KODAIRA, Tokyo, JAPAN, 6 January 2026 — In a groundbreaking interview published today in Genomic Psychiatry, Dr. Noritaka Ichinohe challenges a long-standing assumption in psychiatric research: the idea that valuable insights require the elimination of individual differences. With over thirty years of experience in translational neuroscience, Dr. Ichinohe argues that biological heterogeneity is not statistical noise to be discarded but rather a critical phenomenon that warrants explanation.
Dr. Ichinohe, who serves as the Director of the Department of Ultrastructural Research at the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry in Japan and as a Visiting Principal Researcher at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, has a unique perspective. His dual roles allow him to bridge clinical translation and fundamental discovery, influencing how researchers worldwide approach the relationship between animal models and human psychiatric conditions.
From Quantum Physics to Neural Circuits
Dr. Ichinohe’s journey into neuroscience was inspired by early encounters with relativity and quantum mechanics. These complex subjects, introduced through popular science books, sparked his interest in how seemingly counterintuitive phenomena could be understood through rigorous frameworks. His father, a Japanese-language teacher, introduced him to literature, which offered alternative views of human nature that resisted simple explanations.
“What ultimately stayed with me was the possibility that explanation and human complexity need not be opposed,” Dr. Ichinohe reflects. He found inspiration in the cybernetic theories of Norbert Wiener, which propose that systems can maintain rigor without rigidity. This balance between structure and openness became the cornerstone of his scientific approach.
His medical education led him to explore the mind-body relationship, but the complexity of human psychology felt overwhelming when approached directly. Early experiments with neural network models revealed a world that was both plastic and intelligible, underscoring the limited understanding of network structures before discussing learning rules or behavior.
The Primate Imperative
Dr. Ichinohe’s graduate training in neuroanatomy took him through various brain structures, but work with cats and rodents highlighted the gap between these models and human cognition. This drove him to join Dr. Kathleen Rockland’s laboratory at RIKEN, a leading authority on primate cortical circuitry.
At the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Dr. Ichinohe discovered the “honeycomb-like mosaic” at the cortical layer 1-2 border, establishing new paradigms for understanding micromodular organization. This discovery exemplifies the transformative scientific discourse found in the Genomic Press portfolio of open-access journals.
The transition to the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry marked a shift toward clinical translation. Dr. Ichinohe explored whether the structural grammar of primate brains could illuminate human psychiatric conditions, particularly autism spectrum disorder, where heterogeneity among individuals is not only observable but self-reported.
Transcriptomes as Dynamic Hinges
The breakthrough came from an unexpected convergence. Brain transcriptome analysis of marmosets exposed to valproate showed striking similarities to a subset of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Ichinohe realized that the transcriptome is not a passive readout but a dynamic hinge linking cause and expression, mechanism and manifestation.
“This realization was deeply striking,” he explains. “It revealed the transcriptome not as a passive readout, but as a dynamic hinge, linking cause and expression, mechanism and manifestation.”
The implications extend beyond a single model system. If primate transcriptomes can identify convergence points with specific human molecular subtypes, then animal research can become a catalyst for testing proposed subtype boundaries across species. This framework could reshape drug development pipelines currently designed around averaged patient populations, potentially enabling biomarker-guided treatment selection within the next decade.
Oncology as Precedent
Dr. Ichinohe draws parallels with cancer research, which advanced by structuring tumor heterogeneity: identifying meaningful subtypes, linking them to biomarkers, and developing subtype-aware therapeutic strategies. Psychiatry, he argues, requires similar conceptual machinery.
“The question is where the meaningful partition points lie,” he observes, “especially at the level of socio-behavioral biology where clinical relevance truly lives.”
His work through the Brain/MINDS initiative has been instrumental in constructing the marmoset brain connectome. His team developed an AI-powered pipeline for mapping primate neural circuits with unprecedented precision. In parallel, Dr. Ichinohe has been involved in the International Consortium for Primate Brain Mapping (ICPBM), contributing to efforts to integrate primate connectomics with mesoscopic brain architecture.
The Human Element
Beyond his scientific endeavors, Dr. Ichinohe finds renewal in music, playing guitar privately for personal sustenance. His intellectual heroes range from Zen masters to physicists and novelists, all sharing a stance toward the limits of language, reason, and society without seeking comfort in simplification.
When asked about his life philosophy, Dr. Ichinohe offers a reappropriated aphorism: “Keep dancing, as long as the music plays.” Originally a comment on financial markets, he transforms it into an expression of sustained intellectual curiosity and engagement with scientific problems.
Dr. Ichinohe’s interview is part of the Innovators & Ideas series by Genomic Press, highlighting influential scientific breakthroughs and the people behind them. This series blends cutting-edge research with personal reflections, offering a comprehensive view of the scientists shaping the future.
The full interview is available in Genomic Psychiatry and can be accessed via Open Access starting on 6 January 2026. More information about the series and featured scientists can be found on the Genomic Press website.
