Kyoto University · Psychology
Professor Hironobu Fujiwara's research lab specializes in the neurobiological underpinnings of mental health disorders, with a focus on schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and behavioral addictions such as compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD). The lab employs advanced neuroimaging techniques—particularly structural and functional MRI—to investigate brain network abnormalities, including gray-matter volume loss and white-matter alterations, in relation to social cognition, attention, and emotion regulation. A key direction involves exploring the neural mechanisms of mind-body practices like *Kendo* in enhancing cognitive control and motivation-related brain networks. The lab also emphasizes translational research, developing culturally adapted, multilingual screening tools to improve early detection and intervention in diverse populations.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Impaired social cognition is considered a core contributor to unfavorable psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia. Rather than being a unitary process, social cognition is a collection of multifaceted processes that recruit multiple brain structures, thus structural and functional neuroimaging techniques are ideal methodologies for revealing the underlying pathophysiology of impaired social cognition. Many neuroimaging studies have suggested that in addition to white-matter deficits, schizophr
This study contributes to a better understanding of CSBD in underrepresented and underserved populations and facilitates its identification in diverse populations by providing freely accessible ICD-11-based screening tools in 26 languages. The findings may also serve as a crucial building block to stimulate research into evidence-based, culturally sensitive prevention and intervention strategies for CSBD that are currently missing from the literature.
Our review emphasizes that the reported white-matter alterations in OCD complement the broader gray-matter abnormalities identified and may well suggest that OCD is associated with large-scale disruption in brain systems or networks, as opposed to being a consequence of disturbances in isolated brain regions.
With the development of digital technology, media multitasking behaviour, which is using two or more media simultaneously, has become more commonplace. There are two opposing hypotheses of media multitasking with regard to its impact on attention. One hypothesis claims that media multitasking can strengthen attention control, and the other claims heavy media multitaskers are less able to focus on relevant tasks in the presence of distractors. A total of 103 healthy subjects took part in this stu
This study assesses the gender differences in health and anxiety, especially pertaining to mental health problems and time-course effects. We surveyed 121 patients admitted to a hospital with a COVID-19 diagnosis between March 1 and August 31, 2020. Their mental status was evaluated on admission using the Japanese General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form JYZ (STAI). The patients were divided into two groups depending on the period of prevalence, that is, th
Japanese martial arts, <i>Budo</i>, have been reported to improve cognitive function, especially attention. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of the effect of <i>Budo</i> on attention processing has not yet been investigated. <i>Kendo</i>, a type of fencing using bamboo swords, is one of the most popular forms of <i>Budo</i> worldwide. We investigated the difference in functional connectivity (FC) between <i>Kendo</i> players (KPs) and non-KPs (NKPs) during an attention-related auditory
<b>Objectives:</b> Mental health problems (MHP) among medical residents are often found in clinical settings and sometimes lead to professional lapses. Evidence suggests that excessive Internet use is associated with MHP. We investigated the MHP of residents (depression, anxiety, and self-esteem) and their association with Internet use using a longitudinal design. <b>Methods:</b> Participants were 208 residents. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), and the
<b>Introduction:</b> Physical distancing under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on lifestyles, including exercise routines. In this study, we examined the relationship between mental health and addictive behaviors, such as excessive exercise and the use of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) across 12 sport disciplines. <b>Materials and methods:</b> A large cross-sectional sample of the adult population (<i>N</i> = 2,295) was surveyed. The mean
<b>Background:</b> Increasing evidence regarding the neural correlates of excessive or pathological internet use (IU) has accumulated in recent years, and comorbidity with depression and autism has been reported in multiple studies. However, psychological and neural correlates of non-clinical IU in healthy individuals remain unclear. <b>Objectives:</b> The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between non-clinical IU and functional connectivity (FC), focusing on the brain
In this review, the underlying mechanisms of health benefits and the risk of habitual behaviours such as internet use and media multitasking were explored, considering their associations with the reward/motivation system. The review highlights that several routines that are beneficial when undertaken normally may evolve into excessive behaviour and have a negative impact, as represented by "the inverted U-curve model". This is especially critical in the current era, where technology like the int
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