Half day Workshop at EMBC 2015

Workshop title: Embodied-Brain Systems Science

Organizers: Jun Ota, The University of Tokyo, and Toshiyuki Kondo, TUAT

Abstract:
As the society ages rapidly, we are experiencing a significant increase in the number of paralysis and other motor dysfunctions resulting from stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, establishing effective rehabilitation techniques to overcome them is of paramount importance. The key to achieving this is to elucidate the mechanisms by which the brain adapts to changes in body functions. However, abnormalities in somatognosia (e.g., sense of ownership) can occur even in diseases that do not cause motor dysfunction. This indicates that we create and maintain an internal representation of the body in the brain. Accordingly, interdisciplinary research to elucidate the neural mechanisms of the body representation in the brain and the mechanism of the long-term changes in this representation and to apply these findings to rehabilitation interventions is highly expected. To achieve the above-mentioned goals, we have started a five-years research program on ’’Understanding brain plasticity on body representations to promote their adaptive functions’’ funded as a grant-in-aid for scientific research on innovative areas (FY2014-2018, PI: Prof. Ota) by MEXT, Japan. In the program, we attempt to combine brain science and rehabilitation medicine by using systems engineering to create a new academic discipline that is known as embodied-brain systems science. It is organized from six research projects. Research Projects A01/02 conduct interventional neuroscience experiments on humans and monkeys in an attempt to understand the neural mechanisms of the body representation in the brain and to identify biomarkers that reflect changes of the representation. Research projects B01/B02 create dynamic models of the differing time constants of the fast dynamics and slow dynamics of the body representation in the brain based on neurophysiological experimental data and clinical data from patients undergoing rehabilitation. Research projects C01/C02 attempt to quantify the rehabilitative effects with the biomarkers. By integrating this with a model of the body representation in the brain, we will implement model-based neurorehabilitation and create predictions of prognosis for intervention.
This workshop aims to have an oppotunity to bring together neuroscientists, clinicians and robotics researchers who are interested in the embodied-brain systems sciences and to discuss about related research topics and future direction in the field.
LIST of Speakers

List of Speakers:

• Jun Ota, The University of Tokyo
  Title of the presentation: Overview of the research program on embodied-brain systems sciences – understanding brain plasticity on body representations to promote their adaptive functions –
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  He received B.E., M.E. and Ph.D degrees from the Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo in 1987, 1989 and 1994. From 2009, he became a Professor at Research into Artifacts, Center for Engineering (RACE), the University of Tokyo. From 1996 to 1997, he was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. His specialty is robotics and systems engineering.
• Yukari Ohki, Kyorin University School of Medicine
  Title of the presentation: Neural mechanisms inducing plasticity on body representation
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  She received B.H.Sc., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo in 1984, 1986, and 1990. Since 1990, she has been worked in Kyorin University School of Medicine, and is a full Professor at Department of Integrative Physiology from 2012. From 1994 to 1996, she was a guest researcher at Department of Integrative Medical Biology in Umea University, Sweden.
• Toshiyuki Kondo, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT)
  Title of the presentation: Modeling of slow dynamics on body representations in brain
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D degrees from Nagoya University, in 1995, 1997, and 1999. From 2000 to 2006, he was an Assistant Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 2006, he was Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT). From 2014, he is a Professor at TUAT.
• Tetsunari Inamura, National Institute of Informatics (NII)
  Title of the presentation: Neurorehabilitation based upon plasticity on body representations
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  He received BE, MS and PhD at the University of Tokyo in 1995, 1997 and 2000. He conducted research at the CREST program from 2000 to 2003, and then joined the Department of Mechano-Informatics at the University of Tokyo as a Lecturer from 2003 to 2006. He is an Associate Professor in the National Institute of Informatics.
• Pietro Morasso, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)
  Title of the presentation: The body schema concept and the importance of proprioceptive training after stroke
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  Pietro Morasso, formerly full professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Genoa, Italy, is currently Senior Researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology and director of the Motor Learning and Robotic Rehabilitation lab.
• Kazuhiko Seki, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP)
  Title of the presentation: Neural adaptive mechanism for physical changes
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  He received Ph.D degrees from the Faculty of Medical Sciences from Tsukuba University, in 1998. From 1998 to 2001, he was an HFSP long-term fellow at University of Washington. From 2001 to 2009, he was Assistant Professor at National Institute of Physiological Sciences. From 2009, he is Director of National Institute of Neuroscience, NCNP.
• Shinya Aoi, Kyoto University
  Title of the presentation: Modeling of motor control that alters body representation in brain
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  He received B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from the Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyoto University, Japan in 2001, 2003, and 2006, respectively. He was a COE Assistant Professor from 2006 to 2007 and an Assistant Professor from 2007 to 2014 with the Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyoto University. He is currently a Lecturer.
• Takashi Hanakawa, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP)
  Title of the presentation: Rehabilitation for postural/movement impairments using sensory intervention
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  He graduated from the Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine (a medical doctor since 1991), and received Ph.D. from the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in 1999. From 2002-20011, he was an assistant professor in Kyoto University, and a Section Chief in NCNP, Japan. In 2011, he became the director of the Dept. of Advanced Neuroimaging, IBIC, NCNP.
• Eiichi Naito, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, CiNet)
  Title of the presentation: Neuronal representation of human body schema and its essential contribution for motor control and self-consciousness
  Biographical sketch of the Speaker:
  He received Ph.D degrees from Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University 1996. Since 2013, He is a PI of Center for Information and neural networks (CiNet). His specialty is human neuroscience.

Program: