Brain-Science and Society ( -FY2009)

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

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 KAWASHIMA Ryuta (Professor, New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, Tohoku University)	2002.1-2004.12
Study of human communication functions development process SADATO Norihiro (Professor, Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of Cerebral Research, Institute of Physiology, National Institutes Physiological Sciences)	2002.1-2004.12
Study of the critical age of child care and education from the viewpoint of neural circuit development SEGAWA Masaya (Director, Segawa Neurological Clinic for Children)	2002.1-2004.12
Brain imaging research related to establishment and evaluation of intelligent learning NIKI Kazuhisa (Senior Researcher, Cranial Nerve Information Research Group, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST))	2002.11-2005.10
Elucidation and application of the molecular basis of postnatal development of learning mechanisms MANABE Toshiya (Professor, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo)	2002.11-2005.10
Foundations of learning, memory, cognition and motivation and school non-attendance MIIKE Teruhisa (Professor, School of Medicine, Kumamoto University)	2002.11-2005.10
Effects of environmental stimuli such as media on the development of frontal lobe functions^* SAWAGUCHI Toshiyuki (Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Hokkaido University)	2003.10-2006.3
Elucidation of brain mechanisms of learning difficulties and development and evaluation of educational support programs MASATAKA Nobuo (Professor, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University)	2003.10-2006.9
Study on the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in developmental disorders MOMOI Mariko (Professor, School of Medicine, Jichi Medical University)	2003.10-2006.9
Mechanisms of face recognition: elucidation of its functional development and learning effects KAKIKI Ryusuke (Professor, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences)	2004.12-2007.11
Elucidation of spoken language perception mechanisms and applications to English education KOYAMA Sachiko (Assistant Professor, Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University)	2004.12-2007.11
Non-invasive analysis of non-verbal communication between mother and child SHINOHARA Kazuyuki (Professor, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences,Nagasaki University)	2004.12-2007.11

Type II

Infant and infant growth longitudinal study using the twin method ANDO Toshiyasu (Professor, Faculty of Letters, Keio University)	2004.12-2009.11
Elucidation of social development mechanisms: A cohort study of the autism spectrum and typical development KAMIO Yoko (Director, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Insituite of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry)	2004.12-2009.11
Cohort study to improve brain functions of the elderly and learning disabilities KAWASHIMA Ryuta (Professor, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University)	2004.12-2009.11
Integrated study of language development, brain growth and language education HAGIWARA Yuko (Professor, Graduate School of Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University)	2004.12-2009.11
Development of biomental technology for education support ROKUTAN Kazuhito (Professor, Graduate School of Health Biosciences, Tokushima University)	2004.12-2009.11
Cohort study of brain mechanisms of motivation and learning efficiency using non-invasive brain function measurements WATANABE Yasuyoshi (Director, RIKEN Center for Molecular Imaging Science; Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University)	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 KOIZUMI Hideaki [until 2006.9] (Fellow with director status, Hitachi, Ltd. (until Sept.2006)) YAMAGATA Zentaro [from 2006.10] (Professor, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicin and Engineering, Yamanashi University)	2004-2008

Research Group

Osaka Research Group TOWA Kiyotaka (Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University)	2004-2008
Mie Research Group YAMAMOTO Hatsumi (Director, Clinical Research Department, Mie Chuo Medical Center)	2004-2008
Tottori Research Group KOEDA Tatsuya (Professor, Faculty of Regional Sciences, Tottori University)	2004-2008
Neurobehavior Observation Group SAKAKIBARA Youichi (Professor, Research Center for Child and Adolescent Development and Education, Ochanomizu University)	2004-2008
Developmental Psychology Group KAWAI Masatoshi (Professor, Mukogawa Women's University Institute for Education)	2004-2008
Cognitive Testing Group ITAKURA Shoji (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)	2004-2008
Neuro-imaging Group SADATO Norihiro (Professor, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences)	2004-2008
Indicator Development Group ANME Tokie (Professor, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba)	2004-2008
Sleep Team MATSUISHI Toyojiro (Professor, School of Medicine, Kurume University)	2004-2008
Behavior Measurement Group KAWAGUCHI Hideo (Senior Researcher, Basic Research Laboratory, Hitachi,Ltd.)	2004-2008
Information Statistics Group MAEDA Tadahiko (Associate Professor, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Inter-University Research Institute Corporation Research Organization of Information and Systems(ROIS))	2004-2008
Neuroethics Research Group SAKURA Osamu (Professor, III Faculty, The University of Tokyo)	2004-2008