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Hayashi Lab
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The lab explores why animals sleep, investigating the significance and evolutionary origins of sleep.
AboutAbout the lab
Why do we sleep, and what are dreams?
The Hayashi Lab studies why animals sleep, investigating the significance and evolutionary origins of sleep.
Human sleep consists of REM sleep, which produces dreams, and non-REM sleep, which is accompanied by slow waves, a characteristic pattern of brain activity.
Using mice and nematodes, the lab combines chemogenetic and optogenetic techniques with behavioral experiments, recording of neural activity, and imaging.
Key terms
- REM sleep
- Sleep in which the brain is highly active even though the body is asleep, and dreams often occur. It is characterized by rapid eye movements
- Non-REM sleep
- Sleep in which brain activity forms slow, large waves (slow waves), and which includes deep sleep
- Optogenetics
- A method of introducing light-sensitive proteins into neurons and shining light on them to control the activity of specific cells
- Nematode
- A small, slender animal about 1 mm long. Its simple body plan makes it a widely used model organism for research on genes and neurons
NewsLab news
Paper on the effect of the social environment on REM sleep in mice published in Scientific Reports
Student wins Best Flash Talk Award at the Humanics Degree Program Symposium
Student wins Excellent Presentation Award at the Young Researcher Training Program of the Japan Neuroscience Meeting
Paper on the neurons that serve as the switch for REM sleep published in the Journal of Neuroscience
Student wins Graduate Student Presentation Award at APPW2025
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to understand the significance and evolutionary origins of sleep. Its research rests on two pillars: elucidating the roles and origins of REM and non-REM sleep using mice, and elucidating the molecular mechanisms of sleep shared across animals using nematodes.
*Illustrative imageThe Roles of REM and Non-REM Sleep
Using mice, the lab identifies, analyzes, and manipulates the brain regions that generate REM and non-REM sleep. It tackles the big questions of the physiological roles of the two types of sleep and their evolutionary origins.
*Illustrative imageUncovering the Nature of "Sleepiness" in Nematodes
Sleep itself is a phenomenon widely observed across animals. Using C. elegans, a very simple model organism, the lab investigates the molecular basis of "sleepiness" and the molecular pathways of sleep that are shared across animals.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Hayashi Lab consist of faculty, secretaries and administrative staff, research staff, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and visiting researchers.As of 2026
- ProfessorYu HayashiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorShinichi MiyazakiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorToshiharu SanoPublications ↗
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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: “Sleeping cat curled up” Matthew Paul Argall / CC0 (cropped)
- The Roles of REM and Non-REM Sleep: “White lab mouse in open nest” Pogrebnoj-Alexandroff / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Uncovering the Nature of "Sleepiness" in Nematodes: “Adult Caenorhabditis elegans” The original uploader was Kbradnam at English Wikipedia. (Original text: Zeynep F. Altun, Editor of www.wormatlas.org) / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Related lab (Kawakita Lab): “Bunkyou Koishikawa Botanical Greenhouse 1” 京浜にけ / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Emoto Lab): “Drosophila melanogaster Proboscis” Sanjay Acharya / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Developmental Evolution Lab): “Leaf venation of Dorstenia” SebastianBlumeArt / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Miura Lab): “FMIB 51570 Tide-pools of Misaki The Misaki Biological Station, from the north side” David Starr Jordan / Public domain (cropped)
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