Elucidation of the Fundamental Principles of 'Emotions' through Genetics and Imaging

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19274
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 44:Biology at cellular to organismal levels, and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagoya City University
• Principal Investigator: Kimura Kotaro 名古屋市立大学, 大学院理学研究科, 教授 (20370116)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 中川 敦子 名古屋市立大学, 大学院人間文化研究科, 教授 (90188889)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 感情 / 遺伝学的解析 / イメージング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To analyze the fundamental principles of "emotions", we utilized the behavioral response of the model organism C. elegans to electrical stimuli. We tried to identify genes involved in the response to electrical stimulation through genetic analysis and observed the changes in whole-brain neural activity through high-speed three-dimensional imaging. As a result, we found that L-type voltage-gated Ca++ channel and proprotein convertase required for neuropeptide maturation are involved in the response to electrical stimulation. Furthermore, from the whole-brain imaging, neural activities involved in persistent response behavior were observed. These results could lead to a new understanding of the mechanisms underlying emotion generation.

Free Research Field

神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

動物の「感情」の研究は、チャールズ・ダーウィン卿による著書まで遡ることができる (Darwin 1872)。しかし、「感情」は複雑であるが故に厳密な定義が困難であり、モデル動物を用いた解析は齧歯類の「すくみ」などに限定されていた。本研究で、線虫C. エレガンスの「感情」に関わる遺伝子や神経活動の手掛かりを得ることができたので、これらの研究を進めることによって、モデル動物はもちろんヒトの「感情」に関する研究の飛躍的発展のきっかけとなることが期待できる。