•    2020-Present: Research Assistant Professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, USA.

•    2018-2020: Postdoc at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.

•    2017-2018: Postdoc at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.

•    2013-2017: PhD at Sagol Department of Neurobiology, Haifa, Israel.

•    2012-2013: Predoctoral Fellow in IIT, Genoa, Italy.

•    2011-2012: Research Assistant in National Brain Research Centre, Gurgaon, India.

•    2008-2010: MSc. in Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, India.

•    2005-2008: BSc. in Physiology, University of Calcutta, India

Research Interest:

I am interested in how neuronal activity regulates behavior. Toward this goal, I study how brain function depends on the properties of individual neurons and the circuits they make with other neurons. My main focus is on the cerebral cortex, the largest and most complex part of the mammalian brain. The computations that take place in this brain area are essential for normal perception, memory, motor control, and cognition. It is where acquired sensory information about the external world is integrated with past experience (memories) in order to predict and command appropriate behavior. I aim to understand how the basic properties of different types of cortical neurons, the building blocks of the cerebral cortex, and their connections contribute to behavior. I execute and lead projects related to the diversity of cortical neurons and the connectivity among different cell types, as well as the ion channels and other intrinsic factors that control their excitability, the dynamic properties of their synapses and how these properties are regulated by neuromodulators. Then manipulate neuronal properties and cortical circuits and study how these manipulations affect function. I am currently emphasizing two areas of research: i) characterization of the circuits by which distinct GABAergic interneurons shape cortical information processing in neurodegeneration and ii) the mechanisms by which acetylcholine, a neuromodulator with key roles in the control of cognitive function, modulates cortical function and how that defers in neurodegenerative disorders. To address these questions, I use a multidisciplinary approach that combines molecular, genetic, and anatomical techniques with electrophysiological (in-vivo and ex-vivo), in-vivo calcium imaging, silicon probe recording and optogenetic methods in-vitro and in-vivo as well as behavioral methods. We hope to unravel cellular and circuit mechanisms that mediate cortical function and gain insight into how dysfunction of ion channels, cortical neurons, and neuromodulatory systems contributes to neurodegenerative diseases.

List of Publications:

1. Saha R, Knapp S, Chakraborty D, Horovitz O, Albrecht A, Kriebel M, Kaphzan H, Ehrlich I, Volkmer H, Richter-Levin G. GABAergic Synapses at the Axon Initial Segment of Basolateral Amygdala Projection Neurons Modulate Fear Extinction. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2016 Oct 19. doi: 10.1038/npp.2016.205.

2. Saha R, Knapp S, Chakraborty D, Kriebel M, Ehrlich I, et al. GABAergic synapses at the axon initial segment of basolateral amygdala projection neuron modulate behavioral flexibility. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2017 March; 27(Supplement 1): S28–S29

3. Chakraborty D, Fedorova O. V, Bagrov A. Y, Kaphzan H. Selective ligands for Na+/K+-ATPase α isoforms differentially and cooperatively regulate excitability of pyramidal neurons in distinct brain regions. Neuropharmacology. 2017 May 1; 117:338351. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.02.016.

4. Chakraborty D, Truong D, Bikson M, Kaphzan H. Neuromodulation of Axon Terminals. Cerebral Cortex. 2017 Jun 24:1-9. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhx158. PMID: 28655149

5. Saha R, Chakraborty D, Knapp S, Schayek R, Shrivastava K, Kaphzan K, Ehrlich I, Maroun M, Kriebel M, Volkmer H, Richter-Levin G. Compartmentalised perturbation of GABAergic synapses in the basolateral amygdala principal neurons. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2017. doi:10.1016/s0924-977(17)31026-x

6. Sharma V *, Ounallah-Saad H*, Chakraborty D*, Hleihel M, Barrera I, Sood R, Edry E, Kaphzan H, Rosenblum K. Local Inhibition of PERK Reverses Age-Related Deterioration of Cognitive and Neuronal Properties. Journal of Neuroscience. 2018 Jan 17;38(3):648-658. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0628-17.2017. Epub 2017 Dec PMID: 291963235. (* authors contributed equally)

7. Lander SS, Khan U, Lewandowski N, Chakraborty D, Provenzano FA, Mingote S, Chornyy S, Frigerio F, Maechler P, Kaphzan H, Small SA, Rayport S, Gaisler-Salomon I. Glutamate

Dehydrogenase-Deficient Mice Display Schizophrenia-Like Behavioral Abnormalities and CA1- Specific Hippocampal Dysfunction. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2018 Feb 20. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sby011. PMID: 29471549

8. Rodríguez G, Chakraborty D, Schrode KM, Saha R, Uribe I, Lauer AM, Lee HK. Cross-Modal Reinstatement of Thalamocortical Plasticity Accelerates Ocular Dominance Plasticity in Adult Mice. Cell Reports. 2018 Sept. 25. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.08.072.

9. Gaisler-Salomon I, Lander SS, Chakraborty D, Asraf K, Safory H, Wolosker H, Kaphzan H. Neuronal-Astrocytic Regulation of Glutamate Homeostasis: Relevance to Cognitive

Dysfunction in Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2019 April 1. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbz022.087.

10. Rayi PR, Koyavski L, Chakraborty D, Bagrov A, Kaphzan H. α1-Na/K-ATPase inhibition rescues aberrant dendritic calcium dynamics and memory deficits in the hippocampus of an Angelman syndrome mouse model. Progress in Neurobiology. 2019 Aug 8. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2019.101676

Skype ID: Darpan.chakraborty