Vikaas Sohal, MD, PhD

Professor
Psychiatry
+1 415 502-7377

Dr. Sohal directs a neuroscience laboratory that investigates the brain circuits underlying fundamental aspects of cognition and emotion. His laboratory has made important discoveries about the role of rhythmic patterns of brain activity called gamma oscillations in normal cognition and schizophrenia, and about how other rhythmic patterns of brain activity encode changes in emotional states. Dr. Sohal is also a board-certified psychiatrist who supervises residents in the Early Psychosis (PATH) clinic.

After earning a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics at Harvard University, Dr. Sohal earned a master's degree in mathematics at the University of Cambridge in England. He earned his medical and doctoral degrees at Stanford University, where he also completed a residency in adult psychiatry. During residency Dr. Sohal carried out postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr Karl Deisseroth, performing some of the first experiments using optogenetics to study information processing in brain circuits.

Publications: 

Thalamocortical organoids enable in vitro modeling of 22q11.2 microdeletion associated with neuropsychiatric disorders.

Cell stem cell

Shin D, Kim CN, Ross J, Hennick KM, Wu SR, Paranjape N, Leonard R, Wang JC, Keefe MG, Pavlovic BJ, Donohue KC, Moreau C, Wigdor EM, Larson HH, Allen DE, Cadwell CR, Bhaduri A, Popova G, Bearden CE, Pollen AA, Jacquemont S, Sanders SJ, Haussler D, Wiita AP, Frost NA, Sohal VS, Nowakowski TJ

Neurobiology of schizophrenia.

Current opinion in neurobiology

Sohal VS

Context-invariant socioemotional encoding by prefrontal ensembles.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Frost NA, Donohue KC, Sohal V

Long-range inhibition synchronizes and updates prefrontal task activity.

Nature

Cho KKA, Shi J, Phensy AJ, Turner ML, Sohal VS

Selective Inhibitory Circuit Dysfunction after Chronic Frontal Lobe Contusion.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Nolan AL, Sohal VS, Rosi S

Fate mapping of neural stem cell niches reveals distinct origins of human cortical astrocytes.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

Allen DE, Donohue KC, Cadwell CR, Shin D, Keefe MG, Sohal VS, Nowakowski TJ

Regulatory Elements Inserted into AAVs Confer Preferential Activity in Cortical Interneurons.

eNeuro

Rubin AN, Malik R, Cho KK, Lim KJ, Lindtner S, Robinson Schwartz SE, Vogt D, Sohal VS, Rubenstein JL

GluN2D-mediated excitatory drive onto medial prefrontal cortical PV+ fast-spiking inhibitory interneurons.

PloS one

Garst-Orozco J, Malik R, Lanz TA, Weber ML, Xi H, Arion D, Enwright JF, Lewis DA, O'Donnell P, Sohal VS, Buhl DL

Enhancing WNT Signaling Restores Cortical Neuronal Spine Maturation and Synaptogenesis in Tbr1 Mutants.

Cell reports

Fazel Darbandi S, Robinson Schwartz SE, Pai EL, Everitt A, Turner ML, Cheyette BNR, Willsey AJ, State MW, Sohal VS, Rubenstein JLR

Integrated Stress Response Inhibitor Reverses Sex-Dependent Behavioral and Cell-Specific Deficits after Mild Repetitive Head Trauma.

Journal of neurotrauma

Krukowski K, Nolan A, Frias ES, Grue K, Becker M, Ureta G, Delgado L, Bernales S, Sohal VS, Walter P, Rosi S

Interneuron Transplantation Rescues Social Behavior Deficits without Restoring Wild-Type Physiology in a Mouse Model of Autism with Excessive Synaptic Inhibition.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Southwell DG, Seifikar H, Malik R, Lavi K, Vogt D, Rubenstein JL, Sohal VS

Tsc1 represses parvalbumin expression and fast-spiking properties in somatostatin lineage cortical interneurons.

Nature communications

Malik R, Pai EL, Rubin AN, Stafford AM, Angara K, Minasi P, Rubenstein JL, Sohal VS, Vogt D

GABAergic cell transplants in the anterior cingulate cortex reduce neuropathic pain aversiveness.

Brain : a journal of neurology

Juarez-Salinas DL, Braz JM, Etlin A, Gee S, Sohal V, Basbaum AI

Interneuron Transplantation Creates New Network States and Rescues Social Behavior Deficits in a Mouse Model of Autism.

Neurosurgery

Derek Southwell, Helia Seifikar, Ruchi Malik, Karen Lavi, Daniel Vogt, John Rubenstein, Vikaas Sohal

VIP Interneurons Contribute to Avoidance Behavior by Regulating Information Flow across Hippocampal-Prefrontal Networks.

Neuron

Lee AT, Cunniff MM, See JZ, Wilke SA, Luongo FJ, Ellwood IT, Ponnavolu S, Sohal VS

Microcircuit Mechanisms through which Mediodorsal Thalamic Input to Anterior Cingulate Cortex Exacerbates Pain-Related Aversion.

Neuron

Meda KS, Patel T, Braz JM, Malik R, Turner ML, Seifikar H, Basbaum AI, Sohal VS

Ultrasonic sculpting of virtual optical waveguides in tissue.

Nature communications

Chamanzar M, Scopelliti MG, Bloch J, Do N, Huh M, Seo D, Iafrati J, Sohal VS, Alam MR, Maharbiz MM

Author Correction: The CaMKII/NMDA receptor complex controls hippocampal synaptic transmission by kinase-dependent and independent mechanisms.

Nature communications

Incontro S, Díaz-Alonso J, Iafrati J, Vieira M, Asensio CS, Sohal VS, Roche KW, Bender KJ, Nicoll RA

An Amygdala-Hippocampus Subnetwork that Encodes Variation in Human Mood.

Cell

Kirkby LA, Luongo FJ, Lee MB, Nahum M, Van Vleet TM, Rao VR, Dawes HE, Chang EF, Sohal VS

Mouse Cntnap2 and Human CNTNAP2 ASD Alleles Cell Autonomously Regulate PV+ Cortical Interneurons.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

Vogt D, Cho KKA, Shelton SM, Paul A, Huang ZJ, Sohal VS, Rubenstein JLR

Neonatal Tbr1 Dosage Controls Cortical Layer 6 Connectivity.

Neuron

Fazel Darbandi S, Robinson Schwartz SE, Qi Q, Catta-Preta R, Pai EL, Mandell JD, Everitt A, Rubin A, Krasnoff RA, Katzman S, Tastad D, Nord AS, Willsey AJ, Chen B, State MW, Sohal VS, Rubenstein JLR

Upconverting nanoparticle micro-lightbulbs designed for deep tissue optical stimulation and imaging.

Biomedical optics express

Chamanzar M, Garfield DJ, Iafrati J, Chan EM, Sohal V, Cohen BE, Schuck PJ, Maharbiz MM

The Psychiatric Cell Map Initiative: A Convergent Systems Biological Approach to Illuminating Key Molecular Pathways in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Cell

Willsey AJ, Morris MT, Wang S, Willsey HR, Sun N, Teerikorpi N, Baum TB, Cagney G, Bender KJ, Desai TA, Srivastava D, Davis GW, Doudna J, Chang E, Sohal V, Lowenstein DH, Li H, Agard D, Keiser MJ, Shoichet B, von Zastrow M, Mucke L, Finkbeiner S, Gan L, Sestan N, Ward ME, Huttenhain R, Nowakowski TJ, Bellen HJ, Frank LM, Khokha MK, Lifton RP, Kampmann M, Ideker T, State MW, Krogan NJ

Repeated Mild Head Injury Leads to Wide-Ranging Deficits in Higher-Order Cognitive Functions Associated with the Prefrontal Cortex.

Journal of neurotrauma

Nolan A, Hennessy E, Krukowski K, Guglielmetti C, Chaumeil MM, Sohal VS, Rosi S

Coordinated neuronal ensembles in primary auditory cortical columns.

eLife

See JZ, Atencio CA, Sohal VS, Schreiner CE

The CaMKII/NMDA receptor complex controls hippocampal synaptic transmission by kinase-dependent and independent mechanisms.

Nature communications

Incontro S, Díaz-Alonso J, Iafrati J, Vieira M, Asensio CS, Sohal VS, Roche KW, Bender KJ, Nicoll RA

Roles of Prefrontal Cortex and Mediodorsal Thalamus in Task Engagement and Behavioral Flexibility.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Marton TF, Seifikar H, Luongo FJ, Lee AT, Sohal VS

A Shared Vision for Machine Learning in Neuroscience.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Vu MT, Adali T, Ba D, Buzsáki G, Carlson D, Heller K, Liston C, Rudin C, Sohal VS, Widge AS, Mayberg HS, Sapiro G, Dzirasa K

A mouse model of autism implicates endosome pH in the regulation of presynaptic calcium entry.

Nature communications

Ullman JC, Yang J, Sullivan M, Bendor J, Levy J, Pham E, Silm K, Seifikar H, Sohal VS, Nicoll RA, Edwards RH

Identifying specific prefrontal neurons that contribute to autism-associated abnormalities in physiology and social behavior.

Molecular psychiatry

Brumback AC, Ellwood IT, Kjaerby C, Iafrati J, Robinson S, Lee AT, Patel T, Nagaraj S, Davatolhagh F, Sohal VS

The sodium channel activator Lu AE98134 normalizes the altered firing properties of fast spiking interneurons in Dlx5/6+/- mice.

Neuroscience letters

von Schoubye NL, Frederiksen K, Kristiansen U, Petersen AV, Dalby NO, Grunnet M, Jensen HS, Jespersen T, Sohal VS, Perrier JF

Dopamine D2 Receptors Modulate Pyramidal Neurons in Mouse Medial Prefrontal Cortex through a Stimulatory G-Protein Pathway.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Robinson SE, Sohal VS

The Cytokine CXCL12 Promotes Basket Interneuron Inhibitory Synapses in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

Wu PR, Cho KKA, Vogt D, Sohal VS, Rubenstein JLR

Tonic or Phasic Stimulation of Dopaminergic Projections to Prefrontal Cortex Causes Mice to Maintain or Deviate from Previously Learned Behavioral Strategies.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Ellwood IT, Patel T, Wadia V, Lee AT, Liptak AT, Bender KJ, Sohal VS

D3 Receptors Regulate Excitability in a Unique Class of Prefrontal Pyramidal Cells.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Clarkson RL, Liptak AT, Gee SM, Sohal VS, Bender KJ

706 Wnt/ß-Catenin Pathway Contributions to Dendritic Spine and Glutamatergic Synapse Formation Responsive to Lithium-Mediated GSK3 Inhibition.

Biological psychiatry

Robert Stanley, Pierre-Marie Martin, Adam Ross, Andiara Freitas, Jillian Iafrati, Caitlin Moyer, Audrey Brumback, Mehdi Pirooznia, W. Richard McCombie, James Potash, Peter Zandi, Shaun Purcell, Stephan Sanders, Yi Zuo, Vikaas Sohal, Benjamin Cheyette

Immediate Mood Scaler: Tracking Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using a Novel Mobile Mood Scale.

JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Nahum M, Van Vleet TM, Sohal VS, Mirzabekov JJ, Rao VR, Wallace DL, Lee MB, Dawes H, Stark-Inbar A, Jordan JT, Biagianti B, Merzenich M, Chang EF

Serotonin 1B Receptors Regulate Prefrontal Function by Gating Callosal and Hippocampal Inputs.

Cell reports

Kjaerby C, Athilingam J, Robinson SE, Iafrati J, Sohal VS

DIXDC1 contributes to psychiatric susceptibility by regulating dendritic spine and glutamatergic synapse density via GSK3 and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling.

Molecular psychiatry

Martin PM, Stanley RE, Ross AP, Freitas AE, Moyer CE, Brumback AC, Iafrati J, Stapornwongkul KS, Dominguez S, Kivimäe S, Mulligan KA, Pirooznia M, McCombie WR, Potash JB, Zandi PP, Purcell SM, Sanders SJ, Zuo Y, Sohal VS, Cheyette BNR

How Close Are We to Understanding What (if Anything) ? Oscillations Do in Cortical Circuits?

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Sohal VS

Making the Right Connections.

Biological psychiatry

Lee AT, Sohal VS

Energy-Looping Nanoparticles: Harnessing Excited-State Absorption for Deep-Tissue Imaging.

ACS nano

Levy ES, Tajon CA, Bischof TS, Iafrati J, Fernandez-Bravo A, Garfield DJ, Chamanzar M, Maharbiz MM, Sohal VS, Schuck PJ, Cohen BE, Chan EM

Stressing out the Social Network.

Neuron

Kirkby LA, Sohal VS

Deep tissue targeted near-infrared optogenetic stimulation using fully implantable upconverting light bulbs.

Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual Conference

Chamanzar M, Garfield DJ, Iafrati J, Sohal V, Chan E, Cohen B, Schuck PJ, Maharbiz MM

A class of GABAergic neurons in the prefrontal cortex sends long-range projections to the nucleus accumbens and elicits acute avoidance behavior.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Lee AT, Vogt D, Rubenstein JL, Sohal VS

You Have Your Father’s Nose.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Releasing the Brake Drives Fear Behavior.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Too Much of a Good Thing?.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Serotonin Gives Oxytocin a Helping Hand.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Seeing the Big Picture in Fragile X Syndrome.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Transplanting Interneuron Precursors for Epilepsy Control.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Autism in the Balance.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Stimulating the Prefrontal Cortex to Undo Stimulant Addiction.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas S. Sohal

Neurons Themselves May Shy Away from Normal Interactions in Autism.

Science translational medicine

Vikaas Sohal

Chronic reduction in inhibition reduces receptive field size in mouse auditory cortex.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Seybold BA, Stanco A, Cho KK, Potter GB, Kim C, Sohal VS, Rubenstein JL, Schreiner CE

Synaptic activity unmasks dopamine D2 receptor modulation of a specific class of layer V pyramidal neurons in prefrontal cortex.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Gee S, Ellwood I, Patel T, Luongo F, Deisseroth K, Sohal VS

Neocortical excitation/inhibition balance in information processing and social dysfunction.

Nature

Yizhar O, Fenno LE, Prigge M, Schneider F, Davidson TJ, O'Shea DJ, Sohal VS, Goshen I, Finkelstein J, Paz JT, Stehfest K, Fudim R, Ramakrishnan C, Huguenard JR, Hegemann P, Deisseroth K

Dlx5 and Dlx6 regulate the development of parvalbumin-expressing cortical interneurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Wang Y, Dye CA, Sohal V, Long JE, Estrada RC, Roztocil T, Lufkin T, Deisseroth K, Baraban SC, Rubenstein JL

Ultrafast optogenetic control.

Nature neuroscience

Gunaydin LA, Yizhar O, Berndt A, Sohal VS, Deisseroth K, Hegemann P

Parvalbumin neurons and gamma rhythms enhance cortical circuit performance.

Nature

Sohal VS, Zhang F, Yizhar O, Deisseroth K

Intrinsic and synaptic dynamics interact to generate emergent patterns of rhythmic bursting in thalamocortical neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Sohal VS, Pangratz-Fuehrer S, Rudolph U, Huguenard JR

Inhibitory coupling specifically generates emergent gamma oscillations in diverse cell types.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Sohal VS, Huguenard JR

Inhibitory interconnections control burst pattern and emergent network synchrony in reticular thalamus.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Sohal VS, Huguenard JR

Dynamic GABA(A) receptor subtype-specific modulation of the synchrony and duration of thalamic oscillations.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Sohal VS, Keist R, Rudolph U, Huguenard JR

It takes T to tango.

Neuron

Sohal VS, Huguenard JR

Clonazepam suppresses oscillations in rat thalamic slices.

Neurocomputing

Vikaas S Sohal, John R Huguenard

Reciprocal inhibitory connections regulate the spatiotemporal properties of intrathalamic oscillations.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Sohal VS, Huntsman MM, Huguenard JR

A model for experience-dependent changes in the responses of inferotemporal neurons.

Network Computation in Neural Systems

Vikaas S Sohal, Michael E Hasselmo

Localization of CCK receptors in thalamic reticular neurons: a modeling study.

Journal of neurophysiology

Sohal VS, Cox CL, Huguenard JR

A Model of Changes in Inferotemporal Activity during a Delayed Match-To-Sample Task.

Computational Neuroscience

Vikaas S. Sohal, Michael E. Hasselmo