【Date】 June 2nd, 2025 (Monday) 17:00−18：30

【Venue】Shirokane Campus Bldg. 15(Takanawa Bldg.) Room 15202・Zoom

【Zoom】 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87901292569
Meeting ID: 879 0129 2569
Passcode: 048746

【Speaker】Atsushi Noritake (Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama)

Neural Processing of Self- and Other-Related Rewards: Toward Understanding Human
Sociality

Understanding how the brain represents and processes the concepts of “self,” “other,” and their interactions is essential for elucidating the foundations of human sociality. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain partially understood. In this talk, I introduce a series of studies conducted by Noritake and colleagues that investigate the neural processing of rewards associated with the self and others. Using non-human primates as a model, we revealed, through electrophysiological and pharmacological approaches, how neural representations of self-reward and other-reward information differ across cortical and subcortical structures (Refs. 1 & 2). Furthermore, employing chemogenetic techniques to selectively block specific neural pathways, we causally identified the circuits responsible for conveying information about others’ rewards (Ref. 3). If time permits, I will also present behavioral data from an ongoing project in which monkeys perform the ultimatum game, offering insights into their decision-making patterns in a social context.

I believe that these studies provide an important foundation for a neuroscientific understanding of key concepts, such as envy and fairness, that are essential to the structure of human society.

References:
1.    Atsushi Noritake, Taihei Ninomiya, Masaki Isoda Social reward monitoring and valuation in the macaque brain. Nature Neuroscience. 21(10):1452–1462, 2018
2.    Atsushi Noritake, Taihei Ninomiya, Masaki Isoda Representation of distinct reward variables for self and other in primate lateral hypothalamus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117(10):5516–5524, 2020
3.    Atsushi Noritake, Taihei Ninomiya, Kenta Kobayashi, Masaki Isoda Chemogenetic dissection of a prefrontal-hypothalamic circuit for socially subjective reward valuation in macaques. Nature Communications. 14(1):4372, 2023