2014 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

Neural Correlates of Interoceptive Attention/Awareness

Research Project

Project/Area Number	25880004
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	カシュクリネジャドケイヴァン東北大学, 加齢医学研究所, 教育研究支援者 (00711954)
Project Period (FY)	2013-08-30 – 2015-03-31
Keywords	fMRI / interoception / spinal cord / brain
Outline of Annual Research Achievements	We investigated the neural correlates of Interoceptive attention in two groups: a group of subjects with several years of Kokyuho experience, where they train attending to their body, and a group of novices. Our project can be divided into two sub projects, namely spinal study and brain study. Our results showed activation in spinal cord, merely by attending to body parts, while there was no movement or stimulation of the body. However, this happened only in the experienced group. Our brain results showed activations in several parts of the brain. The interesting and overlooked information was the opposite activation pattern in novices and experienced subjects within the supramarginal area. This area was activated for novices and deactivated for experienced subjects during the task. Part of the results were presented in international conferences, OHBM 2014. We published two papers in two international journals within this fiscal year.
Research Progress Status	26年度が最終年度であるため、記入しない。
Strategy for Future Research Activity	26年度が最終年度であるため、記入しない。