2020.12.16
An original research paper by Associate Professor Junichi Ushiyama of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies and Rina Suzuki, a second-year master's student at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, was published in the online edition of the international academic journal "Cerebral Cortex Communications" on October 7, 2020. The journal is a specialized academic publication launched in 2020 as a sister journal to "Cerebral Cortex," which is renowned in the field of neuroscience, and this paper is published in its memorable first issue of the first volume.
Our bodily movements involve various components, such as how much force to apply, how fast to move, and in what order to perform tasks. Conventional research in motor physiology has mostly taken an approach that isolates one of these components to individually investigate the mechanism that controls it, such as force or speed. However, in our daily lives, flexible motor control is required according to a balance of these diverse components, that is, the "context of the movement," and the control strategy should not be determined by a single component alone. Using a physiological approach with electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG), this study successfully demonstrated that the brain and body control movement by modulating their interaction according to the context of how to execute and repeat the initiation, maintenance, and termination of a movement.
Published paper "Context-Dependent Modulation of Corticomuscular Coherence in a Series of Motor Initiation and Maintenance of Voluntary Contractions"
Comment from Rina Suzuki
I am very pleased that my first submitted paper has been accepted. I joined the Junichi Ushiyama Laboratory in my second year of undergraduate studies with a desire to learn physiology, and taking to heart Professor Ushiyama's teaching to "just get my hands dirty," I have dedicated myself to this research for four years. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the professors who guided me and to everyone who cooperated with the experiments. I am also sincerely grateful to the members of my lab, who engaged in frank discussions and accompanied me through countless preliminary experiments. It was by no means a smooth path, and there were many days of trial and error, but all the experience I have gained has become a great asset. I will not stop here, but hope to add more depth to my research by incorporating new perspectives.
Comment from Associate Professor Junichi Ushiyama, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
The experience of being published in the inaugural issue of an international academic journal is a very precious, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I am proud to have shared this experience with a student. That we were able to produce such results even under the difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic is a testament to Ms. Suzuki's unwavering dedication to learning, which allows her to steadily build on the basics day after day. The field of neuroscience of bodily movement is still full of unknowns, such as how humans control their own movements and how they learn new ones. Believing that carefully accumulating fundamental findings like those from this study will be useful in the future for improving skills in sports and artistic activities and for the recovery of lost physical functions, I will continue to forge ahead on the path of research together with my students.
From: General Affairs Section, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) Office