The rhythm of sleep chooses the fate of memory and emotion.
Why sleep, why now
It is easy to think that the sleeping brain is at rest. It is not. It chooses which of the day’s experiences to keep as memory and reweighs their emotional charge. What makes that choice? Our answer is the rhythm that sleep keeps.
In mice, we showed that about three adult-born neurons, firing at one moment of the REM-sleep theta cycle, are needed for a memory to be consolidated (Srinivasan et al., Nat Commun 2025). In people with PTSD, we described disrupted transitions between NREM and REM sleep across the night (Sekiba et al., medRxiv 2025; preprint, under review). Now that we can follow the same neurons for more than 100 days, this question can be tested in experiments.
Three research pillars, one question
How does the rhythm of sleep choose what the brain keeps? We pursue this question through three pillars. All three look at the same rhythm, each on a different timescale.
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
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2026 · 09
Selected for Seeds S1, AMED Translational Research Program
Our project — “Regulatory approval, implementation and commercialisation of a closed-loop acoustic stimulation medical device delivering SES (Sound Exposure during Sleep) therapy”, with Masanori Sakaguchi as project leader — has been selected for Seeds S1 of the Medical Startup Support Program within the AMED Translational Research Program, hosted by the Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization (T-CReDO), University of Tsukuba. The award supports three years of work toward regulatory approval and real-world delivery of Sound Exposure during Sleep (SES) as a medical device. The result is published on the host site.
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2026 · 08
Patent application filed on the control of acoustic stimulation during sleep
A patent application, with Kobe University as the applicant, has been filed on a method for judging when acoustic stimulation may be delivered during sleep and for withholding it on the side of safety. The application number and technical details will be posted after publication by the Japan Patent Office.
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2026 · 06
Symposium talk at the 122nd JSPN Annual Meeting
Masanori Sakaguchi gave a symposium talk on a sleep-based approach to PTSD (SES) at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (Pacifico Yokohama). See News.
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2026 · 06
New members join the lab
In 2026, the Department of Neurophysiology welcomed three new members — Yume Yoshida (dentist; PhD candidate, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery), Izumi Yamamoto (administrative officer), and Mukhamad Sunardi (MD, PhD; Specially-Appointed Assistant Professor). See the People page for details.
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2026 · 05
Hiroyuki Kitagawa appointed Visiting Professor
Hiroyuki Kitagawa, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tsukuba and a specialist in data engineering and large-scale data analysis, has been appointed Visiting Professor in the department. See News.
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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.
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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.
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2026 · 04
Dr. Yuto Momohara appointed Assistant Professor
Yuto Momohara joins the lab as Assistant Professor after his postdoctoral training at UTHealth.
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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.
Since 2016, our members have first-authored 16 peer-reviewed papers and won thirteen competitive fellowships in their own names, including four JSPS Research Fellowships for Young Scientists (DC1/DC2). See where training here leads →