KANA OKADA

Last Updated :2025/07/05

Affiliations, Positions
Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Assistant Professor
Self-introduction
I am aiming at the elucidation of neuronal mechanisms on the flexibility in memory and behavior.

Basic Information

Major Professional Backgrounds

  • 2021/06/01, 2022/03/31, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Assistant Professor (Special Appointment)
  • 2019/04/01, 2021/05/31, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Researcher
  • 2016/04/01, 2019/03/31, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Restart Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 2015/04/17, 2016/03/31, Hiroshima University, Institute of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Researcher
  • 2011/04/01, 2015/03/31, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Assistant Professor (Special Appointment)
  • 2008/08/01, 2011/03/31, Japan Science and Technology Agency, CREST, Post Doctoral Fellowship
  • 2008/05/01, 2012/03, Fukushima Medical University, .
  • 2008/04/01, 2009/03, Doshisha University, Doctoral Course Students
  • 2006/04/01, 2008/03/31, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Special Postdoctoral Researcher(DC2)

Educational Backgrounds

  • Doshisha University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Psychology, 1998/04, 2002/03
  • Doshisha University, Graduate School of Letters, Department of Psychology, 2002/04, 2004/03
  • Doshisha University, Graduate School of Letters, Department of Psychology, 2005/04, 2008/03

Academic Degrees

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Doshisha University
  • Master of Psychology, Doshisha University

Research Fields

  • Social sciences;Psychology;Experimental psychology

Research Keywords

  • neuronal network

Affiliated Academic Societies

  • American Psycological Association
  • Society for Neuroscience
  • Japan Society for Dementia Research
  • Japan Neuroscience Society
  • The Japanese Society for Animal Psychology

Educational Activity

Course in Charge

  1. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , Second Semester, Research
  2. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , First Semester, Advanced Seminar
  3. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , Second Semester, Advanced Seminar
  4. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , First Semester, Advanced Research
  5. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , Second Semester, Advanced Research
  6. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , First Semester, Advanced Seminar on Neurophysiology
  7. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , Second Semester, Advanced Seminar on Neurophysiology
  8. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , First Semester, Advanced Research on Neurophysiology
  9. 2025, Graduate Education (Doctoral Program) , Second Semester, Advanced Research on Neurophysiology
  10. 2025, Undergraduate Education, Intensive, Medical Neuroscience II
  11. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , First Semester, Seminar
  12. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , Second Semester, Seminar
  13. 2025, Graduate Education (Master's Program) , First Semester, Research

Research Activities

Academic Papers

  1. Cholinergic regulation of object recognition memory, FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE, 16, 20220929
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  2. Spike firing attenuation of serotonin neurons in learned helplessness rats is reversed by ketamine, BRAIN COMMUNICATIONS, 3(4), 20211001
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  3. Different cholinergic cell groups in the basal forebrain regulate social interaction and social recognition memory, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 11(1), 20210630
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  4. Action Selection and Flexible Switching Controlled by the Intralaminar Thalamic Neurons., Cell Rep ., 22(9), 2370-2382, 20180227
  5. Distinct roles of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in spatial and object recognition memory, 5, 13158-13158, 20150806
  6. Striatal Indirect Pathway Contributes to Selection Accuracy of Learned Motor Actions., J Neurosci ., 32(39), 13421-13432, 20120926
  7. Selective neural pathway targeting reveals key roles of thalamostriatal projection in the control of visual discrimination, J Neurosci ., 31, 17169-17179, 20111123
  8. Functional cooperation between the hippocampal subregions and the medial septum in unreinforced and reinforced spatial memory tasks., Behav. Brain Res., 209, 295-304, 20100619
  9. Functional differentiation and cooperation among the hippocampal subregions in rats to effect spatial memory processes, Behav. Brain Res, 200(1), 181-191, 20090608
  10. The functional cooperation of the hippocampus and anterior thalamus via the fimbria-fornix in spatial memory in rats, The Japanese Journal of Psychology, 77(3), 261-270, 20060825
  11. Effects of ibotenic acid lesions to rat's hippocampus CA1 on place and cue learning in Morris water maze, The Japanese Journal of Psychology, 76, 352-358, 20051025
  12. ★, Task-dependent function of striatal cholinergic interneurons in behavioural flexibility., Eur J Neurosci ., 47(10), 1174-1183, 201803
  13. ★, Enhanced flexibility of place discrimination learning by targeting striatal cholinergic interneurons, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 5, 201405
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  14. Methylglyoxal (MG) and Cerebro-Renal Interaction: Does Long-Term Orally Administered MG Cause Cognitive Impairment in Normal Sprague-Dawley Rats?, TOXINS, 6(1), 254-269, 201401
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  15. Hippocampal theta wave activity during configural and non-configural tasks in rats, EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 225(2), 177-185, 201303
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  16. Striatal direct pathway modulates response time in execution of visual discrimination, Eur J Neurosci ., 35(5), 784-797, 201203
  17. Spatial memory and the Hippocampus, Japanese Psychological Review, 56(2), 251-261, 2018
  18. Neural activity in the hippocampus during conflict resolution, BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 237, 1-6, 2013
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  19. Transient decline in rats' hippocampal theta power relates to inhibitory stimulus-reward association, BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH, 246(1), 132-138, 2013
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI
  20. Transient Decline in Hippocampal Theta Activity during the Acquisition Process of the Negative Patterning Task, PLOS ONE, 8(7), 2013
    Link to Paper Search Results by DOI

Publications such as books

  1. chapter 10 Functional circuitry analysis in rodents using neurotoxins/immunotoxins, Neuromethods, Controlled Genetic Manipulations, Humana Press Inc., 2012, Joint work, Kobayashi, K., Okada, K., and Kai, N., pp. 193-205

External Funds

Acceptance Results of Competitive Funds

  1. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, The neural network of the hippocampus and related regions on the formation of spatial memory system., 2006/04/01, 2008/03/31
  2. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Psycho physiological study for the cholinergic input involved the formational, maintainable and mnemonic function of the hippocampal related networks., 2010/04/01, 2012/03/31
  3. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, ., 2013/04/01, 2015/03/31
  4. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, ., 2013/04/01, 2014/03/31
  5. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, ., 2015/04/01, 2017/03/31
  6. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, ., 2016/04/01, 2019/03/31
  7. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, ., 2018/04/01, 2021/03/31
  8. ., 2019/04/01, 2023/09/30
  9. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, ., 2021/04/01, 2024/03/31