Ryunosuke Amo, Ph.D.
"Dopamine is implicated in diverse behaviors, including movement, motivation, and learning, and dysfunction of the dopamine system is associated with disorders including depression, Parkinson’s disease, and addiction. I want to elucidate the mechanisms that generate dopamine’s diverse functions and to explore how these processes become dysfunctional."
Deciphering the mechanisms of dopamine’s diverse functions
How does the brain convey information through dopamine, and how does disruption of this information contribute to disorders?
The neurotransmitter dopamine is implicated in diverse behaviors, including movement, motivation, and learning. Dysfunction of the dopamine system is associated with a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, depression, and addiction.
Ryunosuke Amo’s research integrates anatomy, physiology, behavior, computational modeling, and molecular tools to uncover how the brain generates diverse dopamine signals, how opioid exposure disrupts them, and how dopamine signaling has evolved across vertebrate species.
- Assistant Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
- Assistant Professor, School of Neuroscience, College of Science, Virginia Tech
Amo R, Uchida N, Watabe-Uchida M. Glutamate inputs send prediction error of reward but not negative value of aversive stimuli to dopamine neurons. Neuron. 2024 Mar 20;112(6):1001-1019.
Amo R. Prediction error in dopamine neurons during associative learning. Neuroscience Research. 2024 Feb;199: 12-20.
Amo R, Matias S, Yamanaka A, Tanaka KF, Uchida N and Watabe-Uchida M. A gradual temporal shift of dopamine responses mirrors the progression of temporal difference error in machine learning. Nature Neuroscience. 2022 Aug;25(8):1082-1092.
Amo R, Fredes F, Kinoshita M, Aoki R, Aizawa H, Agetsuma M, Aoki T, Shiraki T, Kakinuma H, Matsuda M, Yamazaki M, Takahoko M, Tsuboi T, Higashijima S, Miyasaka N, Koide T, Yabuki Y, Yoshihara Y, Fukai T, Okamoto H. The habenulo-raphe serotonergic circuit encodes an aversive expectation value essential for adaptive active avoidance of danger. Neuron. 2014 Dec 3;84(5):1034-48.
Amo R†, Aizawa H†, Takahoko M, Kobayashi M, Takahashi R, Aoki T, Okamoto H. (†equal contribution) Identification of the zebrafish ventral habenula as a homolog of the mammalian lateral habenula. Journal of Neuroscience. 2010 Jan 27;30(4):1566-74.
Center for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Research Associate
Center for Brain Science, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Postdoctoral Fellow
RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Special Postdoctoral Researcher
RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Postdoctoral Researcher
- Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Japan, Ph.D., Science
- Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Japan, M.Sc., Science
- School of Education, Waseda University, Japan, B.Sc., Science
- Society for Neuroscience, Trainee Professional Development Award (2023)
- Japan Neuroscience Society, Young Investigator Award (2023)
- Comprehensive Brain Network, Summer Workshop 2011, Best Presentation Award (2011)