Community Health Care and GerontologySchool of Human Health Sciences

M.D. Professor Nobukatsu Sawamoto

One of the goals in neuroscience and neurology is to clarify localization of brain function or comprehensive brain structure-function relationship. However, localized brain functions need to work together to exhibit human behavior. We aim to clarify how cognitive operations rely upon the capacity to flexibly integrate localized brain functions and to elucidate weather cognitive deficits can be ameliorated by modifying pathological network activity.

Research and Education

The foundation of research on higher cognitive functions in humans were laid by Paul Broca who discovered localization of language abilities in the left frontal lobe. The nervous system is also required to connect brain function produced in each region. Clinical trials in Parkinson disease showed intrastriatal transplantation of embryonic dopaminergic neurons restored the loss of nigrostriatal terminals and the consequent malfunction of basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuitries. At 6 months after transplantation, the impaired network activity remained unnormalized while striatal dopamine storage capacity was elevated. During the 2nd year after transplantation, the network activity recovered despite striatal dopamine storage capacity not improved further, suggesting functional integration of the transplanted dopaminergic neurons into the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuitry is requisite to organize the network activity.

Figure 1. Probabilistic tractography among the sensory-motor cortices, thalamus and cerebellum

Figure 2. Optic radiation visualized with 7 tesla MRI quantitative susceptibility mapping

Recent Publications

  1. Sakato Y, Shima A, Terada Y, Takeda K, Sakamaki-Tsukita H, Nishida A, Yoshimura K, Wada I, Furukawa K, Kambe D, Togo H, Mukai Y, Sawamura M, Nakanishi E, Yamakado H, Fushimi Y, Okada T, Takahashi Y, Nakamoto Y, Takahashi R, Hanakawa T, Sawamoto N. Delineating three distinct spatiotemporal patterns of brain atrophy in Parkinson’s disease. Brain. 2024;147(11):3702-3713
  2. Sakamaki-Tsukita H, Shima A, Kambe D, Furukawa K, Nishida A, Wada I, Yoshimura K, Sakato Y, Terada Y, Yamakado H, Taruno Y, Nakanishi E, Sawamura M, Fushimi Y, Okada T, Nakamoto Y, Zaborszky L, Takahashi R, Sawamoto N. Involvement of the basal forebrain and hippocampus in memory deficits in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. 2024;128.
  3. Nishida A, Shima A, Kambe D, Furukawa K, Sakamaki-Tsukita H, Yoshimura K, Wada I, Sakato Y, Terada Y, Sawamura M, Nakanishi E, Taruno Y, Yamakado H, Fushimi Y, Okada T, Nakamoto Y, Takahashi R, Sawamoto N. Frontoparietal-Striatal Network and Nucleus Basalis Modulation in Patients With Parkinson Disease and Gait Disturbance. Neurology. 2024;103(3) e209606.
  4. Furukawa K, Shima A, Kambe D, Nishida A, Wada I, Sakamaki H, Yoshimura K, Terada Y, Sakato Y, Mitsuhashi M, Sawamura M, Nakanishi E, Taruno Y, Yamakado H, Fushimi Y, Okada T, Nakamoto Y, Takahashi R, Sawamoto N. Motor Progression and Nigrostriatal Neurodegeneration in Parkinson Disease. Annals of Neurology. 2022;92(1):110-21.
  5. Sawamoto N, Piccini P, Hotton G, Pavese N, Thielemans K, Brooks DJ. Cognitive deficits and striato-frontal dopamine release in Parkinson’s disease. Brain. 2008;131:1294-302.

Laboratory

Professor Nobukatsu Sawamoto,
Associate Professor Koichi Ishizu ,
Program-Specific Assistant Professor Atsushi Shima

e-mail: sawa@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp

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