Sector for Neurocircuits for Intelligence (NeuCIT)

Sector overview

As many people know, our intelligence is produced by the activity of neurons in the brain, each of which is a few tens of microns in size. However, how our deep intelligence is generated is still a mystery. In an effort to get as close as possible to solving this mystery, we have been conducting research focused on the prefrontal cortex, a region in the front of the brain that is believed to be deeply involved in the creation of our intelligence. In particular, we have been using rodents and monkeys to study the higher brain functions such as executive function, decision making, learning, and reasoning that support our rich daily lives, and which brain areas/circuits are responsible for these functions (please see publications below).

Based on these findings, this sector aims to investigate the neural circuits that form the biological basis of this intelligence. To this end, we will focus primarily on the “non-human primates brain, using chemogenetic techniques to manipulate specific circuits in the brain to estimate their function, electrophysiological techniques to directly and precisely measure the function of these circuits at the single cell level, or functional brain imagings to measure the brain activity at the whole-brain level. Ultimately, we hope to use the findings from animal models to elucidate the neural basis of diseases caused by malfunctions in specific brain circuits in humans, and to establish therapeutic methods.

Sector leader

Kei Oyama, Ph.D.

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=0SD7f1EAAAAJ

Sector members

• Yuki Hori, Ph.D.
• Haruhiko Iwaoki, Ph.D.

Selected publications

1. 1) Oyama K, Majima K, Nagai　Y, Hori　Yukiko, Hirabayashi　T, Mark A G Eldridge MAG, Mimura K, Miyakawa N, Fujimoto A, Hori Yuki, Iwaoki H, Inoue KI, Saunders RC, Takada M, Yahata N, Higuchi M, Richmond BJ, Minamimoto T. Distinct roles of monkey OFC-subcortical pathways in adaptive behavior. in press.
2. 2) Oyama K, Hori Y, Nagai Y, Miyakawa N, Mimura K, Hirabayashi T, Inoue K, Suhara T, Takada M, Higuchi M, Minamimoto T. Chemogenetic disconnection of the primate orbitofrontal cortex and rostoromedial caudate disrupts motivational control of goal-directed action. The Journal of Neuroscience 42(32), 6267-6275 (2022).
3. 3) Oyama K, Hori Y, Nagai Y, Miyakawa N, Mimura K, Hirabayashi T, Inoue K, Suhara T, Takada M, Higuchi M, Minamimoto T. Chronic behavioral manipulation via orally delivered chemogenetic actuator in macaques. The Journal of Neuroscience 42(12), 2552-2561 (2022).
4. 4) Oyama K, Hori Y, Nagai Y, Miyakawa N, Mimura K, Hirabayashi T, Inoue K, Suhara T, Takada M, Higuchi M, Minamimoto T. Chemogenetic dissection of the primate prefronto-subcortical pathways for working memory and decision-making. Science Advances 7, eabg4246 (2021).
5. 5) Oyama K, Hernadi I, Iijima T, Tsutsui KI. Reward prediction error coding in dorsal striatal neurons. The Journal of Neuroscience 30(34), 11447-11457 (2010).