Research
Many intriguing mysteries left in the issue of brain function like
(1) learning and memory, (2) cognition and behavior, (3) generation of
consciousness, (4) personality and mentality. On the other hand, in the modern-day world
with a complicated human relations and prolonged life span, necessity of deeper
understanding and development of the means to cure the numerous neurological
disorders and pain is enormously increased.
Research
themes
1. Regulation of Microglial Ca
channel function in Neuroinflammation/Neurodegenerative
diseases
2. Regulation of Macrophage Ca
channel function in Inflammatory bowel disease and
Rheumatoid arthritis
3. Energy metabolic imaging at single cell
level of cancer stem cell/cancer cell using Bioluminescence and FRET and
Imaging
4. Energy metabolic imaging at single
cell level of neuron, microglia and astrocyte in the degenerative area of the mouse model of various neurodegenerative
diseases
5. Neural mechanisms of pleasure
and motivation in feeding
6. Molecular basis of Calcium channelopathy
7. Alteration of Neuron-Glia
interaction in Neurological disorders
Neural
mechanisms of pleasure and motivation in feeding
It has been
believed that dopamine signaling originated from the midbrain regulates
pleasure. Recent studies, however, begin to reveal that the dopamine
signaling regulates motivation which is tightly linked to pleasure, but it
doesnft directly regulate pleasure per se.
Both
pleasure and motivation appear in feeding in animals. We are trying to
find the neural bases of pleasure and motivation in feeding with special
attention to find the difference between them. We hypothesize that
pleasure circuit activates motivation circuit, leading to overeating and
obesity. We try to develop the pharmacological method to inhibit the
activation system to enjoy feeding without overeating and obesity.
