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Young Researcher Incubation Section Lab
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The lab explores the neural circuits in the brain that determine the timing of sleep and body temperature.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring how life keeps time, starting from the brain
The Young Researcher Incubation Section Lab studies how the brain decides when animals sleep, when they eat, and when they reproduce.
Starting from the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the center of the brain's circadian clock, the lab investigates the neural circuits that control sleep, body temperature, and metabolism at the right times.
Combining techniques such as optogenetics and optical imaging, it studies a wide range of animals, from Hydra to mice.
On the lab's website, it is presented under the name "Ono Research Unit."
Key terms
- Suprachiasmatic nucleus
- A small cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus of the brain. Known as the center of the circadian clock in mammals
- Circadian clock
- The internal mechanism that generates rhythms with a period of about 24 hours (circadian rhythms)
- Ancestral circadian clock
- A timekeeping mechanism, hypothesized to be older than the currently known clock genes and shared by all organisms (a hypothesis)
NewsLab news
Paper published in iScience
Paper published in PNAS
Paper published in Journal of Neuroscience
Paper published in Nature Communications
Postdoctoral researcher receives Outstanding Presentation Award at SRBR 2026
ResearchResearch themes
Many mysteries remain about the neural mechanisms that determine when animals sleep, eat, reproduce, and enter dormancy or hibernation. The lab aims to understand sleep, metabolism, feeding, dormancy, and hibernation in a unified way from the perspective of "time."
*Illustrative imageNeural Circuits That Determine the Timing of Behavior
The lab investigates which neural circuits the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the center of the circadian clock, uses to control the timing of sleep, body temperature, metabolism, and dormancy and hibernation. Neuronal activity is manipulated and observed using optogenetics, optical imaging, and other methods.
*Illustrative imageElucidating the Ancestral Circadian Clock
Animals, plants, and bacteria use different clock genes, yet all keep rhythms of about 24 hours. The lab searches for an older timekeeping mechanism thought to be shared by all organisms, using approaches such as gene expression, metabolism, and protein modification.
*Illustrative imageExploring the Origins of Sleep
Noting that Hydra, which has no brain, shows sleep-like behavior, the lab examines in mice the sleep-regulating molecules identified through analysis of Hydra. It seeks principles of sleep common to all animals.
MembersFaculty
Members of the Young Researcher Incubation Section Lab include faculty, postdoctoral researchers, doctoral and undergraduate students, technicians, and secretaries.As of 2026
- LecturerDaisuke Ono
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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: “Microscope à fluorescence (Ifremer )” Olivier Dugornay / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Neural Circuits That Determine the Timing of Behavior: “Drosophila melanogaster Proboscis” Sanjay Acharya / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Elucidating the Ancestral Circadian Clock: “Biological clock human-hu” Biological_clock_human_hu.svg: Syp derivative work: Syp (talk) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Exploring the Origins of Sleep: “Hydravulgaris” Corvana / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Systems Neuropharmacology Lab): “Axio Imager with Colibri.2 LED Lightsource for Fluorescence Illumination ( )” ZEISS Microscopy from Germany / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Endocrinology and Metabolism Lab): “(20250417) Blood glucose meter 08” Roy Zuo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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