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Nandakumar Narayanan, MD, PhD

Professor of Neurology

Introduction

The specific problem we are interested is cognitive dysfunction in Parkinsons disease. Our current research focuses on the influence of dopamine on prefrontal networks controlling cognitive behaviors such as timing and performance monitoring. We combine ensemble recording from populations of neurons in awake, behaving animals with specific manipulations using techniques such as optogenetic stimulation, targeted pharmacology, or selective genetic disruption with RNA interference. We hope to identify new treatment strategies that can be translated to a clinical setting.

Current Positions

  • Professor of Neurology
  • Juanita J. Barlett Professor in Neurology Research
  • Vice Chair of Research in Neurology
  • Associate Director, Iowa Neuroscience Institute
  • Assistant Director: Clinical Neuroscientist Training Program in Neurology

Education

  • BA in Human Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States
  • MD in Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • PhD in Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • Internship in Medicine, Hospital of St. Raphael, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • Resident in Neurology, Yale Medical School, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale Medical School, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Graduate Program Affiliations

Center, Program and Institute Affiliations

Selected Publications

  • De Corte, B., Wagner, L., Matell, M. & Narayanan, N. (2019). Striatal dopamine and the temporal control of behavior. Behav Brain Res.
  • Singh, A., Richardson, S., Narayana, N. & Cavanagh, J. (2018). Mid-frontal theta activity is diminished during cognitive control in Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia.
  • Alberico, S. & Narayanan, N. (In Press). Levodopa-induced dyskinesias in Parkinson’s disease”. In The Neuroscience of Parkinson’s disease.
  • Muller, E., De Corte, B., Gupta, S., Lillis, K., Narayanan, N., Wemmie, J. & LaLumiere, R. (2018). Attenuation of cocaine seeking in rats via enhancement of infralimbic cortical activity using stable step-function opsins. Psychopharmacology.
  • Kelly, R., Flouty, O., Emmons, E., Kim, Y., Kingyon, J., Oya, H., Greenlee, J. & Narayanan, N. (2018). A human prefrontal-subthalamic circuit for cognitive control. Brain.
  • Alberico, S. L., Kim, Y., Lence, T. & Narayanan, N. S. (2017). Axial levodopa-induced dyskinesias and neuronal activity in the dorsal striatum. Neuroscience 343 240-249. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.11.046.
  • Kim, Y., Miller, A., Lins, L., Han, S., Keiser, M., Boudreau, R., Davidson, B. & Narayanan, N. (2017). RNA interference of human α-synuclein in mouse. Frontiers in Neurology 8 (JAN). DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00013.
  • Narayanan, N. & Laubach, M. (2017). Inhibitory Control: Mapping Medial Frontal Cortex. Current Biology 27 (4) R148–R150. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.01.010.
  • Narayanan, N. & DiLeone, R. (2017). Lip Sync: Gamma Rhythms Orchestrate Top-Down Control of Feeding Circuits. Cell Metabolism 25 (3) 497–498. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.02.017.
  • Kim, Y., Han, S., Alberico, S. L., Ruggiero, R. N., De Corte, B., Chen, K. & Narayanan, N. S. (2017). Optogenetic Stimulation of Frontal D1 Neurons Compensates for Impaired Temporal Control of Action in Dopamine-Depleted Mice. Current Biology 27 (1) 39-47. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.11.029.