• Search Research Projects
  • Search Researchers
  • How to Use
  1. Back to previous page

Functional role of brain-spinal cord pathways in mind-motor interaction

Research Project

Project/Area Number 21K18570
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Review Section Medium-sized Section 10:Psychology and related fields
Research InstitutionTokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science

Principal Investigator

SUGAWARA Sho  公益財団法人東京都医学総合研究所, 脳・神経科学研究分野, 主席研究員 (80723428)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) 福永 雅喜  生理学研究所, 生体機能情報解析室, 特任教授 (40330047)
Project Period (FY) 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥6,370,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,470,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000)
Keywords脊髄 / 腹側中脳 / 機能的MRI / 運動準備 / 脳脊髄機能連関 / 身体運動 / 運動準備活動 / 機能的磁気共鳴画像 / 脳脊髄機能連間 / 脳脊髄連関 / 意欲
Outline of Research at the Start

腹側中脳にあるドーパミン含有細胞は、報酬の処理や行動を導く意欲にとっても重要な役割を担っている。一方で、腹側中脳は運動を司る一次運動野を経て脊髄への投射を持つことが解剖学的に分かっている。腹側中脳-一次運動野-脊髄経路の機能的な意義は一体何なのか?研究代表者のこれまでの研究成果から、「意欲に関する情報が腹側中脳から一次運動野を経て脊髄まで伝搬し、意欲を身体運動へと変換する」という仮説に至った。本研究課題では、機能的MRIによる脳脊髄同時計測を用いることで、心と身体を結ぶ神経機構を明らかとすることを目的とする。

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to reveal the functional role of the neural pathway from the ventral midbrain to the spinal cord through the primary motor cortex. First, we established brain-spinal cord simultaneous fMRI. Consequently, we illustrated premovement preparatory activity in the human cervical cord through a US-Japan joint study. Even in this novel method, we replicated the previous finding that preparatory activity in the VM and M1 links to the strength of subsequent force generation. Furthermore, preparatory activity in the spinal segment, in which motor neurons controlling forelimb muscles are located, was associated with the strength of subsequent force generation. These findings suggest that the VM-M1-spinal cord pathway controls the strength of force generation.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ドーパミン含有細胞が集まる腹側中脳は、報酬の処理と密接に関係し、行動の意欲を生成する重要な役割を担うと考えられている。その一方、腹側中脳は脊髄へ運動指令を送る一次運動野に対しても直接投射を持ち、腹側中脳刺激は筋活動を誘発する。本研究により、腹側中脳-一次運動野-脊髄が運動準備時に同時に活動し、発揮される力の決定に関わることが明らかになった。この成果は腹側中脳から脊髄へ至る神経経路が、意欲が力へと変換する役割を担うことを示唆し、学術的に大きな意義を持つ。また、気持ちの昂りによって意図せず強い力が発揮される「火事場の馬鹿力」の神経機構とも関連し、社会的な関心にも応える成果であると考えている。

Report

(4 results)
  • 2023 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2022 Research-status Report
  • 2021 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (8 results)

All 2024 2022 2021

All Journal Article (1 results) (of which Peer Reviewed: 1 results,  Open Access: 1 results) Presentation (7 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 4 results)

  • [Journal Article] Quantitative comparison of corticospinal tracts arising from different cortical areas in humans2022

    • Author(s)
      Noboru Usuda, Sho K. Sugawara, Hiroyuki Fukuyama, Kimitaka Nakazawa, Kiyomi Amemiya, Yukio Nishimura
    • Journal Title

      Neuroscience Research

      Volume: 183 Pages: 30-49

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.neures.2022.06.008

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Presentation] Functional and structural evidence for corticospinal circuits in humans2024

    • Author(s)
      Sugawara SK
    • Organizer
      The 2024 annual meeting of Neural Control of Movement
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Pre-movement and movement activity in rostral and caudal cervical segments represent different types of force productions: A simultaneous brain-spinal cord fMRI study2024

    • Author(s)
      Noboru Usuda, Sho K. Sugawara, Yukio Nishimura
    • Organizer
      The 2024 annual meeting of Neural Control of Movement
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Pre-movement spinal cord activity in humans: a simultaneous brain-spinal cord fMRI study2022

    • Author(s)
      Sho K. Sugawara, Noboru Usuda, Hiroyuki Fukuyama, Kiyomi Amemiya, Yukio Nishimura
    • Organizer
      FENS2022
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] ヒト同側皮質脊髄路の定量比較2022

    • Author(s)
      臼田升、菅原翔、福山博幸、雨宮きよみ、西村幸男
    • Organizer
      第45回日本神経科学大会
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Quantitative comparison of corticospinal tracts in humans based on diffusion fiber taractography2022

    • Author(s)
      Noboru Usuda, Sho K. Sugawara, Hiroyuki Fukuyama, Kiyomi Amemiya, Kimitaka Nakazawa, Yukio Nishimura
    • Organizer
      51st annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Pre-movement activity in human spinal-cord: Preliminary brain-spinal cord simultaneous fMRI study2021

    • Author(s)
      Sho K. Sugawara, Noboru Usuda, Hiroyuki Fukuyama, Kiyomi Amemiya, Yukio Nishimura
    • Organizer
      第44回日本神経科学大会
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Quantitative comparison of corticospinal tracts from cerebral cortex in humans2021

    • Author(s)
      Noboru Usuda, Sho K. Sugawara, Hiroyuki Fukuyama, Kiyomi Amemiya, Kimitaka Nakazawa, Yukio Nishimura
    • Organizer
      第44回日本神経科学大会
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report

URL: 

Published: 2021-07-13   Modified: 2025-01-30  

Information User Guide FAQ News Terms of Use Attribution of KAKENHI

Powered by NII kakenhi