{"id":4750,"date":"2018-01-19T19:09:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T00:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/directory\/toshihide-hige-phd\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T13:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:49:15","slug":"toshihide-hige-phd","status":"publish","type":"directory","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/directory\/toshihide-hige-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Toshihide Hige, PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Associate Professor<br \/>\nUNC-Chapel Hill<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Education and Training<\/h3>\n<p>Kyoto University, BS<br \/>\nKyoto University, PhD<br \/>\nCold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Postdoc<br \/>\nJanelia Research Campus (HHMI), Research Scientist<\/p>\n<h3>Areas of Interest<\/h3>\n<p>Animals show different behavioral responses to the same sensory input depending on their past experience or current context. How does the brain enable such flexibility? Our goal is to understand the mechanisms of this process at the levels of synaptic plasticity, neural circuit and behavior. Our lab uses the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model organism. We employ multiple physiological techniques including in vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recording, two-photon calcium imaging and behavior assays. Previously, we demonstrated the long-term synaptic plasticity that underlies associative olfactory learning in this system. We ask how these synaptic changes are integrated and ultimately alter the animal\u2019s action selection. We also address molecular basis of synaptic plasticity by using genetic tools.<\/p>\n<h3>Awards and Honors<\/h3>\n<p>2005-2008 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellowships for Young Scientists<br \/>\n2008-2010 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research Abroad<br \/>\n2010-2011 The Uehara Memorial Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship<br \/>\n2016 Young Investigator Award, International Symposium of Olfaction and Taste<br \/>\n2017 Young Investigator Award, Japan Neuroscience Society<br \/>\n2017 The Researchers with Nice Step Award, National Institute of Science and Technology Policy of Japan<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external-link\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/myncbi\/toshihide.hige.1\/bibliography\/54060700\/public\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-inline alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/734\/2018\/07\/ncbi.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"164\" height=\"82\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Affiliations<\/h3>\n<p><a class=\"external-link\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/bio.unc.edu\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Biology<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external-link\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/ibgs.web.unc.edu\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Associate Professor UNC-Chapel Hill Education and Training Kyoto University, BS Kyoto University, PhD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Postdoc Janelia Research Campus (HHMI), Research Scientist Areas of Interest Animals show different behavioral responses to the same sensory input depending on their past experience or current context. How does the brain enable such flexibility? Our goal is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/directory\/toshihide-hige-phd\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Toshihide Hige, PhD\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4751,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-4750","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Toshihide Hige, PhD - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cellbiophysio\/directory\/toshihide-hige-phd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toshihide Hige, PhD - Department of Cell Biology and Physiology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Associate Professor UNC-Chapel Hill Education and Training Kyoto University, BS Kyoto University, PhD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Postdoc Janelia Research Campus (HHMI), Research Scientist Areas of Interest Animals show different behavioral responses to the same sensory input depending on their past experience or current context. How does the brain enable such flexibility? 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