Searching neural substrate for human empath: a dual functional NIRS study

• Project/Area Number: 24591698
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Niigata University
• Principal Investigator: KITAMURA Hideaki 新潟大学, 医歯学総合研究科, 非常勤講師 (00361923)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): IIJIMA Atsuhiko 新潟大学, 自然科学系, 准教授 (00377186) ; 遠藤 太郎 新潟大学, 医歯学系, 助教 (70515759)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥5,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,200,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥130,000 (Direct Cost: ¥100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥30,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000)
• Keywords: 自閉症 / アスペルガー障害 / 自閉スペクトラム症 / 共感 / 前頭皮質 / 近赤外光スペクトロスコピー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To understand typical and atypical brain functions associated with individual differences in empathy among typically developing individuals and its neurodevelopmental variants such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), we employed dual functional near-infrared spectroscopy technique to measure simultaneously brain responses of the interacting two persons in the real world. The task used here was to play a role as an interviewer or an interviewee for personal experience about 2011 East-Japan Great Earthquake disaster. Prefrontal responses were significantly correlated with two kinds of prosocial personality traits among typical subjects and lower in ASD than in typical subjects.Dual-fNIRS technique with more ecological validity may be beneficial for human empathy study.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Developmental prosopagnosia referred to outpatient psychiatric service (2015)
  • Author(s): Kitamura H, Egawa J, Someya T
  • Journal Title: Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Volume: 69 Issue: 4 Pages: 238-238
  • DOI: 10.1111/pcn.12233
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Possible association between the oxytocin receptor gene and N-acetylaspartate of the right medial temporal lobe in autism spectrum disorders (2014)
  • Author(s): Egawa J, Watanabe Y, Endo T, Kitamura H, Someya T
  • Journal Title: Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Volume: 68 Issue: 1 Pages: 83-83
  • DOI: 10.1111/pcn.12087
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Psychological distress in an earthquake-devastated area with pre-existing high rate of suicide (2014)
  • Author(s): Tachibana A, Kitamura H, Shindo M, Honma H, Someya T
  • Journal Title: Psychiatry Res Volume: 219 Issue: 2 Pages: 336-340
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.01.028
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Brain stem volume reduction revealed by voxel-based morphometry in a patient with REM sleep behavior disorder and synucleinopathy (2014)
  • Author(s): Kitamura H, Otake M, Inoue E, Someya T
  • Journal Title: Journal of Sleep Medicine & Disorders Volume: 1 Pages: 1010-1010
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Neural activity in the posterior superior temporal region during eye contact perception correlates with autistic traits (2013)
  • Author(s): Hasegawa N, Kitamura H, Murakami H, et al.
  • Journal Title: Neurosci Lett Volume: 549 Pages: 45-50
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.05.067
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Altered activity of the primary visual area during gaze processing in individuals with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorder: A magnetoencephalography study (2013)
  • Author(s): Hasegawa N, Kitamura H, Murakami H, et al.
  • Journal Title: Neuropsychobiology Volume: 68 Issue: 3 Pages: 181-188
  • DOI: 10.1159/000354866
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Decreased leftward bias of prefrontal activity in autism spectrum disorder revealed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (2012)
  • Author(s): Tamura R, Kitamura H, Endo T, et al.
  • Journal Title: Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging Volume: 203 Pages: 237-240
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Dual functional near-infrared spectroscopy (1): Technical consideration (2013)
  • Author(s): Kitamura H, Shindo M, Tachibana A, et al.
  • Organizer: 11th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry
  • Place of Presentation: Kyoto
• [Presentation] Dual functional near-infrared spectroscopy (2): An application in face-to-face conversation (2013)
  • Author(s): Shindo M, Kitamura H, Tachibana A, et al.
  • Organizer: 11th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry
  • Place of Presentation: Kyoto
• [Presentation] Neural activity in the posterior superior temporal region during eye contact perception is correlated with autistic traits (2013)
  • Author(s): Hasegawa N, Kitamura H, Murakami H, et al.
  • Organizer: 11th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry
  • Place of Presentation: Kyoto
• [Presentation] 自閉症スペクトラム障害における一次視覚野優位の視線認知処理 (2012)
  • Author(s): 長谷川直哉, 北村秀明, 村上博淳, 他
  • Organizer: 第34回日本生物学的精神医学会
  • Place of Presentation: 神戸