General description of the department

The Department of Neurology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering University of Yamanashi, has three missions, i.e., medical services to patients with neurological diseases, education for medical students and residents, and research in various neurological diseases. Our principal interest is in the clinical and molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases including inherited spinocerebellar ataxia, spastic paraplegia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson-related diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease. We believe that, in order to overcome these seemingly unconquerable diseases, there must be free exchange of all available information and global collaboration. Our goal is to provide patients with cures for these neurodegenerative diseases.

Research Themes

1. Clinical Neurology and Molecular Genetics
   1. Clinical studies of hereditary spinocerebellar degeneration, hereditary spastic paraplegia, neuroferritinopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and familial amyloid neuropathy.
   2. Elucidation of molecular mechanism underlying polyglutamine diseases including autosomal dominant spinocerebellar degeneration.
   3. Elucidation of molecular mechanism underlying hereditary spastic paraplegia.
2. Neurophysiology
   1. Analyses of autonomic nerve function using a microneurography in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease, spinocerebellar degeneration, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
   2. Studies of the general effect on neurological function from bathing in an artificially carbonated spring, including effects on pathologic states.
   3. Characterization of sleep disorders in neurological diseases, in relation to respiration and involuntary movements.
3. Neuropathology
   1. Characterization of cerebrovascular pericytes in rats.
   2. Neuropathological investigation of biopsy specimens of muscle and nerve.
   3. Nuropathological investigation of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.