Faculty Members
Tetsunari Inamura Professor, Ph.D
I explore methodologies to enrich daily life by fostering appropriate collaboration between humans and robots. Recognizing that robots and humans have strengths and weaknesses, I focus on the importance of not over-relying on robots for tasks where users should maintain agency and improve their skills. Instead, I emphasize the need for robots that assist without over-assisting—finding the right balance in support. Moreover, I advocate for collaborative systems where humans can aid robots in tasks that are challenging for robots. Utilizing digital twin and VR technology, our research lab develops theories on the design of human-robot collaboration, adjusted to fit these scenarios. This approach not only advances our understanding of effective teamwork between humans and robots but also aims to create a more harmonious living environment where both parties can thrive.
Keiko Iwata Professor, Ph.D
I am attempting to understand the children’s development and learning processes in childcare and education environments from a sociocultural point of view. While I focus on the ability of individual children to emulate behavior from brain science and developmental psychology points of view, I place more emphasis on where the emulation occurs within relationships, and where and within what type of sociocultural conditions it arises. My goal is to conduct research of events occurring on site that can ultimately be utilized in childcare environments.
Tetsu Okumura Professor, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Sachiyo Kajikawa Professor, Ph.D
In order to clarify language acquisition processes and mechanisms from a cognitive developmental sciences perspective, I am conducting research on infant behavior studies, as well as on observation and paper-based surveys of mother-child interaction. I have focused my attention on the relationship between phonetic perception in language and vocabulary acquisition with input from parents. In addition, I am investigating comparisons between language and music development, and characteristics of how parents sing or speak to their children. I use acoustic analysis and cardiotachometry, with attention on the role of songs in the initial stages of language acquisition.
Yutaka Sakai Professor, Ph.D
The brain is an excellent learning machine. Animals can learn appropriate behavior for various situations, although they have never experienced completely identical situation in their life. It implies that the brains can extract significant information for selection of behavior from huge sensory and stored information. The current computers can not yet do such excellent extraction of information. In order to clarify how animals can do, I am exploring the mechanisms of strange phenomena observed in brain and behavior of animals, from a view point of physics. I am tackling the unexplored topic of constructing a theoretical framework for learning mechanism of animals linking from neural systems to behavior.
Masamichi Sakagami Professor, Ph.D
I am conducting research investigating the basic neural mechanism of decision-making and thinking by combining experimental psychology and neuroscientific methods. My experimental methodology is the use of neuron activity records and functional brain imaging (i.e., fMRI). In addition, I am discussing and carrying out collaborative research with economists and philosophers on how basic brain functions related to decision-making may be linked with complicated social brain functions (i.e., neuroeconomics and neuroethics).
Tetsuhiko Sasaki Professor, Ph.D
I am investigating the development and function of brain of the European honeybee. The honeybee is a typical social insect that exhibits various social behaviors. It is surprising that they are able to carry out complicated and sophisticated behaviors using a very small brain consisting of only approximately one million neurons, which is just one ten-thousandth of the human brain. My goal is to study the framework of the simple honeybee brain at a molecular level, and clarify the relationship between the development of the brain and social behaviors.
@Takashi Arai
Kazuyuki Samejima Professor, Ph.D
My research goal is to know the nature of the intelligence from a theoretical point of view combined with neurophysiological methods in order to investigate brain functions. How are our behavioral choices optimized, and what do neural mechanisms contribute to the process? How do we explore actions, including behavioral repertoires, in novel environments? My approach for the research is to construct a mathematical model from an information-processing perspective in order to elucidate the neural mechanisms that create intelligence, by measuring neural activity during behaving animals and comparing it with computational models.
Haruto Takagishi Professor, Ph.D
I am conducting research to clarify the psychological / neural basis of social behavior through experiments that combine economic games and functional brain imaging. I am also investigating the effect theory of mind have had on the development of altruistic behavior and sense of fairness via developmental psychology experiments with preschoolers and elementary school students.
Tomohiko Takei Professor, Ph.D
We study the neural mechanisms of adaptive motor control of animals and its dysfunction. Our approach is multidisciplinary, including i) a large-scale neural recording, ii) artificial neural network, and iii) computational modelling. By taking advantage of these diverse techniques, we aim to bridge the levels of hardware (circuits), algorithm (networks) and computation (theories) of motor control, perception and decision making.
Yasuhiro Tanaka Professor, M.D, Ph.D.
Recently, several techniques are developed to record massively multiple neuronal populations. The activity dynamics of these neuronal populations are highly multidimensional. We are attempting to obtain such neuronal population activity with silicon probes or imaging techniques and clarify properties of the activity dynamics by utilizing deep learning and other artificial-intelligence related techniques. Our goal is to explain the generative process of animal behavior in terms of neuronal dynamics.
Tetsuya Matsuda Professor, Ph.D
I am conducting research related to the neural mechanisms of social decision-making using functional brain imaging, as well as psychological and physiological methodologies. First, I examine these mechanisms with basic neuroscience; then I take an approach that connects these findings with clinical research. In my clinical research, I investigate the relationship between the pathology of mental disorders and social decision-making impairment.
Kenji Matsumoto Professor, Ph.D
My challenge is to clarify the neural mechanisms of human agency from the view of goal-directed behavior, value representation, and motivation, by combining functional brain imaging with educational and social psychological methodologies. Some of my groundbreaking findings are highly regarded internationally.
