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Wada Lab (Molecular Neuroethology)
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The lab investigates, through songbird song, how nature and nurture together shape behavior.
AboutAbout the lab
Nature and nurture create behavior.
The Wada Lab studies how vocal learning is shaped by both genetics and environment.
Vocal learning, as in human language and birdsong, is important for communication between individuals, and individual and species differences arise under the influence of both nature (genetics) and nurture (environment).
How vocal learning is controlled by neural circuits and genes in the brain, and how it develops and has evolved, remains largely unknown.
The lab approaches this question at the levels of behavior, neural circuits, neurons, synapses, genes, and genomic DNA.
Key terms
- Vocal learning
- Acquiring one's own voice by listening to and imitating the voices of other individuals. Human language and birdsong are examples
- Critical period
- A limited period during which that learning is easily established. After this period, the same learning becomes difficult
- Epigenetics
- A mechanism that switches genes on or off without changing the sequence of DNA bases
NewsLab news
An undergraduate student received the MVP Award and a Special Award at the graduation research presentation
Paper published in Science Advances showing that hybridization between species expands learning ability
A student received the Best Presentation Award at the Hokkaido Branch Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan
Paper published in PNAS showing that motor bias in early learning creates individual differences in vocal learning
ResearchResearch themes
From the neuroscience perspective of "nature and nurture," the lab seeks to understand individual differences and species differences in the development of vocal learning behavior. The biological and behavioral model for this is song learning in songbirds (oscine passerines).
*Illustrative imageEpigenetics in the brain and the critical period
What must be done, when, and how much for learning to progress, and what happens in the brain at that time? The lab seeks to understand the neural molecular mechanisms that control vocal learning and its critical period from the perspective of activity-dependent epigenetic regulation.
*Illustrative imageMolecular basis of the evolution of vocal learning
How has animal behavior evolved, and what is its molecular basis? The lab explores, through the molecular basis in the genome, how species-specific vocal patterns arise and evolve.
*Illustrative imageApplication to human communication disorders
This is applied research that is possible precisely because these animals can learn vocalizations. For human language communication disorders, especially stuttering and hearing impairment, the lab considers "nature and nurture" using animal models.
MembersFaculty
Members of the Wada Lab consist of faculty, graduate students, and research assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorKazuhiro Wada
- Assistant ProfessorNoriyuki Toji
- Ambitious Assistant ProfessorYukino Shibata
VoicesStudent voices
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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: “Zebra Finch, Sumba, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia 1” christoph_moning / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Epigenetics in the brain and the critical period: “Acrocephalus schoenobaenus -Rutand Water, Rutland, England -singing-8” Andy Vernon / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Molecular basis of the evolution of vocal learning: “A group of white rumped munia, Cherthala, Kerala (1)” Gannu03 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Application to human communication disorders: “Lonchura striata qtl1” Quartl / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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行動神経生物学系 （竹内勇一） ): “Lepidiolamprologus nkambae LoroParqueTenerife cichlidae from nkambae IMG 5391” Bjoertvedt / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (Laboratory of Neurobiology TANAKA Lab
（田中研究室） ): “Drosophila melanogaster 53362116” Alexis / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (物理エソロジー研究室): “Physarum polycephalum plasmodium” frankenstoen / CC BY 2.5 (cropped)
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