Research and development of the sound-music programs that activate the Kansei brain network for education and medical treatment

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22300212
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Physical education
• Research Institution: Tokyo Seitoku College (2012-2014); Foundation for Advancement of International Science (2010-2011)
• Principal Investigator: YAGI Reiko 東京成徳短期大学, 幼児教育科, 准教授 (80281591)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): OOHASHI Tsutomu 公益財団法人国際科学振興財団, 主席研究員 (90015652) ; KAWAI Norie 公益財団法人国際科学振興財団, 主任研究員 (50261128) ; NISHINA Emi 放送大学, 教授 (20260010) ; HONDA Manabu 国立精神・神経医療研究センター, 神経研究所・疾病研究第七部, 部長 (40321608) ; MORIMOTO Masako 元・国立精神・神経医療研究センター, 神経研究所・疾病研究第七部, 第二研究室長 (50312210) ; UENO Osamu 国立精神・神経医療研究センター, 疾病研究第七部, 科研費研究員 (90261136)
• Research Collaborator: OOMURA Rikka ; UEMURA Maki
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 感性の教育 / 感性脳 / 感性脳神経回路 / 音響 / 音楽 / 教育 / 医療

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have developed the programs offering wide-range acoustic and natural environment sounds to activate the Kansei brain network. This neural network, which projects from the deep brain structure to the prefrontal cortex, plays an important role in controlling behaviors based on emotional reactions such as pleasure and aesthetic appreciation as well as coordinating mind and body functions.
Analysis of the acoustic of our newly developed musical instruments and natural sounds reveals that these contain significant quantities of non-stationary, high-frequency components above the human audible range that activate the Kansei brain network. We statistically confirmed the effect of such sounds through experiments on healthy volunteers and psychiatric patients.
Program testing in both educational and medical fields provides a promising perspective for subsequent research efforts.

Free Research Field

感性情報行動学