معرفی
Hiroyuki Kato is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Center at the UNC School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on elucidating the neuronal circuit mechanisms underlying auditory processing, particularly how the brain synthesizes sound inputs to extract complex features like vocalizations. He employs advanced techniques such as in vivo whole-cell recordings, two-photon calcium imaging, and optogenetics in behaving mice to bridge synaptic and systems-level understanding of auditory perception.
- Education: PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Tokyo, postdoctoral work at UCSD.
- Current Lab Members: Includes PhD student Gates Schneider and research technicians Michellee Garcia and Hailey Acosta.
- Collaborations: Active with UNC Neuroscience Center and Department of Psychiatry.
His work extends to investigating circuit alterations in psychiatric disorder models (e.g., autism), aiming to link genetic and behavioral dysfunctions. Publications span high-impact journals like Nature Communications and Neuron, with a focus on auditory cortex dynamics, synaptic integration, and cortical hierarchies.
Scientific Contributions include defining nonlinear spectrotemporal processing, translaminar circuit suppression, and top-down modulation of sensory responses. Key findings highlight how excitation/inhibition balance shapes tuning properties and how cortical networks encode complex auditory scenes.
Lab Alumni encompass postdocs and students who have transitioned to academic and medical careers, including Amber Kline (NYU postdoc), Koun Onodera (Assistant Professor in Japan), and Randall Ung (MD student at UNC).
