Koun Onodera appointed as Assistant Professor at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan

March 1, 2024

We are thrilled to announce that Koun Onodera has been appointed to the position of Assistant Professor at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Okazaki, Japan. Koun will be departing our lab to continue his research on cortical circuit mechanisms for sensory processing.


Kato Lab received EAGLES Autism Foundation Grant

January 25, 2024

The goal of this study is to understand the cortical circuit mechanisms underlying the diminished sensory habituation in autism spectrum disorders. We will receive two years of support for our research. [press release] [awardee list]


Hiroyuki Kato has been promoted to Associate Professor

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Hiroyuki was granted tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry.


Hiroaki Tsukano received APAN Travel Award

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

Congratulations to Hiroaki, who received the APAN (Advances and Perspectives in Auditory Neuroscience) Travel Award.


Our paper is published in Scientific Reports

MAY 11, 2023

Our paper titled ‘Distinct nonlinear spectrotemporal integration in primary and secondary auditory cortices’ is published in Scientific Reports (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-34731-6). Congratulations Amber and Destinee!


We welcome our new postdoc Muneshwar Mehra

MARCH 20, 2023

Welcome to Munni, who joined our lab as a new postdoc from the Edward Han Lab at Wash U Saint Louis..


Hiroyuki Kato received APAN Young Investigator Spotlight Award

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Hiroyuki will present his talk at the APAN (Advances and Perspectives in Auditory Neuroscience) 2022 Conference in San Diego this November.


Kato Lab received SFARI Pilot Award

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The goal of this study is to understand the cortical circuit mechanisms underlying the diminished predictive sensory filtering in autism spectrum disorders. We will receive two years of support for our research. [link]


Kato Lab received a BRAIN Initiative Research Project Grant

JULY 15, 2022

Our brains generate a coherent perception of the sensory world by integrating information from parallel sensory channels. This proposed study will delineate parallel auditory pathways that convey different aspects of acoustic information in our brain and elucidate how they converge in the cerebral cortex to generate unified sound representations. Our research will reveal neural circuit mechanisms underlying auditory integration, the knowledge of which could point towards novel targeted treatments for hearing disorders. We will receive five years of support for our research.


Our paper is published in Cerebral Cortex

JULY 15, 2022

Our paper titled ‘Biological constraints on stereotaxic targeting of functionally-defined cortical areas’ is published in Cerebral Cortex (https://academic.oup.com/cercor/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cercor/bhac275/6644718). Congratulations Divya, Hiroaki, Amber, and Koun!


Michellee Garcia awarded a Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research from NIDCD

JUNE 7, 2022

Congratulations to our research technician, Michellee, who received a research supplement from NIDCD. This fund will provide two years of support for her research and training.


Our paper is published in Nature Communications

May 11, 2022

Our paper titled ‘Translaminar recurrence from layer 5 suppresses superficial cortical layers’ is published in Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-30349-w). Congratulations Koun!


Divya Narayanan received the Best Neuroscience Honors Thesis Award

May 8, 2022

Congratulations to Divya, who received the Dashiell-Thurstone Award for best Neuroscience Honors thesis of 2022!


The Kato Lab received Foundation of Hope Research Grant

APR 14, 2022

The goal of this study is to understand the cortical circuit mechanisms underlying sensory processing problems in autism spectrum disorders. We will receive three years of support for our research.


Amber Kline completed her Ph.D. dissertation defense

Mar 30, 2022

Congratulations to our first PhD student, Amber, who successfully defended her PhD dissertation!

 
 

Divya Narayanan completed her honors thesis

MAR 21, 2022

Congratulations to Divya, who completed her undergraduate honors thesis with the highest honor!


Three awards to our lab members

November 5, 2021

Congratulations to Amber Kline for Society for Neuroscience Travel Award, Koun Onodera for APAN Meeting Travel Award, and Divya Narayanan for David Bray Peele Memorial Research Award from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience!


We welcome our new research technician Michellee Garcia

AUGUST 2, 2021

Welcome to Michellee, who joined our lab as a new research technician after finishing her B.A. at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania.


Our paper is published in Nature Communications

July 29, 2021

Our paper titled ‘Inhibitory gating of coincidence-dependent sensory binding in secondary auditory cortex’ is published in Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24758-6). Congratulations to Amber, Destinee, and Hiroaki!


Our paper is published in Nature Communications

JANUARY 12, 2021

Our paper titled ‘Recurrent network dynamics shape direction selectivity in primary auditory cortex’ is published in Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20590-6). Congratulations to Destinee, Amber, and Hiroaki!


Koun Onodera awarded Postdoctoral Fellowship from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

September 8, 2020

Congratulations to our postdoc, Koun, who received a Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This fellowship will provide two years of support for his research.


Hiroaki Tsukano and Hiroyuki Kato received Foundation of Hope Research Grant

May 29, 2020

Congratulations to our postdoc, Hiroaki Tsukano, who received the grant as a co-PI of the project. The goal of this study is to understand the cortical circuit mechanisms underlying auditory symptoms of schizophrenia. We will receive three years of support for our research.


Destinee Aponte accepted admission offer from Harvard University

March 30, 2020

Congratulations to our research technician, Destinee, who will be joining Harvard University’s PhD Program in Neuroscience starting in the Fall. She has also been awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and Graduate Prize Fellowship to support her research. We wish Destinee the best of luck!


Koun Onodera awarded Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Congratulations to our postdoc, Koun, who received a Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists. Koun is one of 40 scientists under 37 in Japan to receive this prestigious award.


Kato Lab received R01 Research Project Grant from NIDCD

JULY, 2019

The goal of this study is to understand how our brain is able to bind together spectrally and temporally distributed sound signals to reconstitute individual sound objects. We will receive five years of support for our research.


Hiroyuki Kato awarded 2019 Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Awards in Neuroscience

JULY 12, 2019

We will receive three years of support for our research. Please see News on UNC Neuroscience Center for more detail: https://www.med.unc.edu/neuroscience/hiroyuki-kato-phd-awarded-a-klingenstein-simons-fellowship-award-in-neuroscience/


Randall Ung completed his Ph.D. dissertation defense

MAY 31, 2019

Congratulations to our MD-PhD student, Randall, who successfully defended his PhD dissertation. He will go back to medical school to finish his MD-PhD.

 
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Jose Rodríguez-Romaguera accepted an assistant professor position at UNC

May 8, 2019

Congratulations to our postdoc, Jose, who accepted an assistant professor position in the UNC Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Center. He will start his own lab on Aug 2, 2019, and will be our neighbor in the MEJ building. We are looking forward to the continuing collaboration with the Rodríguez-Romaguera Lab.


Amber Kline awarded F31 NRSA from NINDS

APRIL 15, 2019

Congratulations to our grad student, Amber, who received a F31 training fellowship from NINDS. This fellowship will provide three years of support for her research.


We welcome our new postdoc Hiroaki Tsukano

APRIL 15, 2019

Welcome to Hiroaki, who joined our lab as a new postdoc from the Shibuki Lab in Japan.


The Kato Lab moved to Mary Ellen Jones Building at UNC

MARCH 18, 2019

Along with the UNC Neuroscience Center, we are moving to the newly renovated Mary Ellen Jones Building. We are looking forward to the collaborations to come in this beautiful building.


Koun Onodera awarded Toyobo BioTechnology Foundation Grant

DECEMBER 1, 2018

Congratulations to our postdoc, Koun, who received a TOYOBO BioTechnology Foundation Grant. This fellowship will provide two years of support for his research.


We welcome our new postdoc Koun Onodera

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

Welcome to Koun, who joined our lab as a new postdoc from the Uemura Lab in Japan.


We welcome our new postdoc Jose Rodríguez-Romaguera and new MD-PhD student Randall Ung

JULY 2018

Welcome to Jose and Randall, who joined our lab from the Stuber Lab, UNC.


Hiroyuki Kato awarded 2018 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences

JUNE 13, 2018

We will receive four years of support for our research. Please see News on UNC Neuroscience Center for more detail: https://www.med.unc.edu/neuroscience/hiroyuki-kato-phd-selected-as-pew-scholar-in-biological-sciences/


Hiroyuki Kato awarded Whitehall Foundation Research Grant

DECEMBER 4, 2017

The goal of this study is to understand how our brain is able to bind together spectrally and temporally distributed sound signals to reconstitute individual sound objects. We will receive three years of support for our research.


Hiroyuki Kato Published in Neuron

JULY 6, 2017

In the study published in the journal Neuron titled, “Network-level Control of Frequency Tuning in Auditory Complex”, we found that lateral inhibition, a fundamental circuit operation that sharpens the tuning properties of neurons, is mediated by the regulation of reverberating recurrent circuits. This finding revises the classical model of lateral inhibition, and points to the importance of considering the whole network in the circuit model of healthy and diseased brains. To read the full article: https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(17)30517-2


The Kato Lab received a grant from the Foundation of Hope for Research and Treatment of Mental Illness

MAY 30, 2017

The goal of this study is to understand how disturbed inhibition in the neuronal network leads to abnormal sound representations in the primary auditory cortex of autistic brains. We will receive three years of support for our research.


We welcome our first graduate student Amber Kline

APRIL, 2017

Welcome to Amber, who joined the lab as our first graduate student. She will be supported by T32 training grant through Neuroscience Center.


We welcome our new lab manager/research technician Destinee Aponte

MARCH, 2017

Welcome to Destinee, who joined the lab as the lab manager/research technician, and also as the first lab member.


Kato Lab started in UNC

JANUARY 1, 2017

The Kato Lab started in the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Center, UNC.