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Okihide Hikosaka
Okihide Hikosaka is a neuroscience research professor who specializes in the mechanisms of motivation, learning, skill, decision-making, attention, and oculomotor control. His research into neuronal mechanisms of voluntary behavior and basal ganglia function created breakthroughs in the understanding of the neurochemistry behind information-seeking behavior and the efficacy of grouping motor sequence learning actions (otherwise known as “ chunking”) in order to remember more than individual actions. Hikosaka’s research proved that the brain is chemically wired to be rewarded with dopamine for learning information about the future. “This result supports the notion that midbrain dopamine neurons are coding for both primitive and cognitive rewards. So why do dopamine neurons treat information as a reward? It’s easy to see how treating information this way might be a useful evolutionary adaptation. For many animals, each day consists of numerous decisions that pertain to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toho University
is a university in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. History The two brothers Yutaka Nukada and Susumu Nukada founded the Imperial Women's Medical College in Ōmori, Tokyo, the location of the present-day Faculty of Medicine, with their own money in 1925 and then established the Imperial Women's Medical and Pharmaceutical College and the Imperial Women's College of Science. They aimed at improving scientific education for women in such fields as medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, and science. After World War II the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Faculty of Science moved to Funabashi, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populated city (after pa .... With the reform of the Japanese school system in 1950, Toho University became a coeducational institution, focusing on natural sciences, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Eye Institute
The National Eye Institute (NEI) was established in 1968. It is located in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. The NEI is one of 27 institutes and centers of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The mission of NEI is to prolong and protect the vision of the American people. The NEI conducts and performs research into treating and preventing diseases affecting the eye or vision. History Before the NEI was established, primary responsibility for vision research at NIH was done by the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Blindness (NINDB) (which is now known as the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). NINDB was established in 1950, after President Harry S. Truman signed the Omnibus Medical Research Act. The bill agreed to establish new separate institutes within NIH. This marked the beginning of vision research at a federal level. Organizing, structuring, and separating visio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juntendo University
is a private university in Japan. Its headquarters are on its campus in Bunkyo, Tokyo, for the School of Medicine and in Inzai, Chiba, for the School of Health and Sports Science. The university was established in 1838 for medical and in 1946 for other departments. It is nicknamed ''Jundai''. Campuses *Hongō-Ochanomizu Campus: Bunkyo, Tokyo, *Sakura Campus: Inzai, Chiba, *Urayasu Campus:Urayasu, Chiba, *Mishima Campus: Mishima, Shizuoka, Faculties *Faculty of Medicine *Faculty of Health and Sports Science *Faculty of Health Care and Nursing *Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing *Faculty of International Liberal Arts The Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine has granted doctorates since 1963, and the total numbers of the two types doctorate holders (甲 Kou and 乙 Otsu) has reached reach 1,897 and 2,394, respectively, as of 2017. Notable alumni Athletes *Masatada Ishii, Manager of Buriram United * Takehiro Kashima, gymnast *Ryōhei Katō, gymnast *Hirosh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Institute Of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1880s and is now part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The majority of NIH facilities are located in Bethesda, Maryland, and other nearby suburbs of the Washington metropolitan area, with other primary facilities in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and smaller satellite facilities located around the United States. The NIH conducts its own scientific research through the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides major biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program. , the IRP had 1,200 principal investigators and more than 4,000 postdoctoral fellows in basic, translational, and clinical research, being the largest biomedical research insti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, psychology, physics, computer science, chemistry, medicine, statistics, and mathematical modeling to understand the fundamental and emergent properties of neurons, glia and neural circuits. The understanding of the biological basis of learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness has been described by Eric Kandel as the "epic challenge" of the biological sciences. The scope of neuroscience has broadened over time to include different approaches used to study the nervous system at different scales. The techniques used by neuroscientists have expanded enormously, from molecular and cellular studies of individual neurons to imaging of sensory, motor and cognitive tasks in the brain. History The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motivation
Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-directed behavior. It is often held that different mental states compete with each other and that only the strongest state determines behavior. This means that we can be motivated to do something without actually doing it. The paradigmatic mental state providing motivation is desire. But various other states, such as beliefs about what one ought to do or intentions, may also provide motivation. Motivation is derived from the word 'motive', which denotes a person's needs, desires, wants, or urges. It is the process of motivating individuals to take action in order to achieve a goal. The psychological elements fueling people's behavior in the context of job goals might include a desire for money. Various competing theories have been proposed c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basal Ganglia
The basal ganglia (BG), or basal nuclei, are a group of subcortical nuclei, of varied origin, in the brains of vertebrates. In humans, and some primates, there are some differences, mainly in the division of the globus pallidus into an external and internal region, and in the division of the striatum. The basal ganglia are situated at the base of the forebrain and top of the midbrain. Basal ganglia are strongly interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and brainstem, as well as several other brain areas. The basal ganglia are associated with a variety of functions, including control of voluntary motor movements, procedural learning, habit learning, conditional learning, eye movements, cognition, and emotion. The main components of the basal ganglia – as defined functionally – are the striatum, consisting of both the dorsal striatum ( caudate nucleus and putamen) and the ventral striatum ( nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle), the globus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information Seeking Behavior
Information behavior is a field of information science research that seeks to understand the way people search for and use information in various contexts. It can include information seeking and information retrieval, but it also aims to understand why people seek information and how they use it. The term 'information behavior' was coined by Thomas D. Wilson in 1981 and sparked controversy upon its introduction. The term has now been adopted and Wilson's model of information behavior is widely cited in information behavior literature. In 2000, Wilson defined information behavior as "the totality of human behavior in relation to sources and channels of information". A variety of theories of information behavior seek to understand the processes that surround information seeking. An analysis of the most cited publications on information behavior during the early 21st century shows its theoretical nature. Information behavior research can employ various research methodologies gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chunking (psychology)
In cognitive psychology, chunking is a process by which individual pieces of an information set are bound together into a meaningful whole. The chunks, by which the information is grouped, are meant to improve short-term retention of the material, thus bypassing the limited capacity of working memory and allowing the working memory to be more efficient. A chunk is a collection of basic units that have been grouped together and stored in a person's memory. These chunks can be retrieved easily due to their coherent grouping. It is believed that individuals create higher-order cognitive representations of the items within the chunk. The items are more easily remembered as a group than as the individual items themselves. These chunks can be highly subjective because they rely on an individual's perceptions and past experiences, which are linked to the information set. The size of the chunks generally ranges from two to six items but often differs based on language and culture. Accord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dopamine
Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine constitutes about 80% of the catecholamine content in the brain. It is an amine synthesized by removing a carboxyl group from a molecule of its precursor chemical, L-DOPA, which is synthesized in the brain and kidneys. Dopamine is also synthesized in plants and most animals. In the brain, dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by neurons (nerve cells) to send signals to other nerve cells. Neurotransmitters are synthesized in specific regions of the brain, but affect many regions systemically. The brain includes several distinct dopamine pathways, one of which plays a major role in the motivational component of reward-motivated behavior. The anticipation of most types of rewards increases the level of dopamine in the brain, and many ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruber Foundation
The Gruber Foundation is a philanthropic foundation established by Peter and Patricia Gruber and is based at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Its mission is to honor and encourage excellence in the fields of cosmology, genetics, neuroscience, justice, and women's rights, which encompasses three major programmatic initiatives: the Gruber Prizes and the Young Scientists Awards; the Gruber Science Fellowship Program; and the Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women's Rights at Yale Law School. Gruber Prizes The ''International Prize Program'' awards the annual Gruber Prizes: * Gruber Prize in Cosmology first awarded in 2000 * Gruber Prize in Genetics first awarded in 2001 * Gruber Prize in Neuroscience first awarded in 2004 * Gruber Prize for Justice awarded from 2001 to 2011 * Gruber Prize for Women's Rights awarded from 2003 to 2011 The prizes, which are awarded to prominent scientists, social scientists, and jurists in these subjects, provide a gold medal and a cash ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Brain Award
The Golden Brain Award is an international science award in the field of neuroscience. It is given by the Berkeley-based Minerva Foundation every year since 1985. The foundation specifically aims at fundamental contributions to research in vision and the brain. The Golden Brain is a trophy of a gold-plated model of the human brain attached to a bronze base. Selection The Golden Brain Award is open to any person who has made innovative investigations and the resulting influence of those findings on the field of vision and the brain. Preference is given to studies involving higher brain function such as the aspects of behaviour, thought, attention, decision making and rational insight, and cognitive visual system. Special attributes are also considered such as a lack of deserved recognition, which is common in young scientists, and the potential for future important scientific revelations. Formal nominations are made by previous recipients, and final decision is made by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
