The 99th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society

Chair:Fumitaka Osakada(Nagoya University), Tatsuo Sato(Kagoshima University)

The cerebral cortex is responsible for higher-order functions, such as sensory perception, motor control, and cognition. Understanding how the cortex process and transforms information is essential for developing treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders. This symposium examines cortical function and dysfunction through the complementary roles of the occipital lobe -the entry point for visual signals and perceptual computations - and the frontal lobe, a hub for top-down control, working memory, and decision-making. Speakers will introduce the cortical function and dysfunction related to sensory encoding, cognition, and decision making, highlighting circuit mechanisms at multiple scales - from cell types and microcircuits to mesoscale dynamics and computational models - and consider how these mechanisms are altered in disease. The symposium aims to refine mechanistic understanding of cortical information processing, identify translatable targets for intervention, and outline future directions for therapeutic strategies and drug discovery.