研究内容の詳細は英語版の<Laboratory>をご参照ください。
Behavioral Neuroscience Lab
As a part of the systems physiology Department in University of the Ryukyus School of Medicine, the behavioral neuroscience group focuses on issues in neuropsychopharmacology and neuroscience. Currently we are engaged in basic neuroscience research, studying the neurogenetic mechanisms underlying cognitive and social deficits in various neuropsychiatric disorders. The objectives of our research are to better understand the way the brain mediates sensory and social information processing through adaptive behavioral outputs and to develop more effective geneticpharmacotherapies for the treatment of social dysfunctions.
Our laboratory, started on April, 2021, currently focuses on the development of mouse models to study the neurobiological bases of social and cognitive impairments in autism. Collectively, these studies are designed to provide insights into possible neural mechanisms underlying these behavioral symptoms as well as to design valid preclinical screens for the development of genetic pharmacotherapies that are able to provide efficacious treatments facilitating behavioral adaptation against facing symptoms.
We are particularly interested in the neurobiology of developmental neural tuning processes and its concequence. The genetic and anatomical mediation of socio-cognitive abilities and flexibility developed through early stage of life cause a distributed neural system that includes the thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, basal forebrain, and prefrontal cortex. Research in our lab has illustrated the importance of tuning interactions among these neural circuits, in the expression of socio-cognitive behaviors. Moreover, the functional assessment of these expressed behaviors is the key for further understanding of fundamental neural mechanisms.
This line of questioning provides an ideal platform to test several relevant hypotheses regarding the neural basis of behavioral dysfunction in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diseases, and thus, we currently tackle on the puzzle over the neural circuits underlying social dysfunction and persist repeatitive behavior using BTBR mouse strain as an idiopathic autism model.
To accomplish these research goals, we utilize main weapon of cutting-edge behavioral assessment in rodent models, along with neuroscience methods ranging from gene expression and protein assays, opto- and chemogenetic manipulations, and morphorogical assessments in mouse models.
What's news (from 2022)
2023/10/05 Physiology and Behavior誌に単著による原著論文「Revisiting sociability: Factors facilitating approach and avoidance during the three-chamber test」として、社会行動測定におけるメジャーツールである3Chamber testの問題点を検証し、B6マウスが示す社会的な行動の意味を議論しました。
2023/09/26 動物心理学研究に神経活動から行動出力を考える際の解釈の問題点と考え方について総説を書きました。神経科学における行動研究を盛り上げたいです。
2023/06/25 月刊細胞誌の特集「変貌する行動生物学」に「疾患研究の行動生物学」という記事を書きました。単純な行動テストバッテリーを批判し、適切な神経ー行動関係を導き出すことの重要性を述べました。
2023/06/10 Neuropharmacology誌に原著論文「Serotonergic circuit dysregulation underlying autism-related phenotypes in BTBR mouse model of autism」が掲載されます。自閉症マウスモデルのセロトニン神経系について検討しています。
2023/04/01 ポスドク研究員の樋口裕城さんが企業就職されました。おめでとうございます!
2023/03/04 Communications biology誌に投稿中のpreprint "Circuit disruption of oxytocin neurons regulating socio-emotional behavior in BTBR mouse model of autism"がResearch Squareに掲載されました。
2022/12/12: Psychoneuroendocrinology誌に原著論文「Faded neural projection from the posterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the lateral habenula contributes to social signaling deficit in male BTBR mice as a mouse model of autism」が掲載されます。マウスの社会コミュニケーション信号である匂いづけの制御不全を自閉症マウスモデルで確認し、その制御神経回路の一部を明らかとしました。
2022/07/01: 日本神経科学会合同大会(Neuro2022)にて、「Neural mechanism underlying cooporative social signaling, scent marking behavior in male BTBR mice as an ideopasic mouse model of autism」「Signalling mechanisms underlying SSRI-induced adult neurogenesis in the mouse hippocampus」という2つの題目でポスター発表を行いました。
2022/05/08: ポスドク研究員の樋口さんが「International Society for Developmental Neuroscience」にてポスター発表を行います。Travel awardを受けてCanada, Calgaryにて開催されます。
2022/03/02: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews誌に総説論文「Exocrine scent marking: Coordinative role of arginine vasopressin in the systemic regulation of social signaling behaviors」が掲載されます。脊椎動物に共通して機能しているバソプレッシン様ホルモンが体液制御という共通機能を持つと仮定し、げっ歯類におけるバソプレッシンの行動制御を担う神経回路とその制御プロセスについてまとめました。
2022/01/30: Hormones and Behavior誌に原著論文「Contrasting central and systemic effects of arginine-vasopressin on urinary marking behavior as a social signal in male mice」が掲載されます。社会的信号を制御しているペプチドホルモン、バソプレッシンが体全体の過程でどのように行動を制御しているのかを明らかとしました。