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Systems Physiology Lab
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A lab that explores the mechanisms of adaptive behavior through the brains of monkeys and humans.
AboutAbout the lab
Brain mechanisms that enable adaptive behavior.
The Systems Physiology Lab studies the neural mechanisms of adaptive behavior, that is, behaving appropriately as the environment changes.
It aims to understand everything from sensory input to the generation of behavior as a single system.
By studying Japanese macaques, whose brains are similar to those of humans, the lab also anticipates elucidating conditions in which adaptive behavior fails to function, such as psychiatric and neurological disorders.
The lab investigates information-processing mechanisms by comparing behavioral tasks in humans and monkeys, recording monkey brain activity at millisecond resolution, and conducting experiments that selectively manipulate the activity of specific neural circuits.
Key terms
- Adaptive behavior
- Behavior in which an organism acts appropriately in response to changes in the environment
- Basal ganglia
- A brain region beneath the cerebral cortex. This lab studies its involvement in motor control
- Tail of the striatum
- A part of the basal ganglia located deep in the brain. It is the region in which this lab studied, for example, the link between faces and familiarity
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies humans and monkeys with the aim of understanding the neural mechanisms of adaptive behavior as a system running from sensory input to the generation of behavior. Its projects are the control mechanisms of voluntary movement, the neural circuits underlying sociality, and the effects of respiration on cognitive function.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms that control voluntary movement
Using behavioral tasks that examine movement timing, movements involving inhibition, and context-dependent action selection, the lab has clarified mechanisms involving subcortical structures, namely the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Recently, it has been studying the neural mechanisms that control speech, which is considered a voluntary movement special to humans.
*Illustrative imageNeural circuits underlying sociality
The lab has previously shown that faces and familiarity with the person are linked in the tail of the striatum, a part of the basal ganglia. Recently, believing that unconscious synchronization such as in breathing underlies empathy and sociality, it has been studying the neural mechanisms involved.
*Illustrative imageEffects of respiration on cognitive function
The lab aims to clarify how fluctuations in information processing caused by respiration affect motor control and sensory perception, and the mechanisms behind these effects. It has also developed a method for stably recording respiration over long periods by measuring temperature changes in exhaled and inhaled air with a temperature sensor placed at the monkey's nose.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Systems Physiology Lab are faculty, postdoctoral researchers, technical assistants, students in the doctoral and undergraduate programs, collaborators, and graduates.As of 2026
- Assistant ProfessorJun Kunimatsu
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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: “Brain Anatomy Model ( )” YVC Biology Department / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms that control voluntary movement: “Cultured Rat Hippocampal Neuron ( )” ZEISS Microscopy from Germany / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Neural circuits underlying sociality: “Grooming, Macaca fascicularis, Ubud Monkey Forest, Bali” Jakub Hałun / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Effects of respiration on cognitive function: “Inhalation and Exhalation Diagram” Quinnienguyen4 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (適応生理学(WPI-IIIS)): “Jsc2023e050554” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (睡眠生理学
（WPI-IIIS） ): “Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder” Uguccioni G, Pallanca O, Golmard J, Dodet P, Herlin B, Leu-Semenescu S, Arnulf I / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (認知
行動神経科学): “Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Ank Kumar) 03” Ank Kumar / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (睡眠神経科学
（WPI-IIIS） ): “Sleeping cat 04” Bluemix / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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