I am pleased to announce that Neuroscience Institute (NSI) was established in April of 2017, in the Graduate School of Science, aiming to solve fundamental questions in Neuroscience by rigorous scientific approaches.

We humans are equipped with superior mind of great flexibility and the ability to behave differently according to various circumstances, whereby enabling to live through constantly changing environment. Besides, artists produce their work, composers create musical pieces, novelists write stories, and scientists conduct creative researches. Innumerable creative human activities that underlie the driving force for the accomplishment of “breakthrough”, “originality”, “innovation”, “persistence” and so forth are implemented in our brain. How are flexibility and plasticity expressed in the brain?

NSI challenges to address these long-standing mysteries in history of Neuroscience, through the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying information processing of the neural circuits in small brain model animals. Nagoya University owns an unprecedented scientific environment, where many scientists are gathered to work on information processing of the nervous systems using small-scale model organisms such as C. elegans, fruit fly and zebrafish.

We hope to bring the groundbreaking concepts into the field of brain science, and make NSI serve as a hub of the worldwide exchanges of researches and ideas among excellent scientists. In the future perspective, we expect to expand our researches to understand the biological bases of human activities including vocal and non-vocal communications, entrepreneurship, changes in economical and political trends, and artistic activities.

The research activities in NSI include the elucidation of mechanistic insights into mental and neurological disorders and aging, which are most likely caused by the breakdown of brain functions. In this regard, we are grateful to Megmilk Snow Brand Co., Ltd, one of the major food companies in Japan, for the concurrent foundation of Nutritional Neuroscience lab in NSI.

Please come and visit NSI of Nagoya University, and let’s commence discussing about the brain!