Comprehensive Study on Neural Mechanisms of Emotional Development and its Disorders

Research Project Outline

Emotion powerfully influences on human behaviors, and its disorders are becoming serious social problems. Although emotional functions continue to develop at least up to adolescence in humans, neural mechanisms of emotional development has not been well elucidated. In the present project, neural mechanisms of emotional development and its disorders will be comprehensively investigated from genetic and molecular level to cellular (neuronal) and behavioral levels from both basic scientific and clinical points of a view. The project will promote understanding of neural mechanisms of emotion and the resultant new findings will contribute to understanding of causes of the disorders and to developing of treatments for the emotional disorders.