Gouki Okazawa

Gouki Okazawa 岡澤 剛起

Lab Head, Laboratory of Perception and Decision Making
Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology
(Institute of Neuroscience), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai

I am a systems neuroscientist studying the computational mechanisms of cognitive functions in primates. My lab combines population neural recordings in macaque monkeys, computational modeling, and perturbation methods to understand the fundamental cognitive algorithms of the brain.

okazawa@ion.ac.cn  ·  Google Scholar  ·  ION Lab Page  ·  X

Research Overview

Our lab aims to develop interpretable models of fundamental cognitive functions in primates — models that can explain the basic computational elements needed for real-world behavior. We study how the brain recognizes objects, makes decisions, and adapts its behavior to context, using a combination of neural population recordings in macaques, computational modeling, and perturbation methods. We approach cortical computation using the language of population geometry and dynamical systems.

See the Research page for details on our current directions.

Recent Highlights

The 'neat' and 'messy' in task-dependent neural geometry and computation
Xue C, Okazawa G — Trends in Neurosciences (2026, in press)
A framework distinguishing structured ("neat") and high-dimensional ("messy") neural geometry, and how task demands determine which regime a circuit operates in.
PDF
Inferotemporal cortex encodes formation and termination of perceptual decisions
Okazawa G, Kiani R (2025) — bioRxiv
How does the visual cortex contribute to decision making? We recorded from IT cortex during a face categorization task and found signals reflecting ongoing decision formation and termination.
Preprint
Limitation of switching sensory information flow in flexible perceptual decision making
Luo T, Xu M, Zheng Z, Okazawa G (2025) — Nature Communications
We identified a brief reduction in sensory processing efficiency immediately after switching a task rule, pinpointing a computational bottleneck in flexible decision circuits.
Paper