The empathic network preserved by intraoperative brain mapping in awake craniotomy

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K10859
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurosurgery
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Kinoshita Masashi 金沢大学, 医学系, 講師 (50525045)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 共感性 / 覚醒下手術 / 神経膠腫 / グリオーマ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We analyzed the functional areas and white matter networks of empathy related to human emotions. We established an empathy evaluation task that could be used in our developed awake craniotomy, and proved that it could be assessed intraoperatively in glioma cases, based on standard data from healthy adults. Next, we performed an intraoperative evaluation using the empathy task in patients with right frontal glioma, and various MRI data suggested the existence of a neural network involved in human emotion and empathy. Further involvement in postoperative "motivation" was suspected. In order to elucidate the multimodal network related to emotion, empathy, and motivation, we will continue to conduct developmental research on motivation-related networks.

Free Research Field

脳神経外科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、右前頭葉皮質ならびに皮質下の直接電気刺激を用いた誘発症状を元に、共感性（情動面）が関わる機能領域と白質神経線維束を直接的に同定し、心の理論（認知面）と合わせた共感性ネットワーク回路の一部解明につながった。今回作成した新しい術中共感性評価タスクにより、脳腫瘍手術における共感性（情動＋認知）を評価することが可能となり、本機能の温存を目的とした次世代覚醒下手術法の確立に一歩近づいた。