Research

If we can no longer recall our past or form new memories, can we truly remain the same person? Memory is one of the brain's most vital functions, underpinning our daily lives. Here, I would like to introduce one of our research projects focused on memory.

In our laboratory, we are investigating the hypothesis that spontaneous brain network activity during sleep plays a critical role in consolidating memories of events experienced throughout the day. To measure this brain activity, we combine fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and EEG (electroencephalogram) to capture both high temporal and spatial resolution. Additionally, we detect specific memory-related activity during sleep and test whether enhancing these patterns using transcranial current stimulation (tCS) can facilitate memory consolidation.

Our research is conducted in collaboration with many partners, and we maintain particularly close collaboration with Professor Nakahara’s laboratory at Kochi University of Technology, where we exchange personnel, engage in discussions, and share research equipment.

In collaboration with Professor Hasegawa at Niigata University, we have launched a project to investigate the causal relationship between sleep and memory consolidation in monkeys.