Izumi Fukunaga
@ifukunaga.bsky.social
Neuroscientist with interests in olfaction, circuits, neurophysiology of behavior, and more. Associate professor at OIST.
Profile: https://www.oist.jp/research/research-units/sbn/izumi-fukunaga
Lab: https://www.oist.jp/research/research-units/sbn
Profile: https://www.oist.jp/research/research-units/sbn/izumi-fukunaga
Lab: https://www.oist.jp/research/research-units/sbn
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
📣If you are attending #SfN in San Diego this year, make sure to stay until the end.
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Lectures
www.sfn.org
October 17, 2025 at 9:06 AM
📣If you are attending #SfN in San Diego this year, make sure to stay until the end.
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Independent researcher fellowships (non-tenure track) at OIST, with a focus on broadly defined theory www.oist.jp/research/bur...
Buribushi Fellowship
www.oist.jp
October 30, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Independent researcher fellowships (non-tenure track) at OIST, with a focus on broadly defined theory www.oist.jp/research/bur...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
🧠 The Lipid #Brain Atlas is out now! If you think #lipids are boring and membranes are all the same, prepare to be surprised. Led by @lucafusarbassini.bsky.social with Giovanni D'Angelo's lab, we mapped membrane lipids in the mouse brain at high resolution.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
October 16, 2025 at 6:23 AM
🧠 The Lipid #Brain Atlas is out now! If you think #lipids are boring and membranes are all the same, prepare to be surprised. Led by @lucafusarbassini.bsky.social with Giovanni D'Angelo's lab, we mapped membrane lipids in the mouse brain at high resolution.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
📣If you are attending #SfN in San Diego this year, make sure to stay until the end.
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Lectures
www.sfn.org
October 17, 2025 at 9:06 AM
📣If you are attending #SfN in San Diego this year, make sure to stay until the end.
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Sonja Hofer @sonjahofer.bsky.social from @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social will give a ✨special lecture ✨on Wednesday 19th Nov, 10:30-11:30 🗓️
Not to be missed!!
www.sfn.org/meetings/neu...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Lots of exciting clinical PhD projects at Crick - including the opportunity for neurosurgeons to work with us and record electrical activity in patients with neuropixels probes. Please share widely!
We're looking for clinicians who are passionate about research to join our 3-year fully funded clinical PhD programme. 🔬🩺
Apply by 14 November 2025. 👇
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
Apply by 14 November 2025. 👇
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
Doctoral clinical fellows
The Crick's clinical PhD programme.
www.crick.ac.uk
October 1, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Lots of exciting clinical PhD projects at Crick - including the opportunity for neurosurgeons to work with us and record electrical activity in patients with neuropixels probes. Please share widely!
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
(edited repost) Thrilled to see our computational work on adaptive shaping of behavior (we call it outcome-based curriculum learning) in PLoS Comp Biol! @wl-tong.bsky.social, @gautamreddy.bsky.social & I formalize curricula in any RL task that can be framed as sequential simple-to-complex behavior.
Adaptive algorithms for shaping behavior
Author summary Animals are commonly trained by ‘shaping’ their behavior using a sequence of simpler tasks towards a complex behavior. Numerous schools of thought have proposed heuristics for shaping b...
journals.plos.org
September 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
(edited repost) Thrilled to see our computational work on adaptive shaping of behavior (we call it outcome-based curriculum learning) in PLoS Comp Biol! @wl-tong.bsky.social, @gautamreddy.bsky.social & I formalize curricula in any RL task that can be framed as sequential simple-to-complex behavior.
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Open faculty positions in Physics at OIST
📢 #FacultyHiring: OIST is hiring! We invite exceptional scientists to apply for faculty positions in:
- Ecology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, and Oceanography
- Physics and Quantum Science (including related fields)
🔗: www.oist.jp/careers/facu...
- Ecology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, and Oceanography
- Physics and Quantum Science (including related fields)
🔗: www.oist.jp/careers/facu...
September 3, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Open faculty positions in Physics at OIST
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
We watched mice follow scent trails drawn on an “endless” treadmill. By manipulating trail geometry/statistics, perturbing mouse nose & brain, and modeling behavior with a Bayesian framework, we show that mice use predictive (rather than reactive) strategies.
September 1, 2025 at 7:07 PM
We watched mice follow scent trails drawn on an “endless” treadmill. By manipulating trail geometry/statistics, perturbing mouse nose & brain, and modeling behavior with a Bayesian framework, we show that mice use predictive (rather than reactive) strategies.
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Humans and Neanderthals are virtually identical at the genetic level.
Scientists are probing the differences to understand why we are here, and they aren’t.
Scientists are probing the differences to understand why we are here, and they aren’t.
One gene reveals clues to why humans thrived and Neanderthals didn’t
Some mice were more adept at seeking water after the gene change, signaling a behavioral change and potential cognitive advantage.
wapo.st
August 5, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Humans and Neanderthals are virtually identical at the genetic level.
Scientists are probing the differences to understand why we are here, and they aren’t.
Scientists are probing the differences to understand why we are here, and they aren’t.
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Tiny changes in our brain chemistry sets us apart from Neanderthals and Denisovans – and when introduced into mice, seem to help females compete better for scarce resources 🧠 Read about how ADSL may have influenced our evolution www.oist.jp/news-center/...
Tracing brain chemistry across humanity’s family tree
Small changes to an enzyme suggest how modern humans differ from Neanderthals and Denisovans in biochemistry and behavior.
www.oist.jp
August 5, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Tiny changes in our brain chemistry sets us apart from Neanderthals and Denisovans – and when introduced into mice, seem to help females compete better for scarce resources 🧠 Read about how ADSL may have influenced our evolution www.oist.jp/news-center/...
Talking of understanding the brain in the evolutionary context…
We have a new study out, led by Xiang-Chun Ju in Svante Pääbo’s lab at OIST:
The activity and expression of adenylosuccinate lyase were reduced during modern human evolution, affecting brain and behavior
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
We have a new study out, led by Xiang-Chun Ju in Svante Pääbo’s lab at OIST:
The activity and expression of adenylosuccinate lyase were reduced during modern human evolution, affecting brain and behavior
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
August 4, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Talking of understanding the brain in the evolutionary context…
We have a new study out, led by Xiang-Chun Ju in Svante Pääbo’s lab at OIST:
The activity and expression of adenylosuccinate lyase were reduced during modern human evolution, affecting brain and behavior
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
We have a new study out, led by Xiang-Chun Ju in Svante Pääbo’s lab at OIST:
The activity and expression of adenylosuccinate lyase were reduced during modern human evolution, affecting brain and behavior
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Fantastic to see this collaborative work with Hopi Hoekstra out in Nature (tinyurl.com/3at3zvby). Lead by @felixbaier.bsky.social and @katjareinhard.bsky.social. Not possible without @bramnuttin.bsky.social , Chen Liu and @arnausd.bsky.social.
Excited to see where this work leads.
Excited to see where this work leads.
July 23, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Fantastic to see this collaborative work with Hopi Hoekstra out in Nature (tinyurl.com/3at3zvby). Lead by @felixbaier.bsky.social and @katjareinhard.bsky.social. Not possible without @bramnuttin.bsky.social , Chen Liu and @arnausd.bsky.social.
Excited to see where this work leads.
Excited to see where this work leads.
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Great technique from my @crick.ac.uk colleagues in @petrznam.bsky.social lab
Reconstructing neural circuits with barcoded Rabies virus & in situ sequencing
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reconstructing neural circuits with barcoded Rabies virus & in situ sequencing
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Barcoded Rabies In Situ Connectomics for high-throughput reconstruction of neural circuits
Sequencing of oligonucleotide barcodes holds promise as a high-throughput approach for reconstructing synaptic connectivity at scale. Rabies viruses can act as a vehicle for barcode transmission, than...
www.biorxiv.org
July 21, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Great technique from my @crick.ac.uk colleagues in @petrznam.bsky.social lab
Reconstructing neural circuits with barcoded Rabies virus & in situ sequencing
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reconstructing neural circuits with barcoded Rabies virus & in situ sequencing
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Massive congratulations to everyone - predominantly of course @janice-bulk.bsky.social and @sophiesteculorum.bsky.social
📢 🤩Excited to share our latest paper👃🧠! Huge thanks to the amazing first author @janice-bulk.bsky.social and all co-authors, especially @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social and @tobiasackels.bsky.social 🙌!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
A food-sensitive olfactory circuit drives anticipatory satiety - Nature Metabolism
The authors describe a sensory circuit involving the medial septum (MS), where MS glutamatergic neurons integrate food odours to prime satiety and regulate nutrient intake.
www.nature.com
June 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Massive congratulations to everyone - predominantly of course @janice-bulk.bsky.social and @sophiesteculorum.bsky.social
Animals’ sniffing drives rhythmic input to the olfactory system.
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Decoding olfactory bulb output: A behavioral assessment of rate, synchrony, and respiratory phase coding
Neurogenetics; Behavioral neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience
www.cell.com
June 13, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Animals’ sniffing drives rhythmic input to the olfactory system.
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
How does this timing contribute to perception, especially beyond first steps of olfactory processing?
We tested this using simple closed-loop optogenetics in our new paper: www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
How do brain circuits evolve? We started looking for some answers by using synapse-resolution cross-species comparative connectomics on an entire olfactory circuit 👇
bit.ly/44aVm9E
bit.ly/44aVm9E
June 12, 2025 at 11:04 AM
How do brain circuits evolve? We started looking for some answers by using synapse-resolution cross-species comparative connectomics on an entire olfactory circuit 👇
bit.ly/44aVm9E
bit.ly/44aVm9E
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Our work with Pablo Tano, @hyunggoo-kim.bsky.social Athar Malik, Alexandre Pouget and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social exploring how dopamine neurons could enable multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain is out in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain - Nature
Individual dopaminergic neurons encode future rewards over distinct temporal horizons.
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Our work with Pablo Tano, @hyunggoo-kim.bsky.social Athar Malik, Alexandre Pouget and @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social exploring how dopamine neurons could enable multi-timescale reinforcement learning in the brain is out in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Read the full research article in Physical Review X: doi.org/10.1103/Phys...
Hyperdisordered Cell Packing on a Growing Surface
In rapidly growing oval squid, skin pigment cells form a ``hyperdisordered'' pattern where density fluctuations grow with scale, revealing a novel link between growth and patterning that may apply bro...
doi.org
June 3, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Read the full research article in Physical Review X: doi.org/10.1103/Phys...
For students in USA who are affected by the current situation:
OIST Graduate School is accepting special applications right now.
Deadline June 15, 2025
www.oist.jp/admissions/s...
OIST Graduate School is accepting special applications right now.
Deadline June 15, 2025
www.oist.jp/admissions/s...
Special Application Deadline for Students Accepted or Studying in the United States
www.oist.jp
June 2, 2025 at 9:01 AM
For students in USA who are affected by the current situation:
OIST Graduate School is accepting special applications right now.
Deadline June 15, 2025
www.oist.jp/admissions/s...
OIST Graduate School is accepting special applications right now.
Deadline June 15, 2025
www.oist.jp/admissions/s...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
A vital and very enjoyable component of my academic work is teaching students at all levels how to extend the frontiers of knowledge. So I’m pleased to announce a set of Jupyter notebooks organized around our ideas for “physics of behavior”. You can find them here: github.com/oist/Physics...
GitHub - oist/Physics-of-Behavior-Tutorials
Contribute to oist/Physics-of-Behavior-Tutorials development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
May 30, 2025 at 7:49 AM
A vital and very enjoyable component of my academic work is teaching students at all levels how to extend the frontiers of knowledge. So I’m pleased to announce a set of Jupyter notebooks organized around our ideas for “physics of behavior”. You can find them here: github.com/oist/Physics...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
🔥 New episode of the Night Science podcast! The brilliant Eve Marder, professor at Brandeis University, talks with us about how "Recipe Science" ruins creativity.
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4mSv...
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4mSv...
May 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
🔥 New episode of the Night Science podcast! The brilliant Eve Marder, professor at Brandeis University, talks with us about how "Recipe Science" ruins creativity.
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4mSv...
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4mSv...
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
📣 #SfN25 abstract submission is now open!
Share your research with the global neuroscience community.
Start now to avoid the last-minute rush!
🔗 bit.ly/3G5vEde
#NeuroSky #AcademicChatter
Share your research with the global neuroscience community.
Start now to avoid the last-minute rush!
🔗 bit.ly/3G5vEde
#NeuroSky #AcademicChatter
May 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
📣 #SfN25 abstract submission is now open!
Share your research with the global neuroscience community.
Start now to avoid the last-minute rush!
🔗 bit.ly/3G5vEde
#NeuroSky #AcademicChatter
Share your research with the global neuroscience community.
Start now to avoid the last-minute rush!
🔗 bit.ly/3G5vEde
#NeuroSky #AcademicChatter
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
I’m excited to share a new paper from the lab. The study led by Xiaowei Gu reveals how the mPFC encodes complex emotional memories, using an internal model to infer emotional associations and memories via projections to the amygdala. a🧵(1/8)
rdcu.be/el19t
rdcu.be/el19t
Prefrontal encoding of an internal model for emotional inference
Nature - Neurons in the rodent dorsomedial prefrontal cortex encode a flexible internal model of emotion by linking directly experienced and inferred associations with aversive experiences.
rdcu.be
May 14, 2025 at 11:35 PM
I’m excited to share a new paper from the lab. The study led by Xiaowei Gu reveals how the mPFC encodes complex emotional memories, using an internal model to infer emotional associations and memories via projections to the amygdala. a🧵(1/8)
rdcu.be/el19t
rdcu.be/el19t
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
We’re hiring a postdoc with slice patch-clamp expertise to study head direction circuits and plasticity during spatial learning. Ideal for a neurophysiologist excited to combine ex vivo and in vivo approaches. Come join us in beautiful Cambridge! 🐭🧭🧠
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
May 13, 2025 at 1:00 PM
We’re hiring a postdoc with slice patch-clamp expertise to study head direction circuits and plasticity during spatial learning. Ideal for a neurophysiologist excited to combine ex vivo and in vivo approaches. Come join us in beautiful Cambridge! 🐭🧭🧠
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
📝 Apply by 9 June: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51282/
Reposted by Izumi Fukunaga
Summer Workshop Alert‼️
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan organizes on July 1 a hands-on DeepLabCut workshop led by Drs. Mackenzie and Alexander Mathis.
Applications are open at www.oist.jp/conference/d...
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan organizes on July 1 a hands-on DeepLabCut workshop led by Drs. Mackenzie and Alexander Mathis.
Applications are open at www.oist.jp/conference/d...
DeepLabCut Workshop
A one day hands-on workshop on the use of the famous DeepLabCut software to analyze videos of animal behavior, led by Drs. Mackenzie and Alexander Mathis. Participants will be helped to pre-install th...
www.oist.jp
May 13, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Summer Workshop Alert‼️
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan organizes on July 1 a hands-on DeepLabCut workshop led by Drs. Mackenzie and Alexander Mathis.
Applications are open at www.oist.jp/conference/d...
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan organizes on July 1 a hands-on DeepLabCut workshop led by Drs. Mackenzie and Alexander Mathis.
Applications are open at www.oist.jp/conference/d...