Tenure-track faculties Yoshikazu Nikaido Tenure-track faculties Yoshikazu Nikaido Tenure-track faculties Yoshikazu Nikaido Tenure-track faculties Yoshikazu Nikaido Tenure-track faculties Yoshikazu Nikaido

Tenure-track faculties：Nikaido Yoshikazu

Yoshikazu Nikaido ■Name
Yoshikazu Nikaido

■Resume
【March 2006】
　B.Agr. at Kyoto Institute of Technology

【March 2008】
　M.Agr. at Kyoto Institute of Technology

【March 2011】
　Ph.D. at Kyoto Institute of Technology

【Since March 2012】
　Assistant Professor, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine
　(Tenure-track faculty)

【April 2011-February 2012】
　Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurophysiology, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine

■Research field
Neuroscience, Behavioral physiology, Environmental physiology, Endocrinology

■Research theme
Functional analysis of the cortico-limbic system in the development and treatment of stress-related mental disorders

■Research summary
The stress response is an important physiological response for living organisms to adapt to the external environment; however, stress can trigger mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. It has become clear that the onset of these stress-related mental disorders is closely involved in the dysfunction of stress response system due to both genetic and environmental factors and long-term retentions of fear and/or anxiety memories. We are exploring a preventive therapy for the malfunction of the cortico-limbic circuits and the possibility of cure by odorous substances as a complementary and alternative medicine to reduce the risk of developing PTSD and depression.

Outline of research

■Research Accomplishments

＜Before assuming the present position＞

◎Original papers

・Yuko Horii, Yoshikazu Nikaido, Katsuya Nagai, Toshihiro Nakashima. “Exposure to TMT odor affects adrenal sympathetic nerve activity and behavioral consequence in rats.” Behavioural Brain Research, 2010, 214, pp317-322.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Toshihiro Nakashima. “Effects of environmental novelty on fear-related behavior and stress responses of rats to emotionally relevant odors.” Behavioural Brain Research, 2009, 199, pp241-246.


＜2011/2012＞

◎Current status of research progression

Regarding long-term retention of fear memory and abnormalities in the stress response system, which play a part in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we compared and investigated effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and plant-derived odorants, using animal models. The results showed that a particular plant-derived odor can reduce long-term retention of fear memory and abnormalities in the stress response system as effectively as SSRIs. We are preparing for publication of a paper presenting the result, which we expect to show the efficacy of plant-derived odorant in complementary and alternative medicine. Moreover, we found that the above-mentioned odorant can specifically suppress neural activity in the limbic system, which is involved in the occurrence of fear. We are also preparing for publication of a paper on this finding, further elucidating the mechanism of action of the odorant on the limbic system function associated with PTSD and depression.


◎Grants

・Hirosaki University Grant for Exploratory Research by Young Scientists, 2011 Research subject: Functional organization of olfactory and visual information in the brain for physiological responses.


・The 31th Karoji Memorial Fund for Medical Research B Research subject: Mechanism of PRIP-1-GABAA receptor modulation related to stress response and depression-like behavior and potential of aromatherapy.


◎Original papers

・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Toshihiro Nakashima. “Different patterns of neuronal activities in the infralimbic and prelimbic cortices and behavioral expression in response to two affective odors, 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline and a mixture of cis-3-hexenol and trans-2-hexenal, in the freely moving rat.” Behavioural Brain Research, 218, pp218-227, 2011.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Seiji Miyata, Toshihiro Nakashima. “Mixture of cis-3-hexenol and trans-2-hexenal attenuates behavioral and stress responses induced by 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline and electric footshock stress in rats.” Physiology & Behavior, 103, pp547-556, 2011.


・Yuki Taniguchi, Naoko Inoue, Shoko Morita, Yoshikazu Nikaido, Toshihiro Nakashima, Nobuo Nagai, Kiyotaka Okada, Osamu Matsuo, Seiji Miyata. “Localization of plasminogen in mouse hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and hypothalamus.” Cell and Tissue Research, 343, pp303–317, 2011.


・Keisuke Migita, Junko Yamada, Yoshikazu Nikaido, XiuYu Shi, Sunao Kaneko, Shinichi Hirose and Shinya Ueno. “Properties of a novel GABAA receptor γ2 subunit mutation associated with seizures.” Journal of Pharmacological Sciences, 121(1), pp84-87, 2013.


◎Oral presentations

・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Yamada, Keisuke Migita, Yuko Shiba, Shinya Ueno. “Neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex in response to olfactory stimuli and behavioral response.” Seminar at the Institute of Brain Science, Hirosaki, July 5, 2011.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Yamada, Keisuke Migita, Yuko Shiba, Takashi Kanematsu, Masato Hirata, Shinya Ueno. “Delayed induction of anesthesia in PRIP-1 knockout mice.” Neuroscience Research Meeting, Hirosaki, January 20, 2012.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Yamada, Keisuke Migita, Yuko Shiba, Shinya Ueno. “Involvement of the subregions of medial prefrontal cortex in processing of the affective odors, green odor and predator odor, in the freely moving rat.” The 89th Annual Meeting of the Physiological Society of Japan, Matsumoto, March 31, 2012.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Yamada, Keisuke Migita, Yuko Shiba, Tetsuya Kushikata, Kazumi Hirota, Takashi Kanematsu, Masato Hirata, Shinya Ueno. “Delayed induction of anesthesia by propofol in mice deficient in phospholipase C-related but catalytically inactive protein type-1,” in the 8th FENS Forum of Neuroscience, Barcelona (Spain), Poster presentation D9, July 2012.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Ohta, Keisuke Migita, Junko Yamada, Yuko Shiba, Tetsuya Kushikata, Kazumi Hirota, Takashi Kanematsu, Masato Hirata, Shinya Ueno. “Delayed induction of anesthesia by propofol and reduced maintenance of anesthetic effect in PRIP-1 knockout mice.” The 19th Meeting of Japanese Society for Intravenous Anesthesia, Oral presentation 4-5, Sapporo, September 2012.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Yamada, Keisuke Migita, Yuko Shiba, Toshihiro Nakashima and Shinya Ueno. “Neuronal Activity in Rat Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex Contributes to Emotionally-relevant Behavior in Response to Olfaction.” The 35th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society, Oral presentation 10923, Nagoya, September 2012.


・Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Yamada, Keisuke Migita, Yuko Shiba, Toshihiro Nakashima and Shinya Ueno. “Involvement of Rat Basolateral Amygdala and Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Expression of Fear-related Behavior in Response to Predator Odor.” The 90th Annual Meeting of the Physiological Society of Japan, Poster presentation 1PK-179, Tokyo, March 2013.


・Shinya Ueno, Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Yamada, Keisuke Migita, Junko Ohta, Tetsuya Kushikata, Kazumi Hirota, Takashi Kanematsu, Masato Hirata. “Differential effect of intravenous anesthetics in mice deficient in phospholipase C-related but catalytically inactive protein type-1.” The 86th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society, Oral presentation, Fukuoka , March 2013.


◎Awards

The 19th JSIVA Prize. Yoshikazu Nikaido, Junko Ohta, Keisuke Migita, Junko Yamada, Yuko Shiba, Tetsuya Kushikata, Kazumi Hirota, Takashi Kanematsu, Masato Hirata, Shinya Ueno. “Delayed induction of anesthesia by propofol and reduced maintenance of anesthetic effect in PRIP-1 knock-out mice.” The 19th Meeting of Japanese Society for Intravenous Anesthesia, Oral presentation 4-5, Sapporo, September 2012.