Sleep is the operating system of memory and emotion.
Why sleep, why now
Sleep is when the brain rebuilds memory, recalibrates emotion, and rehearses behavior. Yet how it does so — and how we can intervene — remains one of neuroscience’s deepest open questions.
Our laboratory pursues this question from multiple directions in parallel: dissecting the REM-sleep circuits that integrate adult-born neurons into the brain's memory traces; developing AI that decodes sleep stages in real time; exploring targeted memory reactivation through sound; and translating these insights toward clinical applications for specific neural conditions. We are based at Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine and collaborate with NCNP, IIIS Tsukuba, RIKEN CBS, and partners across Japan, North America, and Asia.
Three research pillars, one question
How does the sleeping brain consolidate memory? We pursue this question across three pillars, with sleep as the common thread.
Sleep-driven dynamics of memory
Basic mechanisms of how REM sleep supports memory consolidation through adult-born neurons and circuit-level remapping (Kumar et al., Neuron 2020; Srinivasan et al., Nat Commun 2025).
Learn more Pillar 2Sleep and PTSD — pathophysiology and therapeutic technology
From animal fear-memory mechanisms to clinical sleep-rhythm signatures and our investigational Sound Exposure during Sleep (SES) platform for trauma-related memory.
Learn more Pillar 3Sleep-Enabled Neural Regenerative Medicine
From the Galectin-1 discovery (PNAS 2006) toward sleep-enabled circuit repair — a twenty-year lineage in regenerative neuroscience.
Learn moreLatest news
-
2026 · 05
SES feasibility-study preprint (Ino et al., medRxiv)
Our preprint on a first-in-human feasibility study of Sound Exposure during Sleep (SES) for PTSD (jRCT1030230706) is available on medRxiv (preprint, peer review pending). See News.
-
2026 · 04
Grant-in-Aid Kiban-A awarded
The lab received a 3-year Kiban-A grant from JSPS to study mechanisms of memory consolidation during sleep dynamics, in collaboration with Keio University, IIIS Tsukuba, and Kobe University.
-
2026 · 04
Dr. Yuto Momohara appointed Assistant Professor
Yuto Momohara joins the lab as Assistant Professor after his postdoctoral training at UTHealth.
-
2026 · 01
The lab moves to Kobe University
Masanori Sakaguchi was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurophysiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine. He also holds a Visiting Professorship at the University of Tsukuba (from May 2026) and a visiting researcher position at RIKEN CBS.
Join us
We welcome applicants from any country who are passionate about sleep, memory, and translational neuroscience. We host PhD students through the Kobe Graduate School of Medicine, postdoctoral researchers, visiting scholars, and short-term interns. Financial support routes (JSPS, HFSP, MEXT) are available for qualified candidates.