Could you briefly explain the significance and impact of the research for which you received the award?
The research recognized by this award, “Research on the Mechanisms of Perceptual Information Processing in the Neocortex,” has sought to elucidate how the neocortex processes sensory information from the external world and links it to brain functions such as perception and memory, by bridging multiple levels of organization, from single cells to local circuits and large-scale networks. In particular, we identified a top-down cortical circuit that supports accurate tactile perception, and further showed that the same circuit also contributes to memory consolidation during sleep and to emotion-dependent memory enhancement. I believe these findings have important implications for a unified understanding of information processing in the neocortex. In addition, to support this line of research, we have also developed new experimental and imaging methods, including in vivo fiber photometry and wide-field two-photon microscopy.
How many years did you spend on this research?
I believe that the work recognized by this award primarily reflects the research achievements we have made at RIKEN. However, the questions that underlie this work, as well as the motivation that has driven my research, were cultivated during my student years. In that sense, this achievement is built not only on more than a decade of work at RIKEN, but also on a quarter century of accumulated experience, beginning with my time as a student.
What was the biggest challenge you encountered during the research?
One of the greatest challenges was to establish the experimental systems and measurement techniques required to address our questions, rather than relying solely on existing methods. Beginning with building experimental setups during my student years, I later took on the launch of in vivo experiments when the laboratory in Switzerland was making its first serious move into that area, and subsequently worked on the development of wide-field two-photon microscopy at RIKEN. New tools open up new vistas that were previously invisible. At the same time, no one knows in advance whether the path will truly open. Moving forward without any guarantee of success was never easy, but pressing ahead while imagining the new landscape that might lie beyond was, for me, both the essence of research and one of its greatest challenges.
What was the most rewarding moment or aspect of achieving this result?
One rewarding aspect was seeing a long-held aspiration from my student days—to understand cellular activity and neural networks as an integrated whole—gradually take shape as concrete research. Another was the moment when we began to realize that a circuit we identified at RIKEN is involved not only in tactile perception, but also in distinct brain functions such as memory consolidation during sleep and emotion-dependent memory enhancement. Although each individual finding was of course rewarding, what has stayed with me most is the realization that lines of research that once seemed separate have, over time, converged into a single coherent trajectory.
What does receiving this award mean to you personally?
Receiving an award bearing the name of Dr. Nakaaki Tsukahara is both a tremendous honor and a deeply humbling experience. Looking at the names of the past recipients of this award, I am reminded that they are all truly distinguished pioneers, and I feel anew the weight of being included among them. I hope to continue building my research with sincerity, striving to come even a little closer to the achievements of those who came before me.
How do you hope this research will contribute to the field in the future?
Looking ahead, I hope that this work will provide a foundation for understanding perceptual information processing in the neocortex across multiple levels of organization, from cells to circuits to large-scale networks. I also hope it will serve as a starting point for further exploring how a single circuit can be recruited for multiple brain functions, and how the integration and segregation of large-scale networks relate to perception and consciousness. In addition, I hope that the measurement technologies we have developed will prove useful as part of the experimental foundation supporting future neuroscience research.
What message would you like to share with young researchers or students?
To young researchers and students, I would encourage you not to let your field be defined solely by the laboratory you happen to join, or to confine yourselves within those boundaries. Instead, I hope you will actively seek out the knowledge and techniques that genuinely interest you. During my own student years, I had many experiences that at the time seemed like detours, but in retrospect they became the foundation of my research. Going out into the field, learning different approaches with your own hands, and experiencing them directly will give you perspectives that cannot be gained from reading papers alone.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Research is never carried out alone, and I am once again reminded that my own work has been sustained by encounters with many people. I have received invaluable insights and inspiration not only from my mentors, collaborators, and lab members, but also from my peers, senior and junior colleagues, and the administrative staff who have supported our work. This award has also given me a renewed opportunity to reflect on my gratitude to all of them. Thank you very much.