Brain is involved in a variety of functions, including sensory or motor processing, memory, thinking, and emotion. Besides, brain controls the blood pressure and body temperature, appetite and thirst, or sex; they are all indispensable for maintaining our physical conditions. Itoi Lab is aiming at unraveling the brain mechanisms for maintaining the internal milieu of an organism and preserving the species by studying the structure and function or the hypothalamus and brainstem.
  Experimental animals are utilized in our laboratory; we have developed animals in which a specific group of neurons are visualized or a specific gene expression is blocked in selective neuronal cells. The projecting pathways, as well as the connections with other neurons, are examined, and electrical phenomena are measured using these animals, making it possible to characterize the specific neuronal system in the brain.
  Recently, we developed a mouse in which corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons are visualized. This is a useful tool for studying how the brain responds to stress. We are now identifying the neural inputs and humoral factors that regulate the CRF neurons and planning to endeavor on exploring the mechanisms how the hypothalamus handles stress information to protect ourselves from stressors.