David A. Ziegler, Ph.D.
Director, Technology Division; Multimodal Biosensing - Neuroscape
Associate Professor - Neurology
Address:
UCSF – Mission BaySandler Neuroscience CenterMC 0444, 675 Nelson Rising LaneSan Francisco, CA 94158
Email:
Curriculum Vitae:
Biography:
Dr. Ziegler completed his Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he took a cutting-edge multimodal neuroimaging approach to examine the effects of healthy aging and Parkinson’s disease on cognitive control systems in the brain. The current focus of his research is on unmasking the neural mechanisms that account for age-related changes in cognitive control and to translate these basic neuroscience findings into cognitive neurotherapeutic interventions to alleviate impairments in attention in diverse populations. A primary focus of Dr. Ziegler’s work is on leveraging emerging digital tools to develop novel interventions to improve brain health that can be deployed in a fully remote fashion. These technology-based cognitive therapeutics have the potential for global distribution, extending their reach to large and diverse populations who would otherwise be underrepresented in more traditional clinical trials of brain health interventions. Dr. Ziegler has received numerous awards, including a UCSF School of Medicine Technology Transformation Grant, a Human Brain Mapping Trainee Travel Award, the Angus MacDonald Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at MIT, the Denison University President’s Medal, and was a two-time recipient of the Harvard/MIT/MGH Advanced Multimodal Neuroimaging Training Program Fellowship. His research has been featured in The New York Times, the Faculty of 1000, the MIT Spotlight, Nature Outlook, and in numerous regional media outlets.
Featured Publications:
- Ziegler, D.A, Simon, A.J., Gallen, C.L., Skinner, S., Janowich, J.R., Volponi, J.J, Rolle, C.E., Mishra, J., Kornfield, J., Anguera, J.A., Gazzaley, A. Closed-loop digital meditation improves sustained attention in young adults Nature Human Behaviour (2019)
- Ziegler DA, Anguera JA, Gallen CL, Hsu WY, Wais PE, Gazzaley A. Leveraging Technology to Personalize Cognitive Enhancement in Aging Nature Aging (2022)
- Chen J CC, Ziegler DA. Closed-Loop Systems and Real-Time Neurofeedback in Mindfulness Meditation Research Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging (2024)
- Brechet L, Ziegler DA, Simon AJ, Brunet D, Gazzaley A, Michel C. Reconfiguration of EEG microstate networks after breath-focused digital meditation training Brain Connectivity (2021)
- Hammond T, Xing X, Ma D, 4, Nho K, Crane P, Elahi F, Ziegler DA, Liang T, Cheng Q, Jacobs N, Lin A, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiatives (ADNI). β-Amyloid and Tau Drive Early Alzheimer’s Disease Decline While Glucose Hypometabolism Drives Late Decline. Communications Biology (2020)
- Mishra J, Sagar R, Parveen S, Kumaran S, Modi K, Maric V, Ziegler DA, Gazzaley A. Closed-loop Digital Meditation Facilitates Neuro-Cognitive and Behavioral Development in Adolescents with Childhood Trauma Translational Psychiatry (2020)
- Ziegler D.A., Janowich J.R., Gazzaley A. Differential Impact of Interference on Internally- and Externally-Directed Attention. Scientific Reports (2018)
- Simon, A.J., Skinner, S.N., Ziegler, D.A. Training Working Memory: Anatomy Matters. Journal of Neuroscience (2016)
- Ziegler DA, Wonderlick JS, Ashourian P, Hansen LA, Young JC, Murphy AJ, Koppuzha CK, Growdon JH, Corkin S. Substantia nigra volume loss before basal forebrain degeneration in early Parkinson disease JAMA Neurology (2013)