Research Areas

Our team attempts to clarify the functional roles of the brain circuitry in cognitive behaviors through computational analyses. Higher brain functions, such as learning and memory, motor planning and decision making, engage a wide variety of dynamical systems, from intracellular signaling cascades to interacting neuronal ensembles, in processing information. We study the mechanisms of neural information coding by study the dynamics and functions of networks of spiking neurons analytically or by simulating the behavior of realistic neurons and their networks numerically. Recently, we are particularly interested in understanding the network structure and computational functions of cortical microcircuits. The neuronal network occupying roughly a cubic millimeter of cortical volume can in several respects be regarded as the elementary functional unit of the neocortex. The unit has a six layer structure with a different distribution of neuron types in each layer. The structure exhibits a striking homogeneity across areas engaged in very different computational tasks. This raises a hope that universal laws can be discovered governing the neocortical processing of information. We attempt to create a prototypical model that captures the important properties of the cortical microcircuit. This is still challenging since even such a prototype model is currently not available. To achieve the above goal, we employ multiunit and juxtacellular recordings from the brain of behaving rats to obtain activities of multiple cortical neurons with those of identified neurons. In addition, we perform dynamic clamp experiments to test the hypotheses emerging from theoretical studies. We develop powerful data analysis methods to analyze the multiunit data.

Research Subject

1. Modeling cortical microcircuits
2. Analysis tools for multiunit data
3. Information processing by neural networks
4. Multiunit and juxtacellular recordings from the brain of behaving rats
5. Neural mechanisms of decision making

Related links

1. RIKEN Brain Science Institute Website_Laboratories Page
2. Individual Website Laboratory Page

Press release

November 09, 2009

Shaping the way we move

RIKEN RESEARCH

January 15, 2010

Shaping and sharpening movements
A new recording method shows how microcircuitry in the motor cortex of the brain controls voluntary movements

March 28,2008

Synchronized spiking
Oscillating neurons knock their neighbors into step to produce signals that can survive the journey through the nervous system

February 16, 2007

Not just counting sheep
Research has revealed neuronal firing patterns that could help explain how the brain makes memories during deep sleep