Research Scientist

Dr. Toshiya Miyatsu joined IHMC as a Research Scientist in January 2020. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis and his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Miyatsu’s research integrates cognitive neuroscience, multimodal sensing, neuromodulation, and machine-learning methods to understand and enhance human performance, learning, health, and assessment. His work centers on developing technology-enabled approaches that improve cognitive readiness, accelerate learning, and support human resilience in demanding operational environments.

He has served as a PI, co-PI, or scientific lead on a broad portfolio of Department of Defense–funded research. His contributions to U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) include the Virtual Integrated Social Task (VISTa) project and Strategies to Augment Ketosis (STAK), both aimed at assessing and supporting cognitive performance under stress and mild traumatic brain injury. Within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), he played key roles in the Learning through Electrical Augmentation of Plasticity (LEAP) project, leading experiments on noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) for enhancing foreign-language acquisition, and the Peerless Operator Biological Aptitude (PEERLESS) project, where he helped develop next-generation assessments for elite operator selection through cognitive testing, speech and language analytics, and multi-modal resting-state electrophysiological assessment. He is currently a co-PI on the Multimodal Optimization and Restoration Platform for Homeostatic Enhancement Under Sleep-restriction (MORPHEUS), a DARPA initiative investigating whether a combination of nVNS, binaural beats, and photomodulation can improve sleep efficiency under severe sleep restriction. His work with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) includes the Assessing and Augmenting Performance in Extreme Environments (A2PEX) program and Cognitive Abilities and Performance Tracked via Unified Resting-state Evaluation (CAPTURE) focused on optimizing cognitive performance using multimodal sensing and advanced analytics.

Across these efforts, Dr. Miyatsu brings together behavioral and neuromodulatory interventions with multimodal neurobiological (EEG, ECG, EOG, PPG), physiological (CGM, CKM), and physical (IMU, GPS) sensors, applying advanced statistical modeling and machine-learning techniques to uncover mechanistic insights and develop field-ready solutions for performance and health optimization.

Before joining IHMC, Dr. Miyatsu served as a graduate research associate at Washington University in St. Louis and as a laboratory manager and research technician at UCLA. He conducted cognitive psychological research funded by the National Science Foundation, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, and other agencies, leading projects on retrieval-induced forgetting, category learning, multimedia learning, study strategies, and mnemonics. His work has appeared in leading journals such as Psychological Bulletin, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, and Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Toshi moved to the United States in 2006 and became a U.S. citizen in 2018. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and eight-time mixed martial arts competitor, he continues to train across multiple martial arts disciplines and maintains a generalist movement practice. He enjoys life in Pensacola, FL, with his wife Rose, their son Jimmy, and their pet tortoise Chekhov.