Sector for Cognitive Uncertainty Research
Research
The brain is a product of evolution tuned to adapt to the uncertainty in the environment. Even human intelligence, which is often believed to be rationale, is systematically biased by intrinsic values, such as risk preference, social value, and confidence. Cognitive biases under uncertainty can be considered as an expression of biological logic implemented in the brain, deeply rooted in the genetic code from evolutionary pressure. Therefore, linking cognitive biases with specific neural structures is crucial for understanding how various cognitive processes are implemented in the brain during normal condition and psychiatric disorders caused by structural degeneration.
To this end, we have been working on bridging the gap between neural representations of cognitive variables and biological structures defined by neural connections and gene expression using rodent models. Leveraging the benefits of cutting-edge experimental techniques available in rodents, we integrate decision-making behavioral tasks with advanced methods for brain imaging techniques, large-scale neural recordings and manipulation of specific neural circuits components. Additionally, we employ rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders like depression, addiction and dementia to advance the development of new treatment and intervention approaches. This involves identifying behavioral abnormalities in model animals using decision-making tasks and subsequently clarifying the causal relationship between deficits of specific neural circuits and the pathologies associated with these disorders.
Our approach will bridge the gap between the latent cognitive process and the neural-circuit structures and open up novel approaches for treating psychiatric disorders, such as targeting the specific brain structures for treating patients with dementia, depression, and other types of diseases.
Sector head
Junya Hirokawa, phD. (https://researchmap.jp/ratcortex)
Apr, 2023 – Present Senior researcher, Department of Functional Brain Imaging, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology
Jul, 2015 - Mar, 2023 Associate professor, Graduate School of Brain Science, Doshisha University
Jan, 2011 - Jun, 2015 Posdoc, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Apr, 2008 - Dec, 2010 Posdoc, National Institute for Basic Biology
Apr, 2004 - Mar, 2008 The Graduate University for Advanced Studies
Members
Haruhiko Iwaoki, phD.（https://researchmap.jp/iwaoki）
Selected publications
- Contribution of
non-sensory neurons in visual cortical areas to visually guided decisions in the rat
Yuma Osako, Tomoya Ohnuki, Yuta Tanisumi, Kazuki Shiotani, Hiroyuki Manabe, Yoshio Sakurai, Junya Hirokawa
Current Biology 31(13) 2757-2769.e6, 2021 - Dynamic
coordination of the perirhinal cortical neurons supports coherent representations between task
epochs
Tomoya Ohnuki, Yuma Osako, Hiroyuki Manabe, Yoshio Sakurai, Junya Hirokawa
Communications Biology 3(1), 2020 - Behavior- and
Modality-General Representation of Confidence in Orbitofrontal Cortex
Paul Masset, Torben Ott, Armin Lak, Junya Hirokawa, Adam Kepecs
Cell 182(1) 112-126.e18, 2020 - Frontal cortex
neuron types categorically encode single decision variables
Junya Hirokawa, Alexander Vaughan, Paul Masset, Torben Ott, Adam Kepecs
Nature 576 446-451, 2019 - Functional role
of the secondary visual cortex in multisensory facilitation in rats
Junya Hirokawa, Miquel Bosch, Shuzo Sakata, Yoshio Sakurai, Tetsuo Yamamori Neuroscience 153(4) 1402-1417, 2008
