Toshiyuki Nakagaki (born 1963) is a Japanese professor, biologist, ethologist at the Research Institute of Electronic Science (RIES).
[1] He is famous for leading experiments relating to slime mold, specifically its ability to solve mazes as a lifeform without a brain.
[6][7] This experiment not only had effects in biology, figuring out a way in which a brainless organism seems to make decisions, but it affects philosophy by changing the understanding of intelligence.
[14] In 2008, Toshiyuki Nakagaki received the Ig Nobel Prize in Cognitive Science along with Hiroyasu Yamada, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero, Akio Ishiguro, and Ágota Tóth.
[15] In 2010, Toshiyuki Nakagaki received the Ig Nobel Prize again; this time in Transportation Planning with Atsushi Tero, Seiji Takagi, Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Kenji Yumiki, Ryo Kobayashi, Dan Bebber, and Mark Fricker.