Research Interests: Neural and molecular basis of motivated behaviors toward homeostatic regulation.
The long-term goal of our research is to understand how the brain integrates internal body state and external sensory information to maintain homeostasis in the body.
Homeostasis is the essential function that keeps our internal environment constant and optimal for survival. If internal state shifts from a normal environment, the brain detects the changes and triggers compensatory responses such as intake behaviors and hormonal secretion. How does the brain monitor internal state, and how does it generate signals that drive us toward appropriate behavioral/physiological responses?
Our laboratory addresses these key questions using body fluid homeostasis as a model system. Internal depletion of water or salt directly triggers specific motivation, thirst or salt appetite, which in turn drives unique behavioral outputs (drinking water and salt intake). Such a direct causality offers an ideal platform to investigate various aspects of homeostatic regulation: (1) detection of internal fluid balance, (2) processing of depletion signals in the brain, and (3) translation of such brain signals into specific motivated behaviors. We aim to dissect, visualize, and control neural circuits underlying each of these steps by combining multidisciplinary approaches including genetics, pharmacology, optogenetics and optical/electrophysiological recording techniques.
#Augustine, V., #Lee, S., Oka, Y., Neural Control and Modulation of Thirst, Sodium Appetite, and Hunger. Cell 180, 25-32 (2020).
Kim, D-W., Yao, Z., Graybuck, L., Kim, T., Nguyen, T., Smith, K., Fong, O., Yi, L., Koulena, N., Pierson, N., Shah, A., Lo, L., Pool, A.H., Oka, Y., Pachter, L., Cai, L., Tasic, B., Zeng, H., Anderson, D., Multidimensional Analysis of Cell Types in a Hypothalamic Node Controlling Social Behavior. Cell 179, 713-728 (2019).
Augustine, V., Ebisu, H., Zhao, Y., Lee, S., Ho, B., Mizuno, G., Tian, L., Oka, Y., Temporally and Spatially Distinct Thirst Satiation Signals. Neuron 103, 242-249 (2019).
Lee, S., Augustine, V., Zhao, Y., Ebisu, H., Ho, B., Kong, D., Oka, Y., Chemosensory modulation of neural circuits for sodium appetite. Nature 568, 93-97 (2019).
Ichiki, T., Augustine, V., Oka, Y., Neural populations for maintaining body fluid balance. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 57, 134-140 (2019).
Augustine, V., Gokce, S.K., Oka, Y., Peripheral and central nutrient sensing underlying appetite regulation. Trends in Neurosciences 41, issue 8, 526-539 (2018).
Oka, Y., Opening a "Wide" Window onto Taste Signal Transmission. Neuron (preview) 98 (3), 456-458 (2018).
Augustine, V., #Gokce, S.K., #Lee, S., Wang, B., Davidson, T.J., Reimann, F., Gribble, F., Deisseroth, K., Lois, C., Oka, Y. Hierarchical neural architecture underlying thirst regulation. Nature 555, 204-209 (2018).
Zocchi, D., Wennemuth, G. & Oka, Y. The cellular mechanism for water detection in the mammalian taste system. Nature Neuroscience 20, 927-933 (2017).
Oka, Y*., Mingyu Ye, and Zuker, CS. Thirst Driving and Suppressing Signals Encoded by Distinct Neural Populations in the Brain. Nature 520, 349-352 (2015).
Oka, Y., Butnaru, M., von Buchholtz, L., Ryba, NJ., and Zuker, CS. High salt recruits aversive taste pathways. Nature 494, 472-475 (2013).
Chandrashekar, J., #Kuhn, C., #Oka, Y., Yarmolinsky, DA., Hummler, E., Ryba, NJ., and Zuker, CS. The cells and peripheral representation of sodium taste in mice. Nature 464, 297-301 (2010).
Chandrashekar, J., Yarmolinsky, D., von Buchholtz, L., Oka, Y., Sly, W., Ryba, NJ.,and Zuker, CS. The taste of carbonation. Science 326, 443-445 (2009).