The Department of Physiology is part of the School of Medicine at Dokkyo Medical University (DMU). The department started as Physiology (II) in 1973, and it has overseen education and research in the field of neurophysiology. The department has been led by Dr. Kenji Kansaku since 2018. The department started to oversee education in all field of medical physiology since 2020.
          Dr. Kansaku started his career as a neurosurgeon, and throughout his neurosurgical residency, he observed that impaired brain function caused critical problems. Therefore, he decided that physicians should understand human brain function scientifically to overcome these problems. Since 1997, he has conducted neurophysiology/systems neuroscience research at four government institutes: three in Japan (AIST, NIPS/NINS, NRCD) and one in the US (NINDS/NIH). This research has involved close collaborations between neurophysiologists/systems neuroscientists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychologists, information scientists, and engineers. In 2018, he joined DMU as a professor and became chair of the department.
          The main goal of the Department of Physiology is to overcome problems caused by impaired brain function. To this end, our department pursues neurophysiology/systems neuroscience research to understand brain function and also to apply scientific knowledge to medical practice. We focus on the representation of abstract concepts such as “time, space, and number” or “body image and sense of self”, as well as practical neuroprosthetics. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches are taken in the department.

Research and Review Articles (selected)

・Okahara, Y., Takano, K., Odaka, K, Uchino, Y,, Kansaku, K. Detecting passive and active neural response in patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome. Neuroscience Research, 196:23–31, 2023. 
・Nomoto K, Kansaku K. Chronic corticosterone deteriorates latrine and nesting behaviours in mice. Royal Society Open Science, 10(2): 220718, 2023. 
・Soomro, A., Khajehei, M., Li, R., O’Neil, K., Zhang, D., Gao, B., MacDonald, M., Kakoki, M., Krepinsky, J.C. A therapeutic target for CKD: activin A facilitates TGFβ1 profibrotic signaling. Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters, 28(1): 10, 2023. 
・Wada, M., Takano, K., Ide, M., Sano, Y., Shinoda, Y., Furuichi, T., Kansaku, K. Task-related c-Fos expression in the posterior parietal cortex during the “rubber tail task” is diminished in Ca²⁺-dependent activator protein for secretion 2 (Caps2)-knockout mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15:680206, 2021. 
・Kansaku, K. Neuroprosthetics in systems neuroscience and medicine. Scientific Reports, 11:5404, 2021. (editorial)
・Ito, H., Fujiki, S., Mori, Y., Kansaku, K. Self-reorganization of neuronal activation patterns in the cortex under brain-machine interface and neural operant conditioning. Neuroscience Research, 156: 279-292, 2020.  (review)
・Koganemaru, S., Kitatani, R., Fukushima-Maeda, A., Mikami, Y., Okita, Y., Matsuhashi, M., Ohata, K., Kansaku, K., Mima, T. Gait-synchronized rhythmic brain stimulation improves post-stroke gait disturbance: a pilot study. Stroke, 50(11):3205-3212, 2019.
・Okahara Y, Takano K, Nagao M, Kondo K, Iwadate Y, Birbaumer N, Kansaku K. Long-term use of a neural prosthesis in progressive paralysis. Scientific Reports, 8:16787, 2018.
・Sato Y, Kawase T, Takano K, Spence C, Kansaku K. Body ownership and agency altered by an electromyographically-controlled robotic arm. Royal Society Open Science, 2018 5(5): 172170.
・Takemura Y, Kobayashi S, Kato E, Yamaguchi S, Hori Y. Peripheral nerve injury-induced rearrangement of neural circuit in the spinal dorsal horn revealed by cross-correlation analysis. Neuroscience Letter. 662:259-263, 2018.
・Kawase T, Sakurada T, Koike Y, Kansaku K. A hybrid BMI-based exoskeleton for paresis: EMG control for assisting arm movements. Journal of Neural Engineering, 14(1):016015, 2017.
・Wada M, Takano K, Ora H, Ide M, Kansaku K. The rubber tail illusion as evidence of body ownership in mice. The Journal of Neuroscience, 36(43):11133-11137, 2016.
・Sakurada T, Kawase T, Komatsu T, Kansaku K. Use of high-frequency visual stimuli above the critical flicker frequency in a SSVEP-based BMI. Clinical Neurophysiology, 126: 1972-1978, 2015. 
・Bushara K.O., Hanakawa, T., Immisch I., Toma, K., Kansaku, K., Hallett M. Neural correlates of cross-modal binding. Nature Neuroscience, 6(2): 190-195, 2003. 
・Kansaku, K., Yamaura, A., Kitazawa, S. Sex-differences in lateralization revealed in the posterior language areas. Cerebral Cortex, 10(9): 866-872, 2000.


Editing

・Kansaku, K. (Ed) Neuroprosthetics in systems neuroscience and medicine; Guest Edited Collections of Scientific Reports, Springer Nature, 2021. (https://www.nature.com/collections/hjcgcjcach)
・Kansaku, K., Cohen L.G., Birbaumer, N. (Eds) Clinical Systems Neuroscience, Springer, 2015. (ISBN: 978-4431550365)
・Kansaku, K., Cohen L.G. (Eds) Systems Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Springer, 2011. (ISBN: 978-4431539988)

Department of Physiology,
Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine

880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu, Shimotsuga,

Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
Ph: +81-282-86-1111
Fx: +81-282-86-2011
e-mail: dokkyo-physiol2 (at mark) dokkyomed.ac.jp