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Theodore Zanto, Ph.D.
Address:
UCSF MC 2240
Mission Bay – Genentech Hall Room N474
600 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94158
email: theodore.zanto@ucsf.edu
lab: 415-476-2164
fax: 415-502-1655
Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
Biography: Ted was born in Milwaukee, WI and attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW) with a semester abroad at the HEAO-Arnhem in the Netherlands. Ted earned two Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees in Psychology and Physics with minors in General Business and Mathematics. While at UWW, Ted took on a full-time job as a live-in counselor for the physically and mentally handicapped. During his 5 years as a counselor, he became fluent in sign language, and learned much about phamacology.
At UWW, Ted directed his coursework toward understanding human cognition with the overall goal that someday he might contribute to improving the quality of life in afflicted populations. Ted's physics coursework included some electrical engineering and an independent study in robotics that allowed him to utilize his understanding of human sensory systems. Ted's psychology coursework included some neuroscience and he worked in an electrophysiology lab where he was able to apply his skills in electrical engineering as he built electrodes and an amplifier to conduct single-cell recordings in rats.
Ted pursued further education through graduate studies and research at Florida Atlantic Univerisity (FAU) where he received a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences. Ted conducted several electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments on the perception of auditory rhythms as rhythm is a fundamental component of cognition. Moreover, his graduate work allowed him to incorporate mathematical modelling of neural activity to better understand perception. In addition to Ted's coursework and research, he was the network administrator for his lab, a teaching assistant, and he tutored undergraduate and graduate students. Through teaching and tutoring, Ted realized that helping people learn can be just as fulfilling as helping others cope with day-to-day life.
Research Description: Ted's research revolves around the characterization of neural networks that encompass attention, memory and the sensory systems. The interaction of these domains form the basis of perception and may define the quality of life. Severe dysfunction of any aforementioned domain is often associated with dementia in the elderly or psychosis in the mentally handicapped. Thus, extreme cases of network dysfunction may commit the impaired to the care of others while more moderate and mild cases vary the degree of difficulty to function in society. Ted's concern is to understand the basic mechanisms that underlie network structure, function and hence, dysfunction. An understanding of these mechanisms may enable the deveolpment of techniques or technologies to better help those affected.
Publications:
- A causal link between selective attention and working memory via top-down modulation.
Zanto, T.P., Rubens, M.T., Thangavel, A., Gazzaley, A. Nature Neuroscience (In revision)
- Neural responses to complex auditory rhythms: The role of attending.
Chapin, H., Zanto, T.P., Jantzen, K.J., Kelso, S., Steinberg, F., Large, E.W. Frontiers in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience (In press)
- The influence of perceptual training on working memory in older adults.
Berry, A., Zanto, T.P., Clapp, W., Hardy, J., Delahunt, P., Mahncke, H., Gazzaley, A. PLoS ONE 5 (7): e11537 (2010)
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