Department of Anatomy

Molecular Neuroscience

Targeting a cure for neurological diseases
  • Recovering neural circuitry and function following central nervous system (CNS) disorders
  • Integrated research on the control and repair of the CNS
  • Molecular biology of neurodevelopmental disorders
  • Mechanism of chronic pain
  • Mechanism of neuro-immune interaction
Professor Toshihide Yamashita
Molecular Neuroscience
Prof. Yamashita formed the Lab of Molecular Neuroscience in December of 2007. At the Graduate School of Medicine, he is responsible for teaching neuroanatomy, phylogenetic anatomy and histology. He was appointed to the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences in 2009 and the Immunology Frontier Research Center in 2017.

Study of the mechanisms of neurological diseases and the development of new therapies

"When people become sick, they retain hope for living a good and healthy life. In the case of stroke or other neurological disorders that affect daily activities like moving and talking, it is hard to hold on to this hope. We are therefore investigating the development and treatment of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).

In the brain and spinal cord, individual neurons work not independently, but as units in elaborate networks. Damage to these networks is usually irrecoverable. Treatments for CNS disorders can be viewed as repairing the networks. The last few years have brought new molecular understanding to why neural networks do not self repair. At the same time, research has discovered ways to repair the networks. The lab is therefore looking at new regenerative medicine and drug discovery that can stimulate the appropriate molecular mechanisms.

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Repairng neural circuits requires an integrated approach that controls neural circuit dynamics.

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Our research has elucidated the mechanisms of various neurological disorders