Animals have acquired a variety of strategic behaviors through the process of evolution. If we can identify the mechanisms governing these behaviors, we can apply this knowledge to robots and other engineering fields. Our research focuses particularly on animal behaviors that are guided by visual information, such as avoiding collision with a dangerous object and orienting of the body in relation to prey. Our laboratory is very unusual in that we conduct research on behavior in conjunction with research on the nervous system in the same model animal. To do this, we use frogs, in which visually guided behavior and the nervous system can easily be studied simultaneously. The extraction of algorithms for behavioral expression will provide new ideas for the development of control devices for robots, vehicles, etc. Students learn how to conduct animal behavioral experiments and undertake statistical analysis of the data obtained. They begin by studying the experimental apparatus used to record movement and then learn how to carry out statistical analysis using existing data. Next they use frogs to conduct actual experiments and analyze the data. It is very important for students who wish to develop brain-like information processing systems to get hands-on experience in handling real animals and observing their behavior. Through our program, we hope to provide students with the opportunity to theoretically process data from animal experiments, which include many uncertain elements such as individual variation, and to carefully interpret the adaptive meaning of the results they obtain. To Page Top