معرفی
Yutaka Kosaki is Professor of Psychology at Waseda University’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, where he has taught since 2017 and served as full Professor from 2022. After obtaining his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Cambridge (2008), he held research positions at Durham, Cardiff, Keio and Waseda universities, building an international profile in learning psychology, behavioural neuroscience and pharmacology.
Education
- Ph.D. Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, 2008
Research Interests
Kosaki’s work integrates associative learning theory with behavioural neuroscience to clarify how animals and humans acquire, extinguish and re-instate goal-directed versus habitual actions. His recent projects examine (i) reinforcement-schedule determinants of habit formation, (ii) context and renewal effects in extinction, (iii) spatial learning and higher-order conditioning without a cognitive map, and (iv) aberrant associative processes in mouse models of autism and schizophrenia, including ketamine-induced disruptions of stimulus selection.
Publication Trends
Across 29 Scopus-listed papers (h-index 11, 413 citations) his articles consistently combine rigorous behavioural assays (operant schedules, place/response mazes, US devaluation, conditioned reinforcement) with neuropharmacological manipulations (ketamine, methamphetamine, oxytocin) and lesion or optogenetic approaches. Dominant themes are the neural and computational mechanisms governing the transition from flexible, outcome-sensitive actions to inflexible, stimulus-bound habits, and how these processes malfunction in neuropsychiatric conditions.
Scientific Awards
- Waseda Research Award (International Research Dissemination), 2018
- Indo-Taro Prize, 2018
- Japanese Association of Basic Psychology Excellent Paper Award, 2016
- Nakajima Memorial International Exchange Scholarship, 2004
Grants & Editorial Service
He currently leads JSPS KAKENHI and alcohol-science-foundation projects on habit formation and addiction, and serves as Editor of the Japanese Journal of Animal Psychology after six years as editorial assistant. He is a member of the Japan Neuroscience Society, Japanese Society for Animal Psychology and Society for Neuroscience.
Laboratory & Teaching
At Waseda he supervises undergraduate and graduate theses and teaches core courses including Psychology of Learning, Introduction to Psychology and Experimental Practicals. His lab accepts domestic and international graduate students and JSPS post-doctoral fellows interested in associative learning, spatial cognition and the neurobiology of mental disorders.
