IQB Handbook

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33ACHIEVEMENTPUBLICATIONTeruhiro Okuyama, Takashi Kitamura, Dheeraj S Roy, Shigeyoshi Itohara, Susumu Tonegawa. Ventral CA1 neurons store social memory. Science. 2016 Sep 30;353(6307):1536-1541. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf7003Teruhiro Okuyama, Saori Yokoi, Hideki Abe, Yasuko Isoe, Yuji Suehiro, Haruka Imada, Minoru Tanaka, Takashi Kawasaki, Shunsuke Yuba, Yoshihito Taniguchi, Yasuhiro Kamei, Kataaki Okubo, Atsuko Shimada, Kiyoshi Naruse, Hiroyuki Takeda, Yoshitaka Oka, Takeo Kubo, Hideaki Takeuchi. A neural mechanism underlying mating preferences for familiar individuals in medaka fish. Science. 2014 Jan 3;343(6166):91-4. DOI: 10.1126/science.1244724The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. 2019 Apr(1) Hippocampal ventral CA1 neurons storing social memory (2) optogenetic manipulation of social memory bearing neuronsOKUYAMATERUHIROPH.D. (2011) THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYOPOST-DOCTORAL FELLOW (2011) THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYOJSPS POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW (SPD) (2013) MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (2017)INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOSCIENCES, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYOASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (2018)IQB / INSTITUTE FOR QUANTITATIVE BIOSCIENCES, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO●MEMBER■ ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR :OKUYAMA TERUHIRO■ RESEARCH ASSOCIATE :TAO KENTARO■ JSPS RESEARCH FELLOW : WANG MU-YUN■ JSPS RESEARCH FELLOW : WATARAI AKIYUKI■ PROJECT ACADEMIC SUPPORT STAFF : WATARAI AURORA■ PROJECT ACADEMIC SUPPORT STAFF : YOSHIMURA IKUKO■ PROJECT ACADEMIC SUPPORT STAFF : TANG THUY MINHPUBLICATIONptogenetic analysis of neural circuits for social behavior.For animals who form a society, it is crucial to remember and recog-nize different conspecific individuals (i.e. having “social memory”), and exhibit appro-priate social behavior towards each other. Using optogenetic techniques, we demon-strated that vCA1 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus store social memory (social memory engram). Even if the memory seemed lost after long separation periods, optogenetic activation of the engram can fully restore that social memory. Additionally, artificial association between social engram encoding the memory of a specific individual with fear or reward events can elicit avoidance from or preference to that individual, respectively. Using this novel technology for manipulating a specific social memory, our lab aims to reveal neural mechanisms underlying expres-sion of emotion such as “love” and “hate”.Social memory and autism spectrum disor-der.One tiny dissonance in social memory can easily disrupt the appropriate social behavior, even in humans. Social impairments caused by genetic mutation, especially those related to familiarization with other individuals, are commonly exhibited by patients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Autistic patients have difficulty either with social memory itself, or showing typical behavior of social familiarity driven by social memory. We attempt to reveal the mysterious under-pinnings of social memory in autism, while aiming at the ultimate goal of our lab — the improvement of autism treatment. OAWARD