LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Matsuzaki Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab observes neural circuits at the cellular level to understand how the brain predicts, chooses, and learns.
AboutAbout the lab
From cells to intelligence.
The Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology (Matsuzaki Lab) studies, at the cellular level, how neural circuits in the brain give rise to behavior and intelligence.
Animal brains predict upcoming outcomes from sensory input and the state of the body, choose actions, and learn from the results.
The lab combines two-photon imaging and optogenetics to directly observe active neurons and investigate how circuits function.
Using mice and marmosets, a small species of monkey, the lab also studies the circuits that support abilities characteristic of primates, such as understanding the actions of others and imitation learning.
Key terms
- Two-photon imaging
- A method that uses laser light to observe the activity of many neurons in the brain simultaneously in a living animal
- Optogenetics
- A method in which light-sensitive proteins are introduced into specific neurons, and light is then used to control the activity of those cells
- Basal ganglia
- A group of neuron clusters deep in the cerebrum, involved in movement, action selection, and learning
NewsLab news
Paper identifying a "hub region" for prediction-based behavior in primates published in Communications Biology
Paper showing that the cerebellum sends reward-based error signals to the motor cortex published in Nature Communications
Paper revealing the brain circuit that decides whether or not to act published in Nature Communications
Paper on automating virus injection surgery into the primate cerebral cortex published in Nature Communications
Paper showing changes in motor cortex activity that underlie sensorimotor learning in primates published in Nature Communications
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to understand, at the cellular level, the physical basis of the neural circuits that give rise to behavior and intelligence, as well as the principles of their information processing. Using mice and marmosets, it investigates the frontal cortical circuits responsible for motor control, learning, and decision-making.
*Illustrative imageHow frontal cortical circuits work
The lab uses two-photon imaging to record the activity of many neurons simultaneously and optogenetics to manipulate specific cells, in order to investigate the operating principles of the frontal cortical circuits responsible for movement and decision-making.
*Illustrative imageLoop circuits linking the motor cortex with the basal ganglia and cerebellum
In the learning of voluntary movements, the lab seeks to clarify what information is carried by cells in each layer of the motor cortex and by the loop circuits connecting the motor cortex with the basal ganglia and the cerebellum.
*Illustrative imageTechnologies for manipulating and measuring neurons with light
The lab has developed its own measurement and manipulation technologies, including two-photon imaging methods that capture cellular activity in deep brain regions and across distant areas, and methods for long-term imaging in marmosets.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Matsuzaki Lab are faculty, researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, technical assistants, and academic specialist staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorMasanori MatsuzakiPublications ↗
- LecturerTeppei Ebina
- Assistant ProfessorShinichiro Terada
- Assistant ProfessorMasafumi Kondo
- Project Assistant ProfessorKeisuke Sehara
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Matsuzaki Lab
Ohki LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineNeural circuits of the cerebral cortex visual area; two-phot…
Okabe LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineFormation and maintenance of central nervous system neural n…
Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineNeurotransmitter imaging, super-resolution microscopy, chemi…
Ishikawa LabFaculty of Medicine, School of MedicineGenomic pathology, AI-based pathological image analysis, and…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) Rio 2015” Aatu Dorochenko / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How frontal cortical circuits work: “Somatosensory cortex of a mouse brain slice - GFP expressed - 20x magnification” Robert Cudmore from Marseille, France / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Loop circuits linking the motor cortex with the basal ganglia and cerebellum: “Cerebellum PurkinjeCells” Sbrandner / Public domain (cropped)
- Technologies for manipulating and measuring neurons with light: “Optogenetics imetronic” Bd008 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ohki Lab): “Cortical Minicolumn” Quorumetrix / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Okabe Lab): “Neuron in tissue culture” GerryShaw / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology Lab): “Chemical synapse schema cropped” user:Looie496 created file; Illustrator: Christy Krames, MA, CMI, for US National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Ishikawa Lab): “Gastric adenocarcinoma” Nephron / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.