Dr. Kenji Kansaku received his M.D. degree from Chiba University School of Medicine and began his neurosurgical residency in its affiliated hospitals under Dr. Akira Yamaura. Throughout his residency, he observed that impaired brain function caused critical problems and that to overcome these problems, it is necessary for physicians to scientifically understand human brain function. In 1997, he began systems-neuroscience researches using neuroimaging techniques, such as a high field (3T)-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique, at Neuroscience Research Institute, Japan National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. He received his Ph.D. degree from Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine in 2000 as a winner of Exceptional Graduate Student Award with Early Completion of the Course. His research at Chiba studying language function, which discovered gender differences in lateralization in the posterior language areas, was done under Dr. Shigeru Kitazawa. In 2001, he won a competitive fellowship award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA) and began work in the Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), as a visiting associate. In 2004, he then joined the Division of Cerebral Integration, National Institute for Physiological Sciences as an assistant professor. His main interests there were to understand how human exactly manipulate numerical concepts. In 2006, Dr. Kenji Kansaku became a chief of Cognitive Functions Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Sensory Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities.

Research Interests

The main goal of the Cognitive Functions Section is to overcome problems caused by impaired brain functions. Toward this end, our section pursues systems-neuroscience researches to understand neural basis of cognitive functions in humans, then we develop new methods to evaluate patients' cognitive functions. We also develop new methods to apply scientific understandings based on the systems-neuroscience researches to practical rehabilitation.

Neuroimaging techniques are the main approaches that we apply in our researches. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), magnetoencephalography (MEG), electroencephalography (EEG), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) are equipped in our research institute.

Language function, especially the process for language comprehension, is one of the principal cognitive functions that we are studying (Kansaku, et al., 2000; Kansaku and Kitazawa, 2001). We are also investigating the process for manipulating abstract concepts (Kansaku, et al., 2006; Kansaku, et al., 2007). Neuronal mechanism underlying human social behavior is also under investigation (Kato, et al., 2009). Based on these systems-neuroscience researches, we seek to understand the mechanisms of developmental disabilities such as autism.

To respond to need for more practical application, we are developing brain-machine interface (BMI)/brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies for persons with physical disablities. We have developed BMI based assistive products for environmental control and communication, in which we applied P300 cognitive response elicited by green/blue flicker stimuli (Takano, et al., 2009; Kansaku, et al., 2009). Our research group is also developing a BMI based power assist suit for upper extremities (#2005).

People

CFS Lab Members

Kenji Kansaku, MD, PhD, Chief

Makoto Wada, MD, PhD, Staff Scientist

Kouji Takano, PhD, Research Fellow

Shiro Ikegami, MD, Clinical Fellow

Tomoaki Komatsu, PhD, Visiting Fellow

Atsuko Kawasaki, Secretary

Kazusa Ako, Technical Assistant

Visiting Members

Yuki Shiraito, MS, Visiting Fellow

Former Members

Hiroko Ide, MS (Visiting Fellow, 2007-9)

Kotoe Sakihara, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2007-8)

Klevest Gjini, MD, PhD (Visiting Fellow, 2007-8)

David H Salat, PhD (Visiting Researcher, 2007-8: Assistant Professor, MGH/Harvard Medical School)

Event Information

Seminars on Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

Hosted by Cognitive Functions Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Sensory Functions

Past Seminars

Thursday, October 9, 2008 16:00-

"Human interface based on musculoskeletal model."

Yasuharu Koike, Dr Eng

Associate Professor, Precision and Intelligence Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan

Research Institute 1st Building, E-209

Friday, September 14, 2007 16:00-

"Structural and functional neuroimaging of aging and Alzheimer's disease."

David H Salat, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA

Research Institute 1st Building, E-209

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 13:30-

"Combination of MEG and fMRI for visualizing higher-order visual fields."

Sunao Iwaki, Dr Eng

Research Scientist, Living Informatics Group, Institute for Human Science and Biomedical Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Osaka, Japan

Research Institute 1st Building, E-209

Monday, November 20, 2006 13:30-

"Measurement of olfactory event-related magnetic fields."

Mitsuo Tonoike, Dr Eng

Professor, Department of Medical System Engineering, National University Corporation Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

Research Institute 1st Building, E-209

Wednesday, September 6, 2006 16:00-

"Where tactile signals are ordered in time."

Shigeru Kitazawa, MD, PhD

Professor, Department of Neurophysiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Research Institute 1st Building, E-209

Selected Publications

1. Kansaku, K., Hata, N., Takano, K. My thoughts through a robot's eyes: an augmented reality-brain-machine interface. Neuroscience Research 2009. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2009.10.006
2. Takano, K., Komatsu, T., Hata, N., Nakajima, Y., Kansaku, K. Visual stimuli for the P300 brain-computer interface: a comparison of white/gray and green/blue flicker matrices. Clinical Neurophysiology 120: 1562-1566, 2009.
3. Kansaku, K., Carver, B., Johnson, A., Matsuda, K., Sadato, N., Hallett, M. The role of the human ventral premotor cortex in counting successive stimuli. Experimental Brain Research 178(3): 339-350, 2007.
4. Kansaku, K., Muraki, S., Umeyama, S., Nishimori, Y., Kochiyama, T., Yamane, S., Kitazawa, S. Cortical activity in multiple motor areas during sequential finger movements: an application of independent component analysis. NeuroImage, 28(3): 669-681, 2005.
5. Garraux, G., Mckinney, C., Wu, T., Kansaku, K., Nolte, G., Hallett M. Shared brain areas but not functional connections controlling movement timing and order. The Journal of Neuroscience, 25(22): 5290-5297, 2005.
6. Wu, T., Kansaku, K., Hallett M. How self-initiated memorized movements become automatic: a functional MRI study. Journal of Neurophysiology, 91(4): 1690-1698, 2004.
7. Bushara K.O., Hanakawa, T., Immisch I., Toma, K., Kansaku, K., Hallett M. Neural correlates of cross-modal binding. Nature Neuroscience, 6(2): 190-195, 2003.
8. Kansaku, K., Kitazawa, S. Imaging studies on sex differences in the lateralization of language. Neuroscience Research 41(4): 333-337, 2001. (review, invited)
9. Kansaku, K., Yamaura, A., Kitazawa, S. Sex-differences in lateralization revealed in the posterior language areas. Cerebral Cortex 10(9): 866-872, 2000.
10. Kansaku, K., Kitazawa, S., Kawano, K., Sequential hemodynamic activation of motor areas and the draining veins during finger movements revealed by cross-correlation between signals from fMRI. NeuroReport 9(9): 1969-1974, 1998.

Contact Information

Links

Department of Physiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine (Dr Shigeru Kitazawa's lab.)

Human Motor Control Section, NINDS, NIH (USA) (Dr Mark Hallett's lab.)

Neuroscience Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Integrative Brain Science Lab., Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University (Dr Kenji Kawano's lab.)(Japanese)

Division of Cerebral Integration, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (Dr Norihiro Sadato's lab.)

Department of Neurosurgery, Chiba University School of Medicine (Japanese)