Education
| April 2025 - Present | Ph.D. Student, Department of Systems Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University |
| March 2025 | M.S. in Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo |
| March 2023 | B.S. in Biophysics and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo |
| April 2018 - March 2019 | Department of Life Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology (withdrew) |
Research History
Theoretical Neuroscience Based on the Free Energy Principle
| April 2025 - Present | Junior Research Associate (JRA) and Trainee, Isomura Unit, RIKEN Center for Brain Science |
| April 2025 - Present | Ph.D. Program, Ishii Lab, Department of Systems Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University |
| April 2023 - March 2025 | Trainee and Part-time Researcher, Isomura Unit, RIKEN Center for Brain Science |
| May 2022 - March 2023 | Independent Collaborative Research, Isomura Unit, RIKEN Center for Brain Science |
Tracking Imaging of Freely Moving C. elegans
| April 2023 - March 2025 | Master's Program, Toyoshima Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo |
| May 2021 - March 2023 | Undergraduate Thesis Research, Iino Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo |
Behavioral Experiments on Intermanual Transfer in Mice
| October 2020 - March 2021 | Research Intern, Matsuzaki Lab, Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo |
Publications
- Synaptic pruning facilitates online Bayesian model selection
- WormTracer: A precise method for worm posture analysis using temporal continuity
- Dissection of behavioral components and the role of omega/delta turns for the chemotaxis of C. elegans
*U. T. Tazawa, T. Isomura Neural Networks, 195, 108311, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neunet.2025.108311
*K. Kuze, U. T. Tazawa, K. Suwazono, C. K. Chen, Y. Toyoshima, Y. Iino Journal of Neuroscience Methods 427, 110644, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2025.110644
*K. Suwazono, K. Kuze, U. T. Tazawa, M. S. Jang, H. Kunitomo, Y. Toyoshima, Y. Iino Genes to Cells, 30(4), 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/gtc.70026
Presentations
Oral Presentations
- The brain learns the network structure of the external world through synaptic pruning.
- Bayesian model selection method inspired by synaptic pruning
- Analysis of the neural circuitry that triggers aversive responses occurred by nociception in C. elegans
*U. T. Tazawa, T. Isomura Young Brain Scientists Association 30th Autumn Colloquium, Kanagawa, November, 2024
*U. T. Tazawa, T. Isomura NEURO2024, Fukuoka, July, 2024
*K. Kuze, U. T. Tazawa, Y. Toyoshima, S. Oe, T. Teramoto, K. Ishihara, Y. Iino NEURO2022, Okinawa, July, 2022
Poster Presentations
- Synaptic pruning facilitates statistical structure learning
- Synaptic pruning shapes Bayes-optimal network structure
- Synaptic pruning is equivalent to online Bayesian model selection
- A fast, robust and biologically plausible model reduction method
- Observation and analysis of the whole brain activity in free-moving C. elegans
- Analysis of neural activity underlying turning movement by tracking-imaging of freely moving C. elegans
*U. T. Tazawa, T. Isomura, RIKEN CBS Retreat 2024, Shizuoka, November, 2024
*U. T. Tazawa, T. Isomura, The 4th research area meeting of Transformative Research Area (A): unified theory of prediction and action, Kyoto, November, 2024
*U. T. Tazawa, T. Isomura, The 5th International Workshop on Active Inference, Oxford, September 2024
*U. T. Tazawa, T. Isomura, The 2nd research area meeting of Transformative Research Area (A): unified theory of prediction and action, Okinawa, November, 2023
*Y. Toyoshima, K. Kuze, U. T. Tazawa, D. Nagata, M. Kanamori, H. Sato, K. Ishihara, Y. Iino, The 45th Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan, Chiba, November, 2022
*U. T. Tazawa, K. Kuze, A. Matsumoto, Y. Toyoshima, S. Oe, T. Teramoto, K. Ishihara, Y. Iino, NEURO2022, Okinawa, July, 2022
Awards
- Excellence Award, NEURO2024 Training Session for Early-Career Scientists, July 2024
- Bronze Award, Chemistry Grand Prix 2017 (National Competition for High School Students, Japan), September, 2017
Invited Talks
- How does a theory of the brain describe the process of inference?
*Ukyo T. Tazawa The jurisprudence, description, and norms of judicial reasoning, Kyoto, November, 2025
- Synaptic pruning is equivalent to Bayesian model selection
*Ukyo T. Tazawa, T. Isomura The 13th Brain's Holism Seminar, Tokyo, June, 2024
Other Outputs
- An 11-min video explaining the key points of Tazawa and Isomura, Neural Networks, 2026
- Co-organized the 1st Mathematical Brainscience Young Researchers’ Workshop at the University of Tokyo (held in Japanese).
- Free Energy Principle Tutorial (in Japanese)