Takaaki Ozawa

Assistant Professor, Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University *Profile is at the time of the award.

2024Inamori Research GrantsBiology & Life sciences

researchmap

Research topics: Revealing neural mechanism of fear learning by multi-site dopamine imaging and optogenetic neural manipulation

Keyword

Summary: Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in the neural circuitry which is known as the reward system in the brain. Importantly, the dopamine is also known to be important in the regulation of learning behavior triggered by aversive emotions such as fear. In this study, I will attempt to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of fear learning by the dopaminergic neural circuit using cutting-edge dopamine imaging and neural activity manipulation.

Message

I am honored to receive this INAMORI research grant. My research focus is neural mechanisms underlying emotion and learning. Hope my reach will become a milestone in the neuroscience field.

Outline of Research Achievements

This study investigated region-specific dopamine dynamics and their functional roles during fear learning, using multi-site simultaneous dopamine recording and optogenetic manipulation. The series of experiments revealed that the ventral striatum encodes stimulus value and prediction errors, while the orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala encode the salience of aversive stimuli and general stimuli, respectively. Furthermore, decoding analysis suggested that these brain regions, representing distinct types of information, cooperate to control fear learning.

Ozawa T, et al. (2025) Flexible value coding in the mesolimbic dopamine system depending on internal water and sodium balance NPJ Science of Food 9(197) doi:10.1038/s41538-025-00558-w

Aomine Y, et al. (2024) Sex-dependent differences in the ability of nicotine to modulate discrimination learning and cognitive flexibility in mice Journal of Neurochemistry 169(1) doi:10.1111/JNC.16227

Yonemaru H, et al (2026) Hippocampal transcriptome profiling in a 22q11.2 deletion syndrome mouse model: comparison with human schizophrenia Molecular Brain 19(41) doi:10.1186/s13041-026-01300-7

Find other recipients

Biology & Life sciences

Masayuki Tera

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Shun Shibata

Tohoku University

Yoshiaki Abe

University of Tsukuba

Yukiko Kamiya

Yasuo Oguri

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Taro Fuchikawa

Osaka City University

Tetsuya Takano

Kyushu University

Masahiko Saito

Material Science

Koki Katsuhara

Okayama University

Akihiro Funamizu

Information Science

Masanori Nomoto

University of Toyama

Shohei Yamamoto

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Kenta Maruyama

Aichi Medical University

Toshiki Sawada

Material Science

Tomomi Tsunematsu

Hokkaido University

Yu Fukasawa

Tohoku University

Daisuke Takimoto

Material Science

Koichi Murata

Kyoto University

Misuzu Hashimoto

Gifu University

Azusa Kondoh

Biology & Life sciences Pharmacy

Shunsuke Kon

Tokyo University of Science

Michihito Kono

Chie Aoki-Utsubo

Kobe University

Asano Ishikawa

Research Organization of Information and Systems

Teruhiko Imamura

Kazutoshi Kasho

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Tsuyoshi Waku

Doshisha University

Kozue Shiomi

Biology & Life sciences

Shintaro Yamaguchi

Jun-ichi Sakamaki

Juntendo University

Tsuyoshi Hirashima

Kyoto University

Kenji Ikeda

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Satoshi Iwakami

Kyoto University

Masaki Takasugi

Osaka Metropolitan University

Akihiro Goto

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Keita Takahashi

Kazutoshi Iijima

Yokohama National University

Miharu Maeda

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Masayuki Morita

Ehime University

Miu Tamamitsu

The University of Tokyo

Aiko Sada

Okayama University

Wakana Tanaka

The University of Tokyo

Keiichiro Suzuki

Osaka University

Kazunori Kume

Kenji Osabe

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Hidehisa Kawashima

University of Tsukuba

Takashi Iwasaki

Tottori University

Yusaku Iwasaki

Kenichi Watanabe

Susumu Jitsuki

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Mizuki Endo

Makoto Kobayashi

Takahito Iga

Keio University

Takumi Ogawa

Osaka Prefecture University

Takashi Shimada

Biology & Life sciences

Akiko Kanehara

Yuka Iwasaki

RIKEN

Atsushi Anzai

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Satoru Morimoto

Keio University

Shiho Makino

The University of Tokyo

Kyogo Kobayashi

Kyushu University

Yuichi Yagita

Kyushu University

Hideaki Kato

The University of Tokyo

Tomonori Nakamura

Kyoto University

Yuta Hiraike

The University of Tokyo

Rie Wakabayashi

Kyushu University

Taichi Noda

The University of Tokyo

Tomomi Wakabayashi

Osaka University

Takayuki Suzuki

Nagoya University

Yoshihiro Sakita

Kunihiko Morihiro

The University of Tokyo

Masahiro Morimoto

Masashi Kanayama

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Yoshifumi Yamaguchi

Hokkaido University

InaRIS Fellow

Yuki Honda

Material Science

Kotaro Mizuta

Kyoto University

Masayuki Tsukasaki

The University of Tokyo

Yohei Hayashi

Tohoku University

Mizuki Watanabe

Hokkaido University

Satoshi Minami

Osaka University

Hiroyoshi Y. Tanaka

Okayama University

Kiyoharu Fukushima

Kyoto University

Shintaro Munemasa

Okayama University

Masafumi Kodama

Biology & Life sciences

Hidenori Okamura

Tohoku University

Takuya Motooka

Noriyoshi Usui

Osaka University

Toshiro Moroishi

Hitoshi Miyakawa

Utsunomiya University

Akiko Ogawa

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Tomomi Koshiyama

Ritsumeikan University

Shunsuke Tagami

RIKEN

So Nagaoka

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Kazuki Ide

Hisaaki Hirose

Osaka University

Katsuyoshi Takaoka

Tomohisa Hosokawa

Nagoya University

Akihiko Mougi

Shimane University

Takahiro Masuda

Minako Ito

Katsuma Hayashi

Kyoto University

Saori Morino-Koga

The University of Tokyo

Jumpei Taguchi

The University of Tokyo

Yuma Takahashi

Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Koji Atarashi

Yuhei Chadani

Okayama University

Atsushi Fujimura

Okayama University

Nobuhiko Yokoshi

Keio University

Yusuke Kimata

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Seiya Takayanagi

Hiroshi Masai

Material Science

Ryo Fujimoto

Kobe University

Yusuke Kobayashi

Keisuke Ikawa

Nagoya University

Kazuhiko Yamamuro

Tadayoshi Karasawa

Jichi Medical University

Shizue Ohsawa

Nagoya University

Kana Furukawa

Osaka University

Ayuko Hoshino

The University of Tokyo

InaRIS Fellow

Atsushi Saito

Sapporo Medical University

Takuya Matsumoto

Osaka Prefecture University

Yuichiro Nakata

Chiba University

Gosuke Hayashi

Biology & Life sciences Pharmacy

Tomonori Matsumoto

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Yosuke Togashi

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Takeshi Kawabe

Biology & Life sciences Medicine

Tomoyasu Hirai

Osaka Institute of Technology

Material Science

Kenichi Kimura

University of Tokyo

Takumi Suzuki

Ibaraki University

Kaori Sako

Miho Shiratori

Juntendo University

Hirofumi Toda

University of Tsukuba

Masashi Mamada

Material Science

Daisuke Ono

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Yuya Sanaki

University of Tsukuba

Hideaki Morishita

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Yoshihiro Ujihara

Nagoya Institute of Technology

Yoshiyuki Manabe

Tokai University

Yuji Sakai

Tokushima University

Takayuki Kuraishi

Kanazawa University

Ryusuke Hatae

Kyushu University

Tomotaka Ishizaki

Nagoya University

Seiji Takashima

Shinshu University

Yuto Takenaka

Ritsumeikan University

Masayuki Munekane

Kanazawa University

Chihiro Maeda

Material Science

Eiji Miyauchi

Gunma University

Miyako Shiraishi

Osaka University

June-Sik Kim

RIKEN

Hiroshi Suzuki

Nagoya University

InaRIS Fellow

Shu Nakao

Ritsumeikan University

Nobuharu Suzuki

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Taichi Itoh

Biology & Life sciences

Ayaka Ito

Satoshi Miura

Information Science

Hiroshi Nishimasu

The University of Tokyo

InaRIS Fellow

Yu Miyamoto

Osaka University

Tomoyuki Furuta

Okayama University

Toshiyuki Kowada

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Ritsuko Morita

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Masaki Uchida

Dana Ulanova

Kochi University

Hiroshi Miyanishi

University of Miyazaki

Tomoko Okamoto

Masato Yamamichi

Research Organization of Information and Systems

Toyoaki Natsume

Research Organization of Information and Systems

Misaki Ishibashi

Kyoto University

Masakazu Hirota

Hidefumi Shinohara

Nagoya University

Kazuya Matsuo

Tsuyoshi Terakawa

Kyoto University

Masaru Hojo

Kwansei Gakuin University

Takashi Tanaka

Chikara Abe

Gifu University

Masayuki Sakamoto

Kumamoto University

Kyoko Miura

Kumamoto University

Takanori Wakatake

Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Tomoya Yamaguchi

Kumamoto University

Takashi Fukaya

The University of Tokyo

Junichi Kikuta

University of Tsukuba

Mitsuru Tsuge

Okayama University

Hiroshi Nomoto

Akihiro Nishiguchi

National Institute for Materials Science

Tetsuya Kadonosono

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Arisa Hirano

University of Tsukuba

Hidenori Nishio

Nagoya City University

Ryo Ichijo

Kyoto University

Kunio Kondoh

Mitsuaki Kashiwagi

Biology & Life sciences Life Science

Yuichiro Mishima

Kyoto Sangyo University

Kenta Hirami

Tomohiro Otsuka

Takuma Kokusho

Daisuke Ino

Osaka University

Ryohei Thomas Nakano

Hokkaido University

Shohei Nosaki

University of Tsukuba

Yukiko Kimura

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

Ayako Gotoh

Konan University

Hironori Takeda

Hiroshima University

Nami Minato

Kuniyasu Saitoh

Akari Fujimoto

Hirohisa Ohno

Kyoto University

Takashi Tsuchimatsu

Chiba University