Hannah in Japan IV: Internship completion and final travels

Kon’nichiwa!

I finished plotting cortical and subcortical neuron distributions for much of the tissue we stained. The rest will be plotted by another intern working at EHUB this summer. I’ve trained her in Neurolucida and various lab techniques.

I also created figures of my plotting in a powerpoint to compare the GFP- and RFP-labeled sections. There appear to be several cortical areas of interest that have a greater density of neurons projecting to either the caudate or putamen, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), supplementary motor cortex (SMC), and secondary somatosensory cortex (S2). The ACC is an integral region for normal cognitive and emotional functioning (Stevens et al., 2011). Meanwhile, the SMC and S2 are involved in planning motor function (Stein, 2017) and assisting the primary somatosensory cortex with analyzing sensory information (Raju & Tadi, 2022), respectively.

Before I left EHUB, I used an atlas, which is essentially a brain map, to delineate specific Brodmann areas of the plotted sections. Brodmann areas comprise an identification system for brain regions in the cerebral cortex as designated by differences in cytoarchitecture (cell structure). For instance, the ACC includes Brodmann areas 24, 25, 32, and 33 (Stevens et al., 2011).  These delineations are necessary for retrieving the exact neuron count in each cortical area of interest. My initial cortical drawings will be used as a reference for the rest of the sections to be plotted. After they have all been plotted, I will run statistical analyses to compare the number of caudate-projecting and putamen-projecting neurons. The results will show the degree of differences among these corticostriatal circuits.

In the final week of my research at the Inuyama campus, I was treated to a farewell dinner (yakiniku = grilled meat!) by the members of my lab. They were so very kind. I will never forget my time in Dr. Inoue’s lab!

Final travels

On Saturday morning I checked out of the dormitory and headed to Tokyo and waited for my family to arrive from the U.S. We all then spent four days sightseeing, shopping, and eating at amazing restaurants in the Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza, and Harajuku districts. Next, we traveled to the Kansai region where we went sightseeing in the cities of Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka. In Kyoto, we visited Heian Shrine, the Silver Pavilion and Fushimi Inari Shrine. We also visited Arashiyama where we trekked 160 meters up the mountain to see the Japanese macaques that live there.

In Nara we went to the large park in the city center where deer roam free! If you bow to them, some have learned to bow in response (but they expect then to be fed!) Shika senbei (deer crackers) are sold as treats for the deer. Further in the park is the Todaiji temple which houses a 15-meter bronze Buddha statue! Our last few days were spent in Osaka. The first night we went to Kaiyukan, one of the largest aquariums in the world! We also went to Dotobori, a popular shopping district with eye-catching signs scattered amongst the buildings. Finally, we headed to Kansai International airport to fly home to Ohio.

I am deeply grateful to have been able to spend the past 10 weeks researching, exploring, and living in Japan. I’ve met some amazing people both in and out of EHUB, observed new techniques from my colleagues, and learned so much about the culture. I would like to thank Dr. Inoue, Dr. Amita, and Alsha for welcoming me, as well as EHUB for allowing me to intern at the Inuyama campus this summer.

Sayonara!

Hannah

This opportunity to conduct research in Japan is supported by NSF-IRES Award #1853937 to Drs. Tosi, Raghanti, Meindl, and Lovejoy at Kent State University.