Yuji Naya
Email: yujin(at)pku(dot)edu(dot)cn;
Telephone:
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Research Area:
The ability to form new long-term memories of facts, events and relationships is referred to as declarative or relational memory. Declarative memory, which is impaired in patients suffered from Alzheimer disease, is a fundamental cognitive function that enables us to remember the past and to make appropriate choices based on past experiences. We challenge to elucidate how our brains perform this remarkable function, which is essential for our quality of life. To address this question, we use a behavioral neurophysiological approach using non-human primates. This approach enables us to characterize the information processing carried out by single and/or ensembles of neurons in multiple brain areas while a subject performs a memory task. Our research is aimed at characterizing the ‘information flow’ responsible for declarative memory across the medial temporal lobe memory system and related neocortical areas, such as the sensory-association areas, the prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex.
Selected Publications:
1. Naya Y*, and Suzuki WA, Integrating what and when across the primate medial temporal lobe, Science, 333, 773-776. 2011
2. Suzuki WA*, and Naya Y, Two Routes for remembering the Past, Cell, 147, 493-495, 2011.
3. Matsui T., Koyano KW., Koyama M., Nakahara K., Takeda M., Ohashi Y., Naya Y., Miyashita Y*, MRI-based localization of electrophysiological recording sites within the cerebral cortex at single-voxel accuracy. Nature Methods 4, 161-168. 2007.
4. Takeda M, Naya Y, Fujimichi R, Takeuchi D, and Miyashita Y*. Active maintenance of associative mnemonic signal in monkey inferior temporal cortex. Neuron 48: 839-848. 2005.
5. Naya Y*, Yoshida M, and Miyashita Y*, Forward processing of long-term associative memory in monkey inferotemporal cortex. J. Neurosci. 23, 2861-2871. 2003.
6. Naya Y, Yoshida M and Miyashita Y*, Backward Spreading of Memory-Retrieval Signal in the Primate Temporal Cortex. Science 291:661-664. 2001.
7. Naya Y, Sakai K., and Miyashita Y*, Activity of primate inferotemporal neurons related to a sought target in pair-association task. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93:2664-2669. 1996.
*, Corresponding author