Research Area

I study language acquisition from infancy to adolescence. In particular, we are investigating the brain mechanisms involved in the acquisition of vowels, consonants, words, and the learning of simple grammatical rules during infancy. We have also begun to study speech development by recording and analyzing the speech of infants and caregivers.

Our research focuses on the development of social cognitive skills from infancy through adolescence. Understanding the beliefs, desires, emotions, and intentions of others is essential for smooth interpersonal relationships. In our laboratory, we are mainly interested in what interactions with caregivers promote the development of social skills in infants and toddlers.

In addition to the visual and auditory senses of seeing and hearing, we also conduct research on sensory and perceptual research using a variety of methods, such as giving infants tactile stimuli such as stroking, or giving mothers the smell component (olfactory stimuli) of their babies to see how they behave and react to the stimuli.

Our research focuses on the development of movement during infancy. Motor functions are closely related to language acquisition and social cognitive abilities. In our laboratory, we examine fine motor functions such as picking up objects and gross motor functions such as walking, based on various indices such as behavior and brain activity.

・NIRS
This technique uses an optical sensor on a cap to safely measure the amount of blood flow variation associated with brain activity. The cap is worn to examine which parts of the brain are active and to what extent while listening to sounds or looking at images.
・EEG Electroencephalograph measurements
This technique measures the weak electrical activity produced by brain activity. The patient wears a net-shaped cap with multiple EEG sensors.

The human body responds in various ways, such as heartbeat and sweat, to changes in state of mind. These physiological indicators of the body are measured. Examples include the heartbeat, electrical signals from the skin and pupil state measurements.

The eye-gaze measuring device can examine eye movement and pupil size by using the reflection of very weak light emitted from a camera in front of it. The light used is harmless to the human body and does not cause glare as it is very weak. Children are basically measured while sitting on the lap of their parents or guardians.

We perform behavioural estimation by means of motion measurement, motion capture, kinetic and video recording. Behavioural experiments and observations are carried out on infants and adults according to the research topic at hand, including video coding analysis.