Rate My Professor Takashi Kitamura

The Kitamura laboratory utilizes viral technology, transgenic strategies, histology, in vivo calcium imaging, in vivo electrophysiology, cell-type specific manipulation, behavioral assays, and computational programming to dissect cell-type specific neural circuits. Research interests include neural mechanisms of learning and memory, neural circuit mechanisms for observational learning and prosocial behavior, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying dysfunction of the entorhinal-cortical-hippocampus network in Alzheimer's disease. Key publications encompass 'Engrams and circuits crucial for systems consolidation of a memory' (Science, 2017), 'Island cells control temporal association memory' (Science, 2014), 'Adult neurogenesis modulates the hippocampus-dependent period of associative fear memory' (Cell, 2009), 'Visuotactile integration facilitates mirror-induced self-directed behavior through activation of hippocampal neuronal ensembles in mice' (Neuron, 2024), 'Systems consolidation induces multiple memory engrams for a flexible recall strategy in observational fear memory in male mice' (Nature Communications, 2023), and 'Hippocampal-amygdala memory circuits govern experience-dependent observational fear' (Neuron, 2022). Dr. Kitamura has received major awards such as the Award for Distinguished Investigator of the Japanese Society for Neurochemistry (2022), HFSP Young Investigator Grant Award (2018), NARSAD Young Investigator Grant Award (2018), UT System Rising STARs Award (2017), and the Young Scientists Prize for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (2017).