Katsuyasu Sakurai

Affiliation：International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba

Research Title

Neuroscience

Mutual neural communication between internal state and external world/stimuli

01 Research Summary

For survival, all organisms, including humans, adjust their internal state, such as physiological and psychological, to adapt to the external world. The adaptation requires mutual communication between the internal state and the outer world. In our laboratory, we will understand how the internal state (e.g. sleep or arousal state)and external world information is processed, integrated for executing appropriate action, such as behavior and emotion in the brain. Currently, we are trying to understand the underlying neural mechanisms for taste or pain perception at the multi-levels (Gene, Cell, Circuit, and Behavior).

Link	Liu / Sakurai Lab

02 Major achievements

Rodriguez E, Sakurai K, Xu J, Chen Y, Toda K, Zhao S, Han BX, Ryu D, Yin H, Liedtke W, Wang F. “A craniofacial-specific monosynaptic circuit enables heightened affective pain” Nature Neuroscience. 2017, 20(12), 1734-1743.

Sakurai K, Zhao S, Takatoh J, Rodriguez E, Lu J, Leavitt A, Fu M, Han BX, Wang F. “Capturing and manipulating activated neuronal ensembles with CANE delineates a hypothalamic social-fear circuit” Neuron. 2016, 92(4), 739-753.

Sakurai K, Akiyama M, Cai B, Scott A, Han BX, Takatoh J, Sigrist M, Arber S, Wang F. “The organization of submodality-specific touch afferent inputs in the vibrissa column” Cell Reports. 2013, 5(1), 87-98.

03 Education/Academic background and major awards

Education/Academic background

2008Mar	Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan Ph.D. in Medical Science
2008Apr-2008Oct	Postdoctoral Fellow at Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
2008Nov-2013Oct	Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
2013Nov-2017Jun	Research Associate Senior at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
2017Jul-2023Feb	Assistant Professor, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
2023Mar-Present	Associate Professor, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Awards

2008	Tohoku University, Graduate School of Medicine, Scholarship award
2013	Duke University, Department of Neurobiology, Graduate Program Retreat, Best poster presentation award