosomes: Best shots of 2023
January 16, 2024
After a four-year hiatus, Cocktails & Chromosomes returned in 2023. Relive the past year’s best moments and see what’s in store for 2024.
The sound of music … by mice
December 22, 2023
Ever hear a mouse sing? Now you can. Listen to a pair of mice duets and see how their “songs” are helping scientists figure out how the brain works.
Animal behavior quiz
December 20, 2023
Take this short quiz to see how much you know about the science of social behavior.
Cocktails & Chromosomes: The mysterious songs of mice
November 9, 2023
Mysterious but polite! CSHL’s Arkarup Banerjee breaks down the animals’ call-and-response routine in our latest talk at Industry in Huntington, NY.
Banerjee awarded Klingenstein-Simons Neuroscience Fellowship
July 1, 2023
The CSHL neuroscientist will receive $300,000 over three years to study singing mice. Their “songs” could help explain how the brain drives speech.
Sniffing out the brain’s smelling power
September 29, 2022
CSHL neuroscientists have discovered neurons in the brain, called tufted cells, are more powerful in recognizing odors than historically thought.
CSHL neuroscientist named a Searle Scholar
May 23, 2022
Assistant Professor Arkarup Banerjee receives a $300,000 award to study brain circuits involved in vocalization.
Singing mice will teach us about our own conversations
November 9, 2020
Assistant Professor Arkarup Banerjee joins the neuroscience faculty, focusing on how the mind processes information and produces behaviors.
Simons Foundation: Singing Mice Hint at How Sensory Input Turns Into Behavior
NY Times: These Mice Sing to One Another—Politely
Discover Magazine: These Singing Mice Take Turns During Duets, Offering Insights into Human Speech
ARS Technica: Singing mice could offer clues about how human brains manage conversation
Selected Publications
A non-canonical feedforward pathway for computing odor identity
27 Jan 2021 | bioRxiv
Banerjee, Arkarup, Chae, Honggoo, Albeanu, D
Motor cortical control of vocal interaction in neotropical singing mice
1 Mar 2019 | Science | 363(6430):983-+
Jr, Okobi, Banerjee, Arkarup, Matheson, Andrew, Phelps, Steven, Long, Michael
Long-range interactions between short axon cells and external tufted cells gate glomerular output in the mouse olfactory bulb
1 Jul 2017 | Neuron | 87(1):193-207
Banerjee, Arkarup, Marbach, F, Anselmi, Francesca, Koh, Matthew, Davis, Martin, Garcia da Silva, P, Delevich, K, Oyibo, Hassana, Gupta, Priyanka, Li, Bo, Albeanu, Dinu
Ready, Steady, Go! Imaging Cortical Activity during Movement Planning and Executio
17 May 2017 | Neuron | 94(4):698-700
Banerjee, Arkarup, Long, Michael
All Publications
Temporal scaling of motor cortical dynamics reveals hierarchical control of vocal production
30 Jan 2024 | Nature Neuroscience
Banerjee, Arkarup, Chen, Feng, Druckmann, Shaul, Long, Michael
Neural dynamics in the rodent motor cortex enables flexible control of vocal timing
23 Jan 2023 | bioRxiv
Banerjee, Arkarup, Chen, Feng, Druckmann, Shaul, Long, Michael
Long-range functional loops in the mouse olfactory system and their roles in computing odor identity
26 Sep 2022 | Neuron | :S0896-6273(22)00810
Chae, Honggoo, Banerjee, Arkarup, Dussauze, Marie, Albeanu, Dinu
Convergent behavioral strategies and neural computations during vocal turn-taking across diverse species
31 Mar 2022 | Current Opinion in Neurobiology | 73:102529
Banerjee, Arkarup, Vallentin, Daniela
Using focal cooling to link neural dynamics and behavior.
19 Jun 2021 | Neuron
Banerjee, Arkarup, Egger, Robert, Long, Michael
Singing mice
18 Mar 2019 | Current Biology | 29(6):R190-R191
Banerjee, Arkarup, Phelps, Steven, Long, Michael