Published papers

我々はしばしばおしゃべりを楽しむ。交換される情報価値が低いにも関わらず、これらのコミュニケーションは対話行為そのものが楽しさを感じさせる。このような「楽しいコミュニケーション」を考察する上で、シリトリゲームはたいへん興味深い。我々はシリトリプログラムと被験者を対戦させ、対戦相手が人間であると教示した場合と計算機であると教示した場合の比較などを行なった。本論文では、これらの実験結果から「相手が人間」と認知することと楽しさを感じることとの相関を考察する。People chat frequently in spite of the fact that the informational content of such communication is very low. To explore why people do this, we wrote a word game, and had subjects play it. We then examined the results under varying conditions, such as whether the subjects believed that they were playing against a computer or a human oppenent, and whether they believed they were participating in an experiment or playing purely for personal enjoyment. In this paper, we examine the amount of pleasure people received in these cases.

The newly discovered deficit in a bilateral amygdala-damaged case, of not being able to allocate attention to the critical feature of a face (Adolphs R, Gosselin F, Buchanan TW, Tranel D, Schyns P, Damasio AR. 2005. A mechanism for impaired fear recognition after amygdala damage. Nature. 433:68 - 72.), has opened a new window into the function of the amygdala. This case implies that the amygdala might be essential in detecting potentially relevant social stimuli, and directing attention accordingly. In this study, we have sought to test this implication by investigating the behavioral performance of 5 unilateral amygdala-damaged subjects on spatial cueing tasks. The tasks employed central gaze and arrow direction as cues to trigger attentional orienting in peripheral target detection. Although age-matched normal controls demonstrated a significant congruency effect such that targets presented congruently to cue direction elicited faster detection, amygdala subjects demonstrated no such congruency effect for gaze cues in the face of a significant congruency effect for arrow cues. The results suggest that the social valence of a stimulus is critical for amygdala involvement in visual processing. The results also support the implicated role of the amygdala in detecting and analyzing relevant social stimuli, and orienting attention accordingly. © The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

The attention function has been classified into (i) sustained attention, (ii) selective attention, (iii) controlled attention, (iv) distributed attention, and (v) capacity for attention. Ordinarily, in order to evaluate the function of attention, the digital cancellation test (D-CAT) or trail making test (TMT) are employed. However, these evaluations are in the form of paper tests, and cannot effectively evaluate small changes in activities daily of living in real time. Accordingly, we focus on human behavior during the act of cooking, in which multitasking is common and many types of ordinary movements are performed. We previously proposed a method of evaluating distributive attention during cooking and showed its effectiveness. In this study, a method for evaluating sustained attention is proposed. Specifically, we acquire an egocentric video by an egocentric vision and estimate line-of-sight based on the visual attention model that is integrated from the three kind of models (category-specific attention, top-down attention, and bottom-up attention). After that, we define line-to-sight information from high saliency area on the visual attention model.

Using interoception as a keyword, this chapter has summarized how changes in the internal physical state are encoded and how the processing of interoceptive information affects the memory of episodes and events. Interoceptive information processing is discussed frequently in the context of emotion in psychology. On the other hand, research studies and literature that have examined its relation to episodic memory are rare. However, changes in the internal physical state exist at the foundation of various concepts that have examined its relationship with memory. To understand the relationship more precisely, we focused on the following issues in this chapter: emotional arousal and bodily responses; effects of bodily responses on memory encoding; judgment related to memories and bodily response; and insular cortex and memory consolidation. Throughout the chapter, we presented the possibility that change in the physical state itself plays a role in latently supporting the encoding and recollection process.

Copyright © 2019 Kita, Kobayashi, Obara, Koikeda, Umeda and Ano. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Epidemiological reports showed that consumptions of fermented dairy products are beneficial for cognitive decline in elderly. Our previous preclinical studies have demonstrated that intakes of whey peptide rich in the β-lactolin [β-lactopeptide of glycine-thereonine-tryptophan-tyrosine (GTWY)] improve memory and attention by regulating monoamine system, and clinical study using neuropsychological test suggested that consumptions with GTWY-rich whey peptide enhance cognitive performance associated with the frontal cortex activity. However, corresponding interventional studies in humans are limited. Objectives: to evaluate the effects of the whey peptide on cognitive functions in healthy older adults using a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial design. 114 healthy subjects aged 50-75 were supplemented with the whey peptide or placebo for 12 weeks, and changes in cognitive function were assessed using neuropsychological tests at weeks 0, 6, and 12 of the intervention. Neuropsychological tests included assessments for memory functions (subtests from Wechsler memory scale-revised, standard verbal paired-associate learning test, and recognition memory test for faces), assessments for attention (cancelation and detection tests), and assessments for general cognitive functions (repeatable battery for assessments of neuropsychological status). Cerebral blood flow was also assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) after 6 weeks of intervention. This study was registered on the 19 November, 2017 in the database of the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) prior to enrollment of subjects (Registration No. UMIN000030461: https://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index-j.htm). In the whey peptide group, visual paired-associates I and visual cancelation tests were significantly improved compared with those in the placebo group at weeks 6 and 12 of the intervention, respectively. Visuospatial and constructional scores of the repeatable battery for assessments of neuropsychological status and standard verbal paired-associate learning tests (S-PA) also tended to be improved by the intervention at week 12. Daily intakes of GTWY-rich whey peptide show beneficial effects on cognitive performance, especially associative learning memory and control of attention, in healthy older adults and might prevent age-related cognitive declines.

Mental disorders have become one of the most burdensome health concerns. We have previously demonstrated that whey-derived β-lactolin (glycine-thereonine-tryptophan-tyrosine tetrapeptide) activates dopaminergic systems and improves psychiatric function in rodents. However, the effects of β-lactolin on human mood states have not been investigated. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study aimed to evaluate the effects of supplementation with β-lactolin-rich whey peptide on human mood states. Sixty healthy adults (aged 45-64 years) with relatively low psychological health were randomly allocated to receive either whey peptide (containing β-lactolin 1.6 mg/day) or placebo for 6 weeks. Mood states (primary outcomes) were evaluated using self-reporting questionnaires. Health-related quality of life (QOL), salivary stress marker and lipid mediator levels were evaluated as secondary outcomes. Compared with placebo, supplementation with β-lactolin improved changes in trait anxiety (p = 0.046), as assessed using the state-trait anxiety inventory, and in subjective stress (p = 0.043), as assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale. In the assessment of QOL, changes in the vitality subscale and mental health summary score of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey were improved in the β-lactolin group. The levels of salivary immunoglobulin A were significantly higher in the β-lactolin group. In a subgroup analysis by median age (54.5 years), subjective stress and salivary prostaglandin levels were significantly decreased by β-lactolin supplementation in the 45-54 -year-old subgroup. In conclusion, supplementation with β-lactolin improves trait anxiety, subjective stress, and psychological QOL, which may be associated with immunologic responses detected via salivary analysis.

A relationship between the awareness of mind-wandering (MW) and the disruption of MW because of external stimuli has previously been reported. Attention often fluctuates without external stimuli and such disruptions can spontaneously precede awareness of MW. To elucidate whether changes in attentional resources used by MW exist, we used event-related potentials (ERPs), focusing on the P300 (P3) ERP component as an index of attention to a task. Participants performed a simple task, in which they pressed a key in synchrony with continually presented tones. Moreover, they were asked to stop the response whenever they became aware of their MW. We analyzed the P3 induced by the tones before self-reports of MW using a state–space model that was used for analysis to detect changes over time. The results revealed that the mean amplitude of P3 increased significantly from the third to the second tone before the self-reports; no other clear increasing or decreasing tendencies were observed. We concluded that the attentional resources allocated to the main task returned, suggesting that such awareness requires a decrease in resources to task-unrelated thoughts. These findings highlight a transitional state related to awareness between the MW state and self-reports. Therefore, the state immediately before self-reports should not be defined as merely an MW state when using the self-caught method.

Our thought states change without intention. This study verified that the transition of thought states varies with fluctuations in autonomic nervous activity, and that this effect is modulated by interoceptive accuracy. The participants completed the heartbeat counting task (HCT) and vigilance task. We assessed the participants’ interoceptive accuracy based on their performance on the HCT. The vigilance task is a simple attention task, and during this task, we asked the participants to report the content and contemplation of their thoughts. Consequently, participants with accurate interoception were more likely to remain in a highly contemplative thought state when parasympathetic activity was suppressed. In contrast, the dominance of parasympathetic activity facilitated transitions to different thought states or experiences of less contemplative thought states in them. The results suggest that even subtle changes in bodily responses at rest can affect thought transitions in people with accurate interoception.

BACKGROUND: Pessimistic thinking about the future is one of the cardinal symptoms of major depression. Few studies have assessed changes in pessimistic thinking after undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). A randomized clinical trial (RCT) was conducted with patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) to determine whether receiving a course of CBT affects pessimistic future thinking using a future thinking task. METHODS: Thirty-one patients with MDD were randomly assigned to either CBT (n = 16) or a talking control (TC) (n = 15) for a 16-week intervention. The main outcomes were the change in response time (RT) and the ratio of the responses for positive valence, measured by the future thinking task. Secondary outcomes included the GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II), the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS), and the word fluency test (WFT). RESULTS: Regarding the main outcomes, the CBT group showed reduced RT for the positive valence (within-group Cohen's d = 0.7, p = 0.012) and negative valence (within-group Cohen's d = 0.6, p = 0.03) in the distant future condition. The ratio of positive valence responses in both groups for all temporal conditions except for the distant past condition increased within group (distant future: CBT: Cohen's d = 0.5, p = 0.04; TC: Cohen's d = 0.8, p = 0.008; near future: CBT: Cohen's d = 1.0, p < 0.001; TC: Cohen's d = 1.1, p = 0.001; near past: CBT: Cohen's d = 0.8, p = 0.005; TC: Cohen's d = 1.0, p = 0.002). As for secondary outcomes, the CBT group showed greater improvement than the TC group regarding the need for social approval as measured by the DAS (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: Patients with MDD who received CBT showed a reduced RT for the positive and negative valence in the distant future condition. RT in the future thinking task for depressed patients may be a potential objective measure for the CBT treatment process. Because the present RCT is positioned as a pilot RCT, a confirmatory trial with a larger number of patients is warranted to elucidate the CBT treatment process that influences future thinking. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/icdr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000021028, identifier UMIN000018155.