Ogawa lab
Department of Systems Physiology, Faculty of Medicine,
Shiga University of Medical Science
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We are hiring post-docs and recruiting graduate students !
Email us if you have any interest in joining our lab (ogawam x belle.shiga-med.ac.jp , put ＠ in x ）
Neural circuits and computations for motivated behaviors
Neural circuits and computations for motivated behaviors
Motivation is an essential brain function for achieving goals. Appropriate motivation affects the survival of each individual and, ultimately, the prosperity of the species. On the other hand, depression, in which motivation is decreased, and addiction, in which motivation is abnormally increased, have become major social problems. This means that if we can accurately understand the motivational function and improve it based on this understanding, the social impact will be significant.
Motivation is an essential brain function for achieving goals. Appropriate motivation affects the survival of each individual and, ultimately, the prosperity of the species. On the other hand, depression, in which motivation is decreased, and addiction, in which motivation is abnormally increased, have become major social problems. This means that if we can accurately understand the motivational function and improve it based on this understanding, the social impact will be significant.
Although such research has been difficult in the past, recent remarkable progress in neuroscience has made it possible to elucidate the neural mechanisms for motivation at a scientifically sophisticated level.
Although such research has been difficult in the past, recent remarkable progress in neuroscience has made it possible to elucidate the neural mechanisms for motivation at a scientifically sophisticated level.
We will use an integrated approach of physiology, biology, psychology, medicine, computation, and other fields to investigate the neural mechanisms and the computational algorithms underlying motivated behaviors. We thus aim to understand the symptoms of impaired motivation and ultimately pave the way for the diagnosis and treatment. We also investigate neural mechanisms of decision-making and attention.
We will use an integrated approach of physiology, biology, psychology, medicine, computation, and other fields to investigate the neural mechanisms and the computational algorithms underlying motivated behaviors. We thus aim to understand the symptoms of impaired motivation and ultimately pave the way for the diagnosis and treatment. We also investigate neural mechanisms of decision-making and attention.
Major Activities in 2026
Mar — Ogawa was awarded a prestigious KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (Kiban A).
Major Activities in 2025
Major Activities in 2025
November — Presented a poster at SfN 2025 (Society for Neuroscience) in San Diego, USA.
October — Ogawa delivered an invited special lecture at the 85th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Animal Psychology.
September — Dr. Nishioka joined the lab as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow (PD).
August — Ogawa gave an invited talk at the 39th Japanese Basal Ganglia Research Meeting.
August — Hosted a seminar by Dr. Masaaki Sato (Kyoto Institute of Technology).
July — Ogawa gave an invited talk at the Ritsumeikan University Life and Medical Sciences Colloquium.
June — Held the 6th Department-hosted Seminar.
May — Ogawa gave a seminar at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences.
May — Ogawa gave a seminar at the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University.
March — Held the 5th Department-hosted Seminar.
February — Ogawa gave an invited talk at the 18th Rat Resource Research Meeting (Kyoto University).
January — Ogawa delivered an invited Medical Research Seminar at Osaka Metropolitan University, Graduate School of Medicine .
Major Activities in 2024
Oct — Ogawa delivered an oral presentation at the symposium "Frustrative Nonreward: Behavior, Circuits, Neurochemistry, and Disorders" at Neuroscience 2024 (SfN) in Chicago.
Oct — Our paper has been published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
July — Ogawa presented a poster at a Gordon Research Conference (Optogenetics) in Lucca, Italy.
April — Satoshi Nonomura has joined as an assistant professor. Haruka Kawamura has joined as a Ph.D. student. The 'Lab members' section has been updated.
March — Ogawa presented a poster at the Basal Ganglia Gordon Research Conference in Ventura, USA.
Major Activities in 2023
November — The lab presented two posters at the Society for Neuroscience meeting (Neuroscience 2023) in Washington, D.C.
November — Seiya Ishino was appointed as an assistant professor of the department.
October — Ogawa gave an invited lecture at the NIPS Meeting on synapse in Kagoshima.
October — The lab moved to Shiga University of Medical Science. Ogawa was appointed as a full professor of the Department of Systems Physiology.
August — The lab presented three posters at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society in Sendai. Ogawa organized a symposium and gave a lecture. Ogawa also gave a luncheon talk.
NEWS !!
March 2023: Our paper on dopamine function is published !!
Ishino et al., Science Advances, 2023
Highlighed in Neuroscience News, JST Science Japan, and many other Japanese mass media such as Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Yahoo! News, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun, NewsPicks, ABEMA Hills (net TV).
Major Activities in 2022
December: Ogawa gave an invited lecture at the NIPS Meeting of neural circuits in Okazaki.
November: The lab presented two posters at the Society for Neuroscience meeting (Neuroscience 2022) in San Diego.
July: Seiya Ishino and Hisa Mukohira gave poster presentations at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society (Neuro2022 in Okinawa).
June: Ogawa gave a lecture at the Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University (host: Dr. Naoki Matsuo).
June: Ogawa gave a presentation at the open symposium "Place of Fusion" of the FOREST Program.
May: Ogawa gave a talk at Doshisha University, Graduate School of Brain Science (host: Dr. Hiroaki Misono).
May: Ogawa gave a lecture at Kagoshima University, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences (host: Dr. Hiroyuki Okuno).
April: Ogawa gave a lecture at Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine (host: Dr. Tomoyuki Furuyashiki).
April: Ogawa gave a talk at online seminar (host: Dr. Kenichiro Tsutsui, Tohoku University).
March: Ogawa gave a short talk at Development and plasticity of neural systems (international symposium, virtual conference).
March: Ogawa gave a presentation at the results debriefing session of the FOREST Program (Yukiko Goda's Panel). It was a "bottom-up" debriefing session with many very stimulating and unique research presentations, and we hope that the FOREST program will continue in the future.
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