The key to understand the rise of mind should be found in communicative behavior

Kazuo Okanoya

Dai Yanagihara, Ph.D.

Team Leader, Cognition and Behavior Joint Research Laboratory
dai.yanagihara [at] riken.jp

Research Overview

Forming internal models of how we interact and communicate with the external world is critical functions in our brains. Humans and animals learn the internal model of bodies and environments from their experience and stabilize own behavior against based on the predicted future states according to the internal model. The brain is a prediction machine. We study animal and human motor and communicative behavior by neurophysiological approaches. We set up behavioral paradigms that require motor or communicative faculties, and simultaneously measure brain activities such as single unit response, cellular gene expressions, Electrocorticogram, and MRI. We aim to investigate correlational and causal relations between neural activities and behavior. We hope to understand how mind arouse based on these research activities.

Main Research Fields

Complex Systems

Related Research Fields

Informatics / Humanities & Social Sciences / Social Sciences / Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering / Biological Sciences / Biology / Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy

Keywords

Selected Publications

  1. * Konosu, A., Funato, T., Matsuki, Y., Fujita, A., Sakai, R., Yanagihara, D.:
    "A model of predictive postural control against floor tilting in rats"
    Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 15, 785366 (2021)
  2. * Funato, T., Sato, Y., Sato, Y., Fujiki, S., Aoi, S., Tsuchiya, K., Yanagihara, D.:
    "Quantitative evaluation of posture control in rats with inferior olive lesions"
    Scientific Reports 11, 20362 (2021).
  3. * Toeda, M., Aoi, S., Fujiki, S., Funato, T., Tsuchiya, K., Yanagihara, D.:
    "Gait generation and its energy efficiency based on rat neuromusculoskeletal model"
    Frontiers in Neuroscience 13, 1337 (2020).
  4. * Fujiki, S., Aoi, S., Tsuchiya, K., Danner, S. M., Rybak, I. A., Yanagihara, D.:
    "Phase-dependent response to afferent stimulation during fictive locomotion: a computational modeling study"
    Frontiers in Neuroscience 13, 1288 (2019).
  5. * Fujiki, S., Aoi, S., Funato, T., Tsuchiya, K., Yanagihara, D.:
    "Adaptive hindlimb split-belt treadmill walking in rats by controlling basic muscle activation patterns via phase resetting"
    Scientific Reports 8, 17341 (2018).
  6. * Takeuchi, E., Ito-Ishida, A., Yuzaki, M., Yanagihara, D.:
    "Improvement of cerebellar ataxic gait by injecting Cbln1 into the cerebellum of cbln1-null mice"
    Scientific Reports 8, 6184 (2018)
  7. * Funato, T., Sato, Y., Fujiki, S., Sato, Y., Aoi, S., Tsuchiya, K., Yanagihara, D.:
    "Postural control during quiet bipedal standing in rats"
    PLoS ONE 12(12), e0189248 (2017).
  8. * Kotajima-Murakami, H., Narumi, S., Yuzaki, M., Yanagihara, D.:
    "Involvement of GluD2 in fear-conditioned bradycardia in mice"
    PLoS ONE 11(11), e0166144 (2016).
  9. * Fujii, T. G., Ikebuchi, M., & Okanoya, K.:
    "Auditory Responses to Vocal Sounds in the Songbird Nucleus Taeniae of the Amygdala and the Adjacent Arcopallium"
    Brain, behavior and evolution, 87(4), 275-289. (2016)
    10.1159/000447233
  10. * Saito, Y., Yuki, S., Seki, Y., Kagawa, H., & Okanoya, K.:
    "Cognitive bias in rats evoked by ultrasonic vocalizations suggests emotional contagion"
    Behavioural processes, 132, 5-11. (2016)
    10.1016/j.beproc.2016.08.005

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Dai Yanagihara
Team Leader

Core members

Maki Ikebuchi
Research Scientist
Meiko Asaka
Technical Staff I