This Program was established in 2001 to contribute to the cultivation of better learning methods, education systems and social infrastructures through integrated research of brain-science and various other academic fields as well as practical hand-on knowledge and to examine the development process in children's sociability, to propose a hypothesis for the development patterns present therein, and to identify determinant factors in social and physical environments through cohort studies.(Activities ended in March 2010)
Program Supervisor
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KOIZUMI Hideaki
Fellow, Hitachi, Ltd.(as of the completion of the R&D Focus Area)
Social problems to be solved:
- Lack of methods to assess changes in sociability(*1) and its precursors(*2) among children and adults in relation to the development of brain
- Lack of data and an understanding of children's physical, psychological and linguistic development and the relationships with various environmental factors(*3)
An examination of the entire learning process from the prenatal period to the end of life through cohort studies(*4) is needed.
(*1) An ability to understand and interact well with others, including social skills
(*2) Elements in social change that effect sociability in human development
(*3) I.e., the development of an advanced information society and a declining birthrate
(*4) A form of study which tracks the same people over a long period of time, used in medicine and social science to look into the relationship between a group of people (i.e., in a defined area or with a common identity) and various elements of their lives (i.e., health, customary behaviors and environments)
Goals
- To contribute to the cultivation of better learning methods, education systems and social infrastructures through integrated research of brain-science and various other academic fields as well as practical hand-on knowledge(*5)
- To examine the development process in children's sociability, to propose a hypothesis for the development patterns present therein, and to identify determinant factors in social and physical environments through cohort studies
(*5) Social and natural sciences (i.e., developmental psychology and linguistics) and clinical practice and field experience
R&D Program: Brain-Science and Education (FY2001-2009)
To fund and support R&D projects that are designed to pursue Goal[1] through an examination of the learning processes by which the brain adapts to stimuli in the environment and builds its own information processing neural networks
Type I
R&D in development of prefrontal cortex functions development and improvement systems |
2002.1-2004.12 |
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Study of human communication functions development process |
2002.1-2004.12 |
Study of the critical age of child care and education from the viewpoint of neural circuit development |
2002.1-2004.12 |
Brain imaging research related to establishment and evaluation of intelligent learning |
2002.11-2005.10 |
Elucidation and application of the molecular basis of postnatal development of learning mechanisms |
2002.11-2005.10 |
Foundations of learning, memory, cognition and motivation and school non-attendance |
2002.11-2005.10 |
Effects of environmental stimuli such as media on the development of frontal lobe functions* |
2003.10-2006.3 |
Elucidation of brain mechanisms of learning difficulties and development and evaluation of educational support programs |
2003.10-2006.9 |
Study on the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in developmental disorders |
2003.10-2006.9 |
Mechanisms of face recognition: elucidation of its functional development and learning effects |
2004.12-2007.11 |
Elucidation of spoken language perception mechanisms and applications to English education |
2004.12-2007.11 |
Non-invasive analysis of non-verbal communication between mother and child |
2004.12-2007.11 |
Type II
Infant and infant growth longitudinal study using the twin method |
2004.12-2009.11 |
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Elucidation of social development mechanisms: A cohort study of the autism spectrum and typical development |
2004.12-2009.11 |
Cohort study to improve brain functions of the elderly and learning disabilities |
2004.12-2009.11 |
Integrated study of language development, brain growth and language education |
2004.12-2009.11 |
Development of biomental technology for education support |
2004.12-2009.11 |
Cohort study of brain mechanisms of motivation and learning efficiency using non-invasive brain function measurements |
2004.12-2009.11 |
*Mid-project termination due to an inability to continue the research set-up Type I : Proposals of options to solve social problems.
Type II : Research until validation into specific technologies and methods that contribute to solving social problems.
R&D Project: Identification of Factors Affecting Cognitive and Behavioral Development of Children(*6) in Japan Based on a Cohort Study; Japan Children's Study (FY2004-2008)
- To conduct research in pursuit of Goal 2 through cooperation and collaboration among a number of teams with full-time and part-time researchers within and outside of RISTEX under the leadership and management of the Project Director
- Principal Investigator:
- YAMAGATA Zentaro
- Professor, Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi
* Research methods used in this R&D area are based on behavioral observations and are non-invasive to the brain functions of subjects
(*6) In this project, children of ages 0 to 3 and 5 to 8 were chosen as subjects
Elucidation of factors affecting children's cognitive and behavioral development in Japan |
2004-2008 |
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Research Group
Osaka Research Group |
2004-2008 |
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Mie Research Group |
2004-2008 |
Tottori Research Group |
2004-2008 |
Neurobehavior Observation Group |
2004-2008 |
Developmental Psychology Group |
2004-2008 |
Cognitive Testing Group |
2004-2008 |
Neuro-imaging Group |
2004-2008 |
Indicator Development Group |
2004-2008 |
Sleep Team |
2004-2008 |
Behavior Measurement Group |
2004-2008 |
Information Statistics Group |
2004-2008 |
Neuroethics Research Group |
2004-2008 |