Anna Hoerder-Suabedissen

I teach Neuroscience at Trinity. Tutorials are predominantly in the first-year (Biomedical Sciences) or second year (Preclinical Medicine), but I also contribute to the College’s teaching for ‘critical appraisal’ and general synoptic teaching for the FHS in Biomedical Sciences. I give lectures on brain development on the MSc Neuroscience and Part II Bachelor of Medicine course, and supervise graduate students during their research project rotations or DPhil research programme.

My research interests were initially focussed on very early brain development, and a transient layer of cells at the junction between grey and white matter, underneath the cerebral cortex. These subplate cells are known to play important roles in the correct wiring of the developing brain, and can be thought of as a scaffold. Imagine what would happen to a building under construction if the scaffold were taken down too early. Similarly, developing brains do not fare too well if the subplate cells die prematurely, for example as a result of environmental insults such as severe lack of oxygen at birth. Because this is a clinically important group of cells, which is only defined by their location and very early birth-date in normally developing brains, and because they are hard to identify reliably in abnormally developing brains, I searched for molecular markers for these cells. Some of these are now widely used by the research community across diverse species. Through my research, I demonstrated that many of these molecularly identifiable cells survive into adulthood (as a distinct layer 6b in rodent brains), contrary to previous reports. Molecularly distinct groups of these cells show unique input and output connectivity in the mature brain, and I am now focussing on identifying a functional role for these cells in the adult brain, including in the regulation of vigilance states.

In a separate group of experiments, I am investigating the role that neuronal activity plays in the progression of normal brain development and in ageing, ranging from correct axon targeting to myelination of established connections, and all steps in-between. I collaborate closely with colleagues studying the same animal models in sleep-wake regulation and general behaviour.

Lastly, I work closely with colleagues in the sleep-research field, to investigate changes in gene expression accompanying different vigilance states such as wakefulness or sleep. I also collaborate with MRI specialists to bridge the gap between MR signals and the underlying brain structure that shapes these signals. 

You can find out more about my work https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/team/anna-hoerder-suabedissen.

Messore F, Therpurakal RN, Dufour JP, Hoerder-Suabedissen A, Guidi L, Korrell KV, Mueller M, Abuelem M, Lak A, Bannerman DM, Mann EO, Molnár Z (2025). An orexin-sensitive subpopulation of layer 6 neurons regulates cortical excitability and anxiety behaviour. Translational Psychiatry 15, 147 [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03350-2 ]

Hoerder-Suabedissen A, Ocana-Santero G, Draper TH, Scott SA, Kimani J, Shelton AM, Butt SJB, Molnár Z, Packer AM (2022). Temporal origin of mouse claustrum and development of its cortical projections. Cereb Ctx. 33(7):3944-3959 [https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhac318 ]

Krone LB, Yamagata T, Blanco-Duque C, Guillaumin MCC, Kahn MC, van der Vinne V, McKillop LE, Tam SKE, Peirson SN, Akerman CJ, Hoerder-Suabedissen A, Molnár Z, Vyazovskiy VV (2021) A role for the cortex in sleep-wake regulation. Nat Neuroscience 24(9):1210-1215. [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-021-00894-6 ]

Hoerder-Suabedissen A., Korrell K., Hayashi S., Ramirez D.O., Grant E., Jeans A., Christian H.C., Kavalali E., Wilson M.C., Molnár Z., ‘Cell-specific loss of SNAP25 from cortical projection neurons allows normal development but causes subsequent neurodegeneration’, Cereb Cortex,29(5) (2019), 2148–2159 [https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhy127]

Hoerder-Suabedissen A., Hayashi S., Upton L., Nolan Z., Casas D., Grant E., Korrell K.V., Clasca F., Kanold P., Molnár Z., ‘Cortical Layer 6b neurons selectively innervate higher order nuclei in the thalamus’, Cereb Cortex28(5) (2018),1882-1897 [https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhy036]

Hoerder-Suabedissen A. and Molnár Z., ‘Development, evolution and pathology of neocortical subplate neurons’, Nat Rev Neurosci 16(3) (2015),133-46 [https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3915]

Hoerder-Suabedissen A., Oeschger F.M., Krishnan M.L., Belgard T.G., Wang W.Z., Lee S., Webber C., Petretto E., Edwards A.D., Molnár Z. (2013), ‘Expression profiling of mouse subplate reveals a dynamic gene network and disease association with autism and schizophrenia’, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110 (2013), 3555-60 [https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1218510110]