Wed. Aug 2, 2023 11:55 AM - 12:45 PM Room 3 (Hagi)

Chairperson: Tadayoshi Ogura (Nikon Solutions Co., Ltd.)

Sponsored by Nikon Solutions Co., Ltd.

The neural circuits function through synaptic connections between neurons. Synapses are not only established during development, but are also formed and modified throughout life in response to environmental changes and learning. These plastic changes in synapses are fundamental to memory and learning, and they have been implicated in numerous psychiatric and developmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. As Feynman once stated, "What I cannot create, I do not understand." Our goal is to unravel the molecular basis of functional and structural synaptic plasticity, and then utilize this knowledge to artificially manipulate synaptic plasticity, elucidating the operating principles of the brain and developing novel therapeutic strategies for psychiatric and neurological disorders. In this luncheon talk, I will first introduce our optogenetic approach to long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), phenomena in which excitatory neurotransmission is enhanced or suppressed for long periods of time, which are models of functional synaptic plasticity. I will also discuss our research on synapse organizers that support structural synaptic plasticity and explore their applications, with a particular focus on the importance of observing the localization of synaptic molecules at the nanoscale level.