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Mark J. Schnitzer
Professor, Biology
Professor, Applied Physics
Professor, Neurosurgery
Member, Bio-X
Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Affiliation:
Related Projects
Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience
Catalyst Momentum Awards
2025
Preserving Motor Engrams in Parkinson's Disease: Neural Circuit and Transcriptomic Studies and Strategies for Resilient Motor Control (renewed)
This project explores a novel hypothesis: Parkinson's disease (PD) impairs the motor engrams rather than just altering pathway balance. Using molecular, genetic, behavioral, and imaging approaches, this team aims to uncover how specific neural ensembles contribute to motor control. This is an extension from a Catalyst Grant Award.
Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Neurosciences Interdisciplinary Scholar Awards
2024
How do early life experiences shape the neural underpinnings of caregiver olfactory recognition?
The ability of an infant to distinguish caregivers from strangers is fundamental for survival early in life. Across many taxa, newborns use olfactory cues to recognize caregivers. Caregiver odors induce proximity-seeking behavior and alleviate stress in neonatal mammals, including humans. Since all altricial animals rely on parental care for survival and children with developmental disorders (e.g., fragile X syndrome and autism) often have deficits in the olfactory system, it is essential to understand the mechanisms for linking caregiver odors with affiliative behavior.
Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Neuroscience:Translate Award
2020
CPStim: Optimized non-invasive brain stimulation for chronic pain
In light of the dual public health crises of chronic pain and opioids, there is an urgent need to develop non-addictive alternative therapies for chronic pain. This project's goal is to develop a new protocol for transcranial magnetic stimulation — a non-invasive method of neuromodulation — that is optimized for chronic pain treatment.