Naoki Hiratani

Naoki Hiratani serves as Assistant Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. His research bridges theoretical neuroscience and artificial intelligence to decipher the brain's efficiency in learning and computation.

Education

• PhD, The University of Tokyo (2011-2016)
• BS, The University of Tokyo (2007-2011)

Research Focus: Dr. Hiratani pioneers Neuro-AI investigations into how micro/macro connectivity patterns and complex learning mechanisms enable the brain's superior energy efficiency and data-efficient learning compared to modern AI. His work employs advanced machine learning algorithms for neural data analysis, targeting brain-inspired AI development through theoretical modeling of sensory processing, olfactory systems, and neural circuit dynamics.

Publication Trends: His 2015-2023 publications reveal consistent focus on biologically plausible learning (node perturbation, STDP), neural circuit modeling (olfaction, reservoir computing), and Bayesian neural computation. Recent work emphasizes individual variability analysis and task-order optimization for continual learning.

Awards

• Swartz Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2020-2023)
• Japan Science Promotion Society Doctoral Fellowship (2014-2016)
• Top Reviewer, ICML 2025

Mentorship & Lab: Leading the Hiratani Laboratory (Neuro-AI Research Lab), he actively recruits graduate students and postdocs. Current rotation students Jeeyoung and Liangyu contribute to projects including zebrafish brain development (with Goodhill Lab) and International Brain Laboratory data analysis. The lab recently accepted work on task-order optimization for ICML 2025.