The proposal of the spacial evaluation method by measuring the brain activity and face expression of elderly people requiring care

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H00795
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 23:Architecture, building engineering, and related fields
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi University
• Principal Investigator: Koh Syohken 山口大学, 大学院創成科学研究科, 准教授 (80514231)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 宮崎 崇文 愛知工業大学, 工学部, 講師 (20802581) ; 三谷 智子 明治国際医療大学, 鍼灸学部, 客員研究員 (30378757) ; 村上 由希 関西医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (50580106) ; 三浦 研 京都大学, 工学研究科, 教授 (70311743) ; 今村 行雄 大阪大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 招へい教員 (90447954)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 脳血流 / 表情 / 空間評価 / 高齢者 / 健常者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Due to the impact of the new coronavirus infection, we were forced to make major changes to our research plans. The experiment at the nursing home that was planned to be the subject of this study could not be carried out for three years during the research period. Therefore, we conducted a more precise measurement of the brain activity of healthy elderly and healthy young people in the laboratory as an alternative experiment, and we analyzed the differences in brain activity between elderly and young people.
As a result of presenting the same visual and auditory stimulation to elderly and young people and measuring the activity across the brain by using fMRI, it could be confirmed that there was a statistically significant difference in brain activity between the elderly and young in specific brain regions.

Free Research Field

建築計画

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

同一刺激に対し、高齢健常者と若年健常者間で脳活動に相違が認められたということは加齢により人間の空間認知に差異が発生する可能性が高いことを示唆する。これは、空間の嗜好にも影響を及ぼすことが予想され、施設側が想定する高齢者にとっての望ましい空間と実際に居住する高齢者が望ましいと感じる空間に齟齬が生じている可能性がある。そうした齟齬を埋める際、本研究で得られた成果は有用であり社会的意義を有すると考える。