This group approaches brain mechanisms through examination of neuronal networks and systems. Recent studies have revealed thatmemory and learning occur by two different mechanisms, one explicit and the other implicit. The aim of our research is to dissect neural processes for these memory processes and thereby elucidate the brain mechanisms of memory and learning. Two types of synaptic plasticity, long-term potentiation and depression, have been found to be the bases of memory. This team will investigate further complex chemical processes and gene reguratory processes underlying synaptic plasticity that takes place during learning.
Emotional disorders constitute the core syndromes of psychotic disorders.
Although the brain mechanisms involved in emotion and its disorders are one of the most important topics of brain research, they are not yet well understood. In order to understand these mechanisms, we must combine a variety of methods, such as molecular biological, neurophysiological, biochemical and behavioral techniques. Research projects Studies on behavioral disorders of knockout mice and their neurophysiological and biochemical correlates. Search for novel genes which regulate the effects of a specific emotional experience. Information processing in neuronal networks involves electrical and chemical signals which are spatially confined at the subcellular level and which occur at the time scale of milliseconds.