McHugh Lab

Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology

Conditional Genetics

Genetic access using transgenic mice and viral tools give us access to specific cells and circuits

Toolbox of Circuit Manipulation

We use and develop tools to control transmission and excitability in the brain

Behavior

To understand memory, we combine in vivo recording with a variety of behavioral assays

Electrophysiology

The brain is dynamic and in vivo recording allows us to observe the representation and flow of information on precise timescales

Calcium Imaging

One-photon Miniscope and fiber photometry imaging give us long-term stable access to large neuronal populations in vivo

Research Interests

We are interested in understanding how memories are encoded, consolidated and recalled. Much of our work focuses on the hippocampus, one of the most well characterized and intensely studied regions of the mammalian brain and an ideal model system to test hypotheses linking memory and neural information representation. We combine in vivo electrophysiology and imaging with cutting-edge conditional genetics to address research questions at a high level of precision. Our ability to manipulate plasticity, synaptic transmission or neuronal excitability in a subregion or pathway specific manner and to characterize the consequences of those manipulations on the behavioral and physiological level allows us to study the dynamic routing and use of spatial information in the brain.

Media Coverage

研究成果

The small hippocampal CA2 region plays a major role in memory consolidation

記憶情報の精度を調節する

Hongshen He, Roman Boehringer, Arthur Huang, Eric T.N. Overton, Denis Polygalov, Kazuo Okanoya, Thomas McHugh

Last updated on Oct 21, 2021 1 min read

Social novelty has a special place in the brain

視床下部乳頭上核の知られざる役割

Shuo Chen, Linmeng He, Arthur Huang, Roman Boehringer, Vincent Robert, Marie Wintzer, Denis Polygalov, Adam Weitemier, Yanqiu Tao, Mingxiao Gu, Steven Middleton, Kana Namiki, Hiroshi Hama, Ludivine Therreau, Vivien Chevaleyre, Hiroyuki Hioki, Atsushi Miyawaki, Rebecca A. Piskorowski, Thomas McHugh

Last updated on Oct 1, 2020 1 min read

Brain waves in mice change based on memory age

遠隔記憶は大脳皮質と海馬の相互作用により想起される

Yuichi Makino, Denis Polygalov, Federico Bolaños, Andrea Benucci, Thomas McHugh

Last updated on Dec 18, 2019 1 min read

The big picture: mouse memory cells are about experience, not place

海馬記憶エングラムは経験の脳内表象へのインデックスである

Kazumasa Z. Tanaka, et al.

Last updated on Oct 4, 2019 1 min read

Gene linked to intellectual ability affects memory replay in mice

知的障害モデルマウスの記憶障害は海馬リプレイの異常が一因

Steven Middleton, et al.

Last updated on Oct 4, 2019 1 min read

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Meet the Team

Principal Investigator

Thomas McHugh

Team Leader

Researchers

Hongshen He

JSPS Fellow, Research Scientist

Chia-Hsuan Wang

Research Scientist

Genki Minamisawa

Research Scientist

Seiichiro Amemiya

Research Scientist

Vladislav Sekulic

JSPS, SPDR, Research Scientist

Yijun Zhou

JSPS Fellow, Research Scientist

Technical and Administrative Staff

Arthur Huang

Technical Staff

Denis Polygalov

Technical Staff

Michiko Fujisawa

Administrative Assistant

Tomoko Tokiwa

Students

Eichi Toyoizumi

PhD Candidate

Muhang Li

PhD Candidate

Shuzhen Zuo

PhD Candidate

Yinghao Liu

PhD Candidate

Yiqiang Shi

PhD Candidate

Student trainees and Undergraduates

Luhao Liu

Shimpei Uchiyama

Sining Li

Alumni

Chinnakkaruppan Adaikkan

Visiting PhD Student

Roman Boehringer

Technical Staff

Steven Middleton

Research Scientist

Kazumasa Z. Tanaka

JSPS, SPD, Assistant Professor (adjunct)

Yuichi Makino

Research Scientist

Hefei Guan

Postdoctoral Researcher

Chiawen Lin

Research Scientist

Yi Wang

Research Scientist

Eric T.N. Overton

Technical Staff

Anupratap Tomar

Research Scientist

Adam Weitemier

Research Scientist

Linmeng He

PhD Candidate

Marie Wintzer

Technical Staff

Shuo Chen

Research Scientist

Yanqiu Tao

Undergraduate Thesis Student

Eriko Kamiki

Undergraduate Thesis Student

Xiyu Wang

Masters Student

Ming-Ching Chiang

PhD Student

Lily Yu

Research Scientist

Kazue Niisato

Peng Hao

Ryohei Yoshimoto

Masters Student

Shiyun Dong

Xiaoyi Pan

Xinyun Zhao

Yuerui Hu

Featured Publications

主要論文

CA2 inhibition reduces the precision of hippocampal assembly reactivation

The structured reactivation of hippocampal neuronal ensembles during fast synchronous oscillatory events, termed sharp-wave ripples …

Hongshen He, Roman Boehringer, Arthur Huang, Eric T.N. Overton, Denis Polygalov, Kazuo Okanoya, Thomas McHugh

DOI

A hypothalamic novelty signal modulates hippocampal memory

The ability to recognize information that is incongruous with previous experience is critical for survival. Novelty signals have …

PDF DOI

Physiological Signature of Memory Age in the Prefrontal-Hippocampal Circuit

The long-term storage of episodic memory requires communication between prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. However, how consolidation …

Yuichi Makino, Denis Polygalov, Federico Bolaños, Andrea Benucci, Thomas McHugh

PDF DOI

The hippocampal engram maps experience but not place

Episodic memories are encoded by a sparse population of hippocampal neurons. In mice, optogenetic manipulation of this memory engram …

Kazumasa Z. Tanaka, Hongshen He, Anupratap Tomar, Kazue Niisato, Arthur Huang, Thomas McHugh

PDF DOI

Altered hippocampal replay is associated with memory impairment in mice heterozygous for the Scn2a gene

An accumulating body of experimental evidence has implicated hippocampal replay occurring within sharp wave ripples (SPW-Rs) as crucial …

Steven Middleton, Emily M. Kneller, Shuo Chen, Ikuo Ogiwara, Mauricio Montal, Kazuhiro Yamakawa, Thomas McHugh

DOI

Near-infrared deep brain stimulation via upconversion nanoparticle–mediated optogenetics

Optogenetics has revolutionized the experimental interrogation of neural circuits and holds promise for the treatment of neurological …

Shuo Chen, Adam Weitemier, Xiao Zeng, Linmeng He, Xiyu Wang, Yanqiu Tao, Arthur Huang, Yuki Hashimotodani, Masanobu Kano, Hirohide Iwasaki, Laxmi Kumar Parajuli, Shigeo Okabe, Daniel B. Loong Teh, Angelo H. All, Iku Tsutsui-Kimura, Kenji F. Tanaka, Xiaogang Liu, Thomas McHugh

PDF DOI

Chronic Loss of CA2 Transmission Leads to Hippocampal Hyperexcitability

Hippocampal CA2 pyramidal cells project into both the neighboring CA1 and CA3 subfields, leaving them well positioned to influence …

Roman Boehringer, Denis Polygalov, Arthur Huang, Steven Middleton, Vincent Robert, Marie Wintzer, Rebecca A. Piskorowski, Vivien Chevaleyre, Thomas McHugh

PDF DOI

Silencing CA3 disrupts temporal coding in the CA1 ensemble

In addition to the place-cell rate code, hippocampal area CA1 employs a temporal code, both on the single-cell and ensemble level, to …

Steven Middleton, Thomas McHugh

DOI

All Publications

全論文リスト

Quickly discover relevant content by filtering publications.

Chinnakkaruppan Adaikkan, Justin Joseph, Georgios Foustoukos, Jun Wang, Denis Polygalov, Roman Boehringer, Steven Middleton, Arthur Huang, Li-Huei Tsai, Thomas McHugh (2024). Silencing CA1 pyramidal cells output reveals the role of feedback inhibition in hippocampal oscillations. Nature Communications volume 15, Article number: 2190 (2024).

DOI

Martin Kahn, Diane Chan, Danying Wang, Ute Geigenmuller, Cristina Blanco-Duque, Mitchell H. Murdock, Ho-Jun Suk, Brennan Jackson, Vikram Jakkamsetti, Emily Niederst, Emery N. Brown, Edward S. Boyden, Thomas McHugh, Chinnakkaruppan Adaikkan, Annabelle C. Singer, Simon Hanslmayr, Li-Huei Tsai (2023). Gamma sensory stimulation and effects on the brain. bioRxiv 2023.10.30.564197.

DOI

Haowei Li, Risako Tamura, Daiki Hayashi, Hirotaka Asai, Junya Koga, Shota Ando, Sayumi Yokota, Jun Kaneko, Keisuke Sakurai, Akira Sumiyoshi, Tadashi Yamamoto, Keigo Hikishima, Kazumasa Z. Tanaka, Thomas McHugh, Tatsuhiro Hisatsune (2023). Dentate Neurogenesis Modulates Dorsal Hippocampal Excitation/Inhibition Balance Crucial for Cognitive Flexibility. bioRxiv 2023.02.22.529526.

DOI

Takeshi Kanda, Toshimitsu Aritake, Kaoru Ohyama, Kaspar E. Vogt, Yuichi Makino, Thomas McHugh, Hideitsu Hino, Shotara Akaho, Noboru Murata (2023). Hawkes process modeling quantifies complicated firing behaviors of cortical neurons during sleep and wakefulness. bioRxiv 2023.07.29.550297.

DOI

Hongshen He, Thomas McHugh (2023). A signal EMerGes from the noise. Cell Reports Methods, Volume 3, Issue 6, 26 June 2023, 100510.

DOI

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Contact

お問い合わせ

Address （日本語は末尾をご参照ください）

Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology

Room 101b, Brain Science Neural Circuit Genetics Research Bldg. (C35)

RIKEN Center for Brain Science

2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi,

Saitama 351-0198, Japan

Contact Person

Michiko Fujisawa - Administrative Assistant

E-mail: michiko.fujisawa (at) riken.jp

Tel: +81-48-462-1111 ext. 6232 (from abroad)

Tel: 048-462-1111 ext. 6232 (from Japan)

Directions

For detailed information on transportation to Wako-shi station and accessing RIKEN Wako campus please refer to the following page of the Center for Brain Science website.

Find us on: Google Maps

Upon entering the C35 building pass through the entrance hall, turn right, enter green area, locate room 101b (Administrative Assistant) or 101k (Team Leader).

〒351-0198

埼玉県和光市広沢２－１

脳神経回路遺伝学研究棟（C35）１０１ｂ号室

国立研究開発法人理化学研究所

脳神経科学研究センター

神経回路・行動生理学研究チーム

藤澤　未知子（アシスタント）

ＴＥＬ：　048-462-1111（代表）内線番号　6232

ＦＡＸ：　048-467-5221