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Takeuchi Lab
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A lab that uses the “handedness” of fish to uncover how the brain adapts to govern behavior.
AboutAbout the lab
The neural mechanisms of the brain that govern adaptive behavior.
The Takeuchi Lab studies what kinds of adaptive changes occur in the brain and nervous system that govern the behavior of living organisms.
The forms and behaviors of living things are diverse, and even within a single species there are different types. Right- and left-handedness in humans is one such individual variation.
The lab studies African scale-eating cichlids, in which the brain circuits and genes related to handedness can be examined, and it is the only lab in the world that breeds and maintains them for experiments. It also works with many other fish species.
The lab hopes that, through research, students will develop the ability to solve mysteries with their own hands.
Key terms
- Handedness (laterality)
- The tendency to prefer using one side, left or right, when acting, as with a dominant hand.
- Genomics
- An approach to research that reads the entire genetic information of an organism and compares it across organisms.
- Scale-eating cichlid
- A group of fish living in African lakes that tear off and eat the scales of other fish.
NewsLab news
Associate Professor Takeuchi contributed part of the book “Dobutsutachi no Ikiru Shikumi Zukan” (An Illustrated Guide to How Animals Live), which has been published
A paper on the predation strategy of scale-eating cichlids was published in Biology Open
ResearchResearch themes
Right- and left-handedness, as typified by handedness in humans, is a phenomenon seen in many animals. The lab aims to understand its mechanisms through approaches that cross disciplinary boundaries, from neuroscience to genomics, behavioral science, ecology, and evolutionary biology.
*Illustrative imageThe mystery of right- and left-handedness
Handedness is thought to be necessary for exhibiting high motor performance and to increase the chances of survival. Even so, fundamental questions remain: how the brains and nervous systems of right-handed and left-handed individuals differ, how handedness develops, which genes and molecules regulate it, and when it arose in evolution.
*Illustrative imageApproaching the question through scale-eating cichlids
Using African scale-eating cichlids, which are known for their pronounced handedness, the lab aims to understand the mechanisms that underlie right- and left-handedness through multiple approaches: neuroscience, genomics, behavioral science, ecology, and evolutionary biology.
MembersFaculty
The Takeuchi Lab consists of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, undergraduate students, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorYuichi Takeuchi
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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: “Lepidiolamprologus nkambae LoroParqueTenerife cichlidae from nkambae IMG 5391” Bjoertvedt / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- The mystery of right- and left-handedness: “Left hand holding pen” Magioladitis / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Approaching the question through scale-eating cichlids: “Perissodus microlepis 1” Henrik Kusche / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (和多研究室
（分子神経 行動学） ): “Zebra Finch, Sumba, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia 1” christoph_moning / CC BY 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 (相馬研究室): “Java Sparrow. (Lonchura oryzivora), ( )” Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (
行動神経生物学系 （常松友美） ): “Hausmaus im Stroh” 3268zauber / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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