The Department of Cognitive Neuroscience is one of the three
departments composing the Speech and Cognitive Science Section.
Since the establishment of this department in 1991, we have been
working in the field of brain and cognition, especially language. Current researches include:Research Activities
1. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during writing.
Recently, functional magnetic imaging(fMRI) techniques,
sensitive to hemodynamic changes, have been shown to be quite useful
for mapping of regional brain activation due to cognitive process.
In this study fMRI was employed to determine which parts of the
brain are activated during the performance of using Japanese
phonograms or ideograms.
There are two methods by which one can write: one is
based on knowledge of how to convert speech sound (phoneme) to the
corresponding letters (graphemes); the other is based on memory of
specific letter-sequences (lexical). An ongoing study focussed on
the former method. In English, phoneme-to-grapheme conversion is
complex since most of phonemes are represented with two or more
graphemes. For example, the phoneme /f/ is represented by the
graphemes f, ph
and gh. In Japanese, on
the other hand, this conversion process is particularly simple and
easy , since one phoneme is represented by only one grapheme (kana).
In other word, phoneme-to-grapheme conversion in Japanese is
one-to-one. The simplicity of phoneme-to-grapheme conversion in
Japanese may explain the relative rarity of developmental
dyslexia-dysgraphia in Japanese children. This study aimed to
clarify using functional MRI the loci of brain activation related to
writing by one-to-one phoneme-to-grapheme conversion. It also may
enlighten the brain mechanism of writing in which occurrence of
developmental dyslexia-dysgraphia is rare.2. fMRI during recognition of newly learned face
Face recognition is critical to the appreciation of our
social and physical relations. Functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI) was used to identify brain regions involved in the
recognition of newly learned faces. Our findings demonstrated that
the bilateral fusiform gyrus is involved not only in face perception
but in a certain aspect of face recognition memory and that this
aspect is related to the actual recognition of previously viewed
faces rather than the processing of novel ones, which results are
consistent with previous lesion work. The right parietal and frontal
regions, in contrast, are differentially more associated with the
processes related to the detection of novel faces or retrieval
effort.
3. A functional MRI study on speech dominance in a split-brain
patient
A large number of observations since the mid-nineteenth
century have shown that damage to the left but not right hemisphere
destroys language function. These observations lead to the formation
of the "classic" view of a dominant language left
hemisphere and a subordinate non-language right hemisphere. It thus
came as a considerable surprise in the early 1960's when tests on
commissurotomy or split-brain patients suggested the presence of a
considerable capacity for language in the right hemisphere (Sperry
1981).
Some investigators have argued, however, that the
commissurotomy evidence may be misleading because the language of
split-brain patients is atypical and is presented in both
hemispheres even pre-operatively (Selnes 1976, Whitaker &
Ojemann 1977). The present study aimed to clarify the problem using
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine
pre-operatively an intractable epileptic who was scheduled to
undergo section of the corpus callosum to reduce his epilepsy, and
showed considerable reading comprehension 8 months post-operatively
and so-called right hemisphere speech two years post-operatively.4. Magnetoencephalographic studies of language
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is one of the recent
noninvasive techniques for investigating human neuronal activities.
MEG measures magnetic fields outside the skull, which is produced by
electric current flow in the neural activities. MEG is especially
good at tracing for sources in the cerebral cortex with millisecond
range temporal resolution. The University of Tokyo Hospital has
introduced a bland-new whole-head MEG system, VectorviewTM
systems (Neuromag, LTD., Helsinki, Finland) in March 2000. With the
systems, our laboratory is devoted to investigate such higher brain
functions as image or language processing. As language studies, we
have lately examined the reading process of Japanese phonograms. An
ongoing study is concerning visual processing of printed words.
5. A magnetoencephalographic study of motor imagery
Motor imagery is commonly used by sportsmen to improve
their performance, since it aids motor skill acquisition. One of our
recent MEG studies is regarding motor imagery. Subjects were
instructed to imagine themselves hurdling self-centered space. In
three of six subjects all 300 trials in the motor imagery condition
revealed the precuneus dipole. When we divided the 300 trials into
four overlapping blocks (one block = 150 trials), all six subjects
showed precuneus activity. The latency of the precuneus dipole was
about 220ms. The result suggests that the precuneus activity during
motor imagery involves retrieval of spatial information and/or
setting up spatial attributes. Only in one subject but twice, the
current dipole located in the supplementary motor area was observed
60 ms after activation of the precuneus, which subjects that the
signal from the precuneus for motor imagery is transferred to the
supplementary motor area .
6. Aphasia therapy.
The most important point in studying the effect of a
treatment for aphasia is to verify that the observed improvement of
performance is not due to spontaneous recovery but to the specific
effect of the treatment. Thus, special experimental designs are
necessary to confirm that the improvement of a patient's performance
after treatment is significantly more than the spontaneous recovery.
The present study employed a kind of single-case design called "a
material-control single-case study" (Sugishita et al. 1993.
Neuropsychol. 31, 559). We are studying whether or not initial
syllable cueing is effective to improve naming performance in
aphasics. Initial sound cueing is a technique in which the therapist
gives the initial syllable of the word which the aphasic can not
recall.
Teaching Activities
There are 5 graduate students, one under graduate
student and three visiting researchers. They have various
back-ground including neurology, psychology, life science and so on.
Clinical Activities
Assessment and therapy for aphasia, amnesia and dementia
are conducted in collaboration with the Department of Neurology,
Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Otorhinolaryngology.
References(1998-1999)
1) Nishiyama K, Sugishita M, Kurisaki H, Sakuta M:
Reversible memory disturbance and intelligence impairment induced by
long-term anticholinergic therapy, Internal Medicine 37: 514-518,
1998.
2) Kobayashi M, Takayama H, Mihara B, Sugishita M:
Partial seizure with aphasic speech arrest caused by watching a
popular animated TV program, Epilepsia 40: 652-654, 1999.
3) Tanaka S, Kanzaki R, Yoshibayashi M, Kamiya T,
Sugishita M: Dichotic listening in Patients with situs inversus:
brain asymmetry and situs asymmetry, Neuropsychologia 37: 869-874,
1999.