Preface
January 2014
Although there are some serious international political problems involving
Japan, we had very good news last September, as Tokyo was selected as the
Olympic city for 2020. With a surprising increase in stock prices, economic
conditions seem to be gradually improving in Japan. We hope that this economic
trend will continue toward 2020, and also sincerely hope that the international
political problems will be resolved soon and Japan will force strong friendships
with all countries of the world.
It is always a great pleasure for us to send the annual report of our department
to our friends. This bulletin includes 23 papers that were published in
2013 or are currently in press. Reading these articles will demonstrate
what and how we are doing. The scientific fields include evoked magnetic
fields following visual, auditory, somatosensory, pain, and itch stimuli.
In addition, we are studying the perception mechanisms of higher brain
functions related to facial, visual motion, etc.
You can see the wide range of research themes in our department, including
not only MEG and EEG, but also fMRI and NIRS.
Cooperative studies with other laboratories have been very fruitful this
year, particularly with Chuo University (Tokyo, Japan, Prof. Yamaguchi),
Mie University (Tsu, Japan, Dr. Motomura and colleagues), Waseda University
(Tokyo, Dr. Kida), Nara Womenfs Univeristy (Nara, Dr. Nakata), Aichi Medical
University (Prof. Ushida and Dr. Nishihara), Kobe University (Dr. Noguchi),
Chiba University (Prof. Kuwabara, Dr. Omori and Dr. Isose), Heidelberg
University (Heidelberg, Germany, Prof. Treede), and Munster University
(Munster, Germany, Prof. Pantev). I am very grateful to these researchers
on behalf of the colleagues in my department.
With best regards,
Ryusuke Kakigi, M.D., Ph.D.,
Professor and Chairperson,
Department of Integrative Physiology,
National Institute for Physiological Sciences,
38 Nishigo-Naka, Myodaiji, Okazaki,
444-8585, JAPAN.
Tel: +81-564-55-7751
Fax: +81-564-52-7913,
E-mail: kakigi@nips.ac.jp
URL: http://www.nips.ac.jp/smf/