Yusuke IinoYusuke Iino

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

Research Title

Data Science

How brain states shape learning and decision-making

01 Research Summary

We learn from experience and decide what to do next every day. Yet sleep loss or mental health difficulties can make familiar decisions harder. Our laboratory studies how changes in brain state affect the way we learn and choose.

We combine experiments in which mice repeatedly choose between options to earn rewards with mathematical models of their behavior. This allows us to examine how animals learn from experience and how they use what they have learned to make choices. We investigate the activity of brain cells, chemical messengers such as dopamine and serotonin, and the connections between cells. Through this work, we aim to understand difficulties in decision-making associated with sleep loss and psychiatric disorders, and to identify new ways to restore these functions.

Link

02 Major achievements

Sawada T, Iino Y, Yoshida K, Okazaki H, Nomura S, Shimizu C, Arima T, Juichi M, Zhou S, Kurabayashi N, Sakurai T, Yagishita S, Yanagisawa M, Toyoizumi T, Kasai H, Shi S (2024) Prefrontal synaptic regulation of homeostatic sleep pressure revealed through synaptic chemogenetics. Science 385(6716): 1459-1465. doi:10.1126/science.adl3043

Yamaguchi K, Maeda Y, Sawada T, Iino Y, Tajiri M, Nakazato R, Ishii S, Kasai H, Yagishita S (2022) A behavioural correlate of the synaptic eligibility trace in the nucleus accumbens. Sci. Rep. 12(1): 1921. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05637-6

Ucar H, Watanabe S, Noguchi J, Morimoto Y, Iino Y, Yagishita S, Takahashi N, Kasai H (2021) Mechanical actions of dendritic-spine enlargement on presynaptic exocytosis. Nature 600(7890): 686-689. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04125-7

Iino Y, Sawada T, Yamaguchi K, Tajiri M, Ishii S, Kasai H, Yagishita S (2020) Dopamine D2 receptors in discrimination learning and spine enlargement. Nature 579(7800): 555-560. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2115-1

03 Education/Academic background and major awards

Education/Academic background

2013 M.D., Institute of Science Tokyo
2019 Ph.D. in Medicine, The University of Tokyo
2019–2020 Project Researcher, Laboratory of Structural Physiology, The University of Tokyo
2020–2021 Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Structural Physiology, The University of Tokyo
2022–2025 Psychiatry Residency Program, Hatsuishi Hospital
2022–September 2026 Researcher, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS), University of Tsukuba
October 2026– Specially Appointed Associate professor and co-PI, IIIS, University of Tsukuba

Awards

2017 Outstanding Poster Award, 44th Naito Conference
2026 39th Research Encouragement Award, Medical Alumni Association, Institute of Science Tokyo

Q&A Q&A

Why did you become a scientist?

To understand human thought and behavior through the brain.

I wanted to understand why people think and act as they do by studying how the brain works. I am interested in how experience changes our thinking and how our mental and physical state affects our choices. Drawing on my perspective as a psychiatrist, I hope to explore these everyday questions through experiments and contribute to a better understanding of psychiatric disorders.

What are the characteristics of your lab?

We trace learning and choice down to brain cells and their connections.

We study learning and decision-making down to the level of brain cells and the connections between them. We design experiments in which mice make choices and observe what happens in their brains using tools such as miniature microscopes. We then change the activity of specific cells or the connections between them to test how learning and choices are affected. Drawing on a psychiatric perspective, we investigate why these functions become impaired with sleep loss or psychiatric disorders, and how they might be restored.

What are you most interested in lately?

Electric guitar.

Playing electric guitar! I love shredding and especially enjoy metal and jazz/fusion. If you play an instrument, let’s jam!

Core Group

University of Tsukuba Collaborative Research Group

Administrative Department

Administrative Department