- Senior Investigator, Neuronal Networks Section
Dr. Hikosaka received his M.D. and Ph.D. from University of Tokyo where he worked in the laboratory of Hiroshi Shimazu on the brainstem vestibulo-oculomotor system. He did postdoctoral research with Robert Wurtz at the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, NEI on the role of the substantia nigra pars reticulata in the control of saccadic eye movements. He became Assistant Professor at Toho University School of Medicine (Tokyo) in 1979, Full Professor at National Institute of Physiological Sciences (Okazaki) in 1988, and Full Professor at Juntendo University School of Medicine (Tokyo) in 1993. In 2002, he returned to the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, NEI as a Senior Investigator and Chief of the Section of Neuronal Networks. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2011. His main interest is the neural mechanisms of voluntary behavior. His laboratory studies the mechanisms of motivation, learning, skill, decision-making, attention, and oculomotor control.
Academic Articles173
- (2019). Direct and indirect pathways for choosing objects and actions. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE. 49(5), 637-645.
- (2019). Medial thalamus in the territory of oculomotor basal ganglia represents stable object value. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE. 49(5), 672-686.
- (2019). Neuronal connections of direct and indirect pathways for stable value memory in caudal basal ganglia. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE. 49(5), 712-725.
- (2019). The Caudal Part of Putamen Represents the Historical Object Value Information. JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE. 39(9), 1709-1719.
- (2018). Amygdala activity for the modulation of goal-directed behavior in emotional contexts. PLOS BIOLOGY. 16(6),