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Yagishita Lab
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The lab investigates the mechanisms of learning and psychiatric disorders, from synapses to behavior.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding mental illness from the synapse
The Yagishita Lab uses cutting-edge experimental techniques in neuroscience to elucidate the mechanisms of adaptive learning in laboratory animals, from the level of synapses to behavior.
Humans adapt to complex societies by storing vast amounts of information in the brain, and synaptic plasticity is thought to be especially important for this adaptation from adolescence onward.
On the other hand, psychiatric disorders may arise when this adaptation process is impaired.
The lab approaches the understanding of disease from a new perspective: that psychiatric disorders are caused by an interaction at the synapse between functional vulnerability and environmental information.
Key terms
- Synapse
- The junction between neurons, where signals are passed on.
- Synaptic plasticity
- The change in how readily a synapse transmits signals depending on how it is used. It is the foundation of learning and memory.
- Dopamine
- One of the substances that carry signals in the brain. It is involved in reward, learning, and motivation.
NewsLab news
Paper by Assistant Professor Kashiwagi et al. published in eLife
Professor Sho Yagishita receives the AMED President's Award at the Japan Medical Research and Development Awards
ResearchResearch themes
Many psychiatric disorders involve monoamines such as dopamine and serotonin, synapse-related genes, and brain regions such as the frontal lobe and the limbic system. All of these are related to learning for flexibly adapting to the environment, and the lab aims to understand reinforcement learning and psychiatric disorders through synaptic function.
*Illustrative imageSynaptic basis of reinforcement learning
The lab has shown how transient changes in dopamine regulate synaptic plasticity and learning in the nucleus accumbens, which receives strong projections from dopamine neurons. It is now extending its research to serotonin and the prefrontal cortex.
*Illustrative imageA new approach to psychiatric disorders
The lab views psychiatric disorders as a state in which the brain cannot adapt to society. Because synaptic function allows the lab to address both aspects, molecular dysfunction and the acquisition of inappropriate information through learning, it uses this as a clue to explore a new path to understanding these disorders.
*Illustrative imageExperimental equipment
While observing dendritic spines with two-photon microscopy, the lab can stimulate single spines or axons using two-photon uncaging of caged glutamate and optogenetics. With a head-fixed conditioning setup, it can also record simultaneously from multiple brain regions.
MembersFaculty
The Yagishita Lab consists of faculty members, project researchers, technical assistants, graduate students, and a secretary.As of 2026
- ProfessorSho Yagishita
- Assistant ProfessorYutaro Kashiwagi
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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: “Нейрон коры с множеством дендритных шипиков” Sergb95 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Synaptic basis of reinforcement learning: “Fluorescently labeled, DAPI-stained cell nuclei in a mouse coronal brain section” Syed07 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- A new approach to psychiatric disorders: “Dopamine 3D ball” Jynto / CC0 (cropped)
- Experimental equipment: “A Cortical Neuron In Isolation” Dchordpdx / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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