From People - School of Science, The University of Tokyo

Research Field

Molecular genetics, Neuroscience

Research Subject

Identification of neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory

Current Research

Most of animals learn to choose an appropriate response to external signals according to the past experience. I am studying neural circuits and molecular mechanisms which generate the learned behavior by using a simple model organism, the nematode C. elegans. The worms show several types of learned behavior with the use of a compact nervous system which consists of 302 neurons. For example, while worms grown on a medium containing NaCl with food show an attractive behavior to NaCl, they alter the response to the avoidance of NaCl after the incubation with NaCl under starvation condition. The goal of our research is an understanding of neural circuits and molecular signaling pathway necessary and sufficient for the generation of learned behavior in C. elegans. I hope that our finding will also provide useful information for the deep understanding of a complex system of human brain.

Keywords

learning and memory, C. elegans, chemotaxis, neural circuit, molecular signaling

Links

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