Elucidation of neural mechanisms of emotion generation and emotion regulation in the social brain with HD-DOT and fMRI

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26280050
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cognitive science
• Research Institution: Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (2015-2017); Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science (2014)
• Principal Investigator: Hoshi Yoko 浜松医科大学, 光尖端医学教育研究センター, 教授 (50332383)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 精山 明敏 京都大学, 医学研究科, 教授 (70206605) ; 谷川 ゆかり 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 情報・人間工学領域, 研究グループ長 (20344202) ; 川口 拓之 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 情報・人間工学領域, 研究員 (60510394) ; 榛葉 俊一 公益財団法人東京都医学総合研究所, 認知症・高次脳機能研究分野, 研究員 (80175398)
• Research Collaborator: KOHNO Satoru
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 感情制御 / 神経メカニズム / 拡散光トモグラフィ / 対人関係 / 社会脳

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The social brain refers to brain functions that are required for social interactions, such as reading between the lines and being patient. Social interactions often elicit emotions, and emotion regulation is involved in the social brain. Various mental disorders are thought to be attributed to social brain dysfunctions, whereas neural mechanisms of the social brain remain to be elucidated. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a useful approach to emotion studies; however, NIRS signals are inherently subjected to contamination by signals arising from extracerebral tissue, mainly skin blood flows. The present study with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed the neural mechanisms behind generation and regulation of negative emotions in interpersonal relationships. In addition, to overcome the issue of skin blood flow contaminations, we developed the high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT).

Free Research Field

認知脳科学、生体医用光学