CENTER FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY BRAIN RESEARCH

This center plays a central role in the neuroscientist net work in Japan to fascilitate interaction among multidisciplinary research fields.

Director

Professor: IKENAKA, Kazuhiro, PhD 1975 Graduated from Faculty of Science, Osaka University. 1980 GraduatedfromthedoctoralcourseatOsakaUniversity, PhD. 1980 Instructor at Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University. 1991 Associate Professor at Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University. 1992 Professor, NIPS. Specialty: Molecular Neurobiology

It is an urgent task to establish neuroscience educational/training systems for young Japan researchers, in order to remain competitive with western countries in brain science. In this section (2 NIPS professors and 8 adjunct professors), we explore future directions of brain science and plan and run multi-disciplinary neuroscience training courses.

Staff

Professor: IMOTO, Keiji, MD, PhD Graduated from Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine. Medical Staff, NationalUtano Hospital. Instructor, Lecturer, and Associate Professor, Kyoto UniversityFaculty of Medicine. Research Associate, Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung. 1995 Professor, NIPS. Specialty: Neurophysiology

Professor: NABEKURA, Junichi, MD, PhD 1980 Graduated from Kyushu University, School of Medicine. 1986 Completed the doctoral course in Medical Sciences, Kyushu University. 1986 Research Fellow, Washington University. 1991 Assistant Professor, Department of Neurophysiology, School of Medicine, Tohoku University. 1993 Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Akita University. 1995 Associate Professor, Kyushu University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences. 2003 Professor, NIPS. Speciality: Neuroscience

Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) will allow humans to operate computers, robotic arms, wheelchairs, prosthetic devices and other instruments by using only the signals of their brain. This neuro-technology may help severely disabled but cognitively intact patients to communicate and interact with outside world. Developing new algorithms to decode the cognitive signals from the individual brain signals and learning how the brain adapts to novel environments when interacting directly with the computer will also lead to better understanding of the brain. Thus, in the near future BMI research will bring about major advances in brain science and information technology.

BMI research is multidisciplinary in nature. This work is firmly based in the basic and computational neurosciences, disciplines like signal processing, machine learning, robotics, rehabilitation engineering, electrode hardware engineering and ethics play a pivotal role in the advancement of this young field. The interest in this field of research has grown tremendously during the last decade. The Section of Brain Information Decoding will work on the basic research for the development of BMI by combining such multidisciplinary approaches and will introduce a paradigm shift to basic neuroscience for better understanding of the brain function.

Staff

Professor: ISA, Tadashi, MD, PhD 1985 Graduated from University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine. 1989 Completed the doctoral course in Science in University of Tokyo. 1989 ResearchAssociate in University of Tokyo. 1993 Lecturer in Gunma University, School of Medicine. 1996 Professor, NIPS. Speciality: Neurophysiology

Professor: KAWATO, Mitsuo, PhD 1976 Graduated from Tokyo University, Faculty of Science. 1981 Completed the doctoral course in Engineering Science, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University. 1981 Research Associate and then Lecturer, Osaka University. 1988 Senior Researcher, ATR Auditory and Visual Perception Research Labs. 2003 Director of ATR Computational Neuroscience Labs., 2004 ATR Fellow. Specialty: Computational Neuroscience

Molecular biological techniques in neuroscience have brought us a wealth of knowledge in elucidating the relationship between the molecules and brain functions. However, in order to understand the higher order brain functions and pathophysilogical mechanisms of human neurological diseases, we need to establish molecular biological systems that are applicable to primate studies. Toward this goal, we are seeking to establish such tools as the gene transfer techniques to primates.

Staff

	Professor: NAMBU, Atsushi, MD, PhD 1982 Graduated from Kyoto University, Faculty of Medicine. 1985 Research Associate, Kyoto University, School of Medicine. 1989 Postdoctoral Fellow, New York University, Faculty of Medicine. 1991 Associate Professor, NIPS. 1995 Director, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience. 2002 Professor, NIPS. Speciality: Neurophysiology
	Professor: YAMAMORI, Tetsuo, PhD 1974 Graduate from Kyoto University, Faculty of Science. 1981 Dr. Sci., Kyoto University. 1981 Research fellow, Colorado University. 1986, Research fellow, California Institute of Technology. 1991, Frontier Research fellow, RIKEN. 1994, Professor, National Institute for Basic Biology. 2008, Concurrent Professor, NIPS. Specialty: Molecular Neurobiology

NBR stands for National Bioresource Project “Nihonzaru.” Nihonzaru, Japanese monkeys, have moderate temper and high cognitional abilities and play an important role in higher brain function studies in Japan.

The primary goal of this project is to establish a sustainable system to breed, rear, supply SPF Japanese monkeys for research purposes in Japan.

This project, formally started in 2003, is now collaborating with Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University.

NBR Promotion Office has four objectives.

1. To establish a breeding-rearing system
2. To distribute bred-monkeys to researchers in Japan.
3. To compile database on Japanese monkeys in terms of anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, veterinary, etc.
4. To integrate information from collaborating institutes and promote smooth project operation and public relations.

* The National Bioresource Project (NBRP) was started in 2002 to collect, develop, and keep essential bioresources for life science researches on national scale. Since then, a variety of bioresources (e.g. mice, silkworms, stem cells, etc.) and genetic data have been collected and supplied to researchers.

Staff

	Professor: ISA, Tadashi, MD, PhD 1985 Graduated from University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine. 1989 Completed the doctoral course in Science in University of Tokyo. 1989 Research Associate in University of Tokyo. 1993 Lecturer in Gunma University, School of Medicine. 1996 Professor, NIPS. Speciality: Neurophysiology
	Associate Professor: INAGAKI, Haruhisa, DVM, PhD 1972 Graduated from Hokkaido University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.1972 Clinical Veterinarian, Japan Monkey Centre. 1989 Researcher, Developmental Research Laboratories, SHIONOGI & CO.,LTD. 2008 Assosiate Professor, NIPS
	Research fellow: MIYACHI, Mari 1989 Graduated from Kyushu University, School of Education.
	Postdoctoral Fellow: YAMANE, Itaru, PhD 1991 Graduated from Kyoto University, Faculty School of Agriculture. 1999 Completed the doctoral course in Science in Kyoto University.