• broken image

    Welcome to "Musical Dynaformics" lab!

    Science & Technology for Musical Expertise & Musicians' Disorders

  • What's new?

    recent updates

    News

    Acknowledgement

    Our projects are currently supported by the following grants.

  • Our Pipeline circulating Research, Development, Education

    Musical Dynaformics is a discipline for surmounting limits of creativity of musicians through elucidating neurophysiological, biomechanical, and psychological principles governing acquisition, sophistication, loss, and restoration of musical expertise and excellence. The goals of "Musical Dynaformics" are both to support for musicians to produce a variety of creative expression in their mind through the body and brain and to prevent development of injuries triggered by practicing (e.g. musician's dystonia). To achieve these two goals requires unveiling and developing optimal ways of creating one's desired musical expression (e.g. training, skills), through a cross-disciplinary approach making synergy between neuroscience, biomechanics, robotics, psychology, cognitive science, informatics, and physiology, To this aim, we also develop a Music Excellence Platform, which is a novel platform consisting of sensing and training systems optimized for musicians.

     

    Outcomes of the research and development on Musical Dynaformics are compiled and implemented into our physical education program; "PEAC" (Physical Education for Artists Curriculum). This educational package consists of lectures, physical coaching, and technology-based supports for musicians. Both lectures and coaching are based on evidences derived from research and scientific theories, whereas tech-based physical supports make use of our states-of-art sensing & training systems developed by our group, colleagues, and others.

     

    The PEAC program is deployed into our academy program hosted by Sony CSL, NeuroPiano, and others, which is our educational platform for young promising pianists. We believe PEAC will be a de facto standard of music education as a way of making synergy with various conventional education. Also, a part of the PEAC program has been and will be provided to music conservatories and other educational opportunities for musicians in different countries (e.g. HMTM Hannover, Hamamatsu Piano Academy).

     

    Here, you can find further details of our pipeline circulating research, development, and deployment.

    broken image

    Our Pipeline

    Circulating Research, Development, Education

    broken image

    Virtuosity Science

    Sensorimotor skills for musical excellence

    broken image

    Optimal Musical Practice

    Neural, Biomechanical, & Cognitive Mechanisms

    broken image

    Body-Machine-Computer Interface

    probing & enhancing Musicians' expertise

    broken image

    Dark-Side of Music Practice

    Pathophysiology &prevention of musicians' injuries

    broken image

    Neuro-rehabilitation

    Rehab. & Retraining for musicians' disorders

    broken image

    Performance Anxiety

    Mechanism & Training for Choking Under Pressure of musicians

  • Publication List

    Complete list is here

    Journal Articles (peer-reviewed)

    *: equally-contributed co-first authors

     

    1. Masato Hirano, Yudai Kimoto, Sachiko Shiotani, Shinichi Furuya. A specialized inhibitory function sharpens somatosensory hand representation and enhances the production and perception of fast multifinger movements in pianists. (under review)
    2. Kaori Kuromiya, Shinichi Furuya. Interplay of physical expertise and musical expression in pianists. (under review)
    3. Yudai Kimoto, Masato Hirano, Shinichi Furuya. Decomposition of a complex motor skill in learning improves experts' expertise. (under review)
    4. Takanori Oku, Shinichi Furuya, Andre Lee, Eckart Altenmuller. Video-based diagnosis support system for pianists with musicians' dystonia. (under review)
    5. Shinichi Furuya, Takanori Oku, Hayato Nishioka, Masato Hirano. Surmounting the ceiling effect of motor expertise by novel sensory experience. (under review)
    6. Masaki Yasuhara, Kazumasa Uehara, Takanori Oku, Sachiko Shiotani, Isao Nambu, Shinichi Furuya. Robustness and adaptability of sensorimotor skills in expert piano performance. (in revision)
    7. Masato Hirano, Shinichi Furuya (2024) Active perceptual learning involves motor exploration and adaptation of predictive sensory integration. iScience 27:108604
    8. Mitsuaki Takemi, Mai Akahoshi, Junichi Ushiba, Shinichi Furuya (2023) Behavioral and physiological fatigue-related factors influencing timing and force control learning in pianists. Scientific Reports 13:21646
    9. Kazumasa Uehara, Masaki Yasuhara, Junya Koguchi, Takanori Oku, Sachiko Shiotani, Masanori Morise, Shinichi Furuya (2023) Brain network flexibility as a predictor of skilled musical performance. Cerebral Cortex 33(20): 10492–10503
    10. Johanna Doll, Andre Lee, Shinichi Furuya, Bernhard Haslinger, Eckart Altenmuller (2023) Musician’s Dystonia: Family history as a predictor for onset and course of the disease. Movement Disorders 38(8): 1559-1560
    11. Thomas Mantel, Andre Lee, Eckart Altenmuller, Shinichi Furuya, Masanori Morise, Bernhard Haslinger (2023) Reliability and Validity of the Embouchure Dystonia Severity Rating Scale. Journal of Movement Disorders 16(2):191-195
    12. Shinichi Furuya, Ryuya Tanibuchi, Hayato Nishioka, Yudai Kimoto, Masato Hirano, Takanori Oku (2023) Passive somatosensory training enhances motor skill of piano playing in adolescent and adult pianists. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 1519(1): 167-172
    13. Kaito Muramatsu, Takanori Oku, Shinichi Furuya (2022) Plyometric training enhances strength and precision of the finger movements in pianists. Scientific Reports 12: 22267
    14. Ken Takiyama, Shuta Mugikura, Shinichi Furuya (2022) Impaired feedforward control of movements in pianists with focal dystonia. Frontiers in Neurology 13: 983448
    15. Masato Hirano, Shinichi Furuya (2022) Multisensory interactions on auditory and somatosensory information in expert pianists. Scientific Reports 12: 12503
    16. Takanori Oku, Shinichi Furuya (2022) Noncontact and high-precision sensing system for piano keys identified fingerprints of virtuosity. Sensors 22(13): 4891
    17. Yudai Kimoto, Masato Hirano, Shinichi Furuya (2022) Adaptation of the corticomuscular and biomechanical systems of pianists. Cerebral Cortex 32(4): 709-724
    18. Shinichi Furuya*, Reiko Ishimaru*, Takanori Oku, Noriko Nagata (2021) Back to feedback: aberrant sensorimotor control in music performance under pressure. Communications Biology 4(1): 1367 (press-release)
    19. Kahori Kita, Shinichi Furuya, Rieko Osu, Takashi Sakamoto, Takashi Hanakawa (2021) Aberrant cerebello-cortical connectivity in pianists with focal task-specific dystonia. Cerebral Cortex 31(10): 4853–4863
    20. Shinichi Furuya*, Reiko Ishimaru*, Noriko Nagata (2021) Factors of choking under pressure in musicians. PLoS One 16(1): e0244082
    21. Masato Hirano, Muzuha Sakurada, Shinichi Furuya (2020) Overcoming the ceiling effects of experts’ motor expertise through somatosensory training. Science Advances 6(47): eabd2558 (press-release)
    22. Nobuhiro Takahashi, Shinichi Furuya, Hideki Koike (2020) Soft exoskeleton glove with human anatomical architecture: production of dexterous finger movements and skillful piano performance. IEEE Transaction on Haptics 13(49): 679-690
    23. Shinichi Furuya, Takanori Oku, Yudai Kimoto, Hayato Nishioka, Masato Hirano (2020) Skillful and pathological movement coordination in musical performance. Advances in Exercise & Sports Physiology 26(2): 23-26
    24. Shinichi Furuya*, André Lee*, Takanori Oku, Eckart Altenmüller (2020) Aberrant somatosensory-motor adaptation in musicians' dystonia. Movement Disorders 35(5): 808-815
    25. Masato Hirano, Yudai Kimoto, Shinichi Furuya (2020) Specialized somatosensory-motor integration functions in musicians. Cerebral Cortex 30(3): 1148-1158
    26. Yudai Kimoto, Takanori Oku, Shinichi Furuya (2019) Neuromuscular and biomechanical functions subserving finger dexterity in musicians. Scientific Reports 9: 12224
    27. Takanori Oku, Shinichi Furuya (2019) Neuromuscular incoordination in musicians' dystonia. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders 65: 97-104
    28. Kazumasa Uehara, Shinichi Furuya, Hidemi Numasawa, Kahori Kita, Takashi Sakamoto, Takashi Hanakawa (2019) Distinct roles of brain activity and somatotopic representation in pathophysiology of focal dystonia. Human Brain Mapping 40(6): 1738-1749
    29. Kahori Kita*, Jaroslav Rokicki*, Shinichi Furuya, Takashi Sakamoto, Takashi Hanakawa (2018) Resting-state basal ganglia connectivity codes a motor musical skill and its disruption due to a disease process. Movement Disorders 33(9): 1472-1480
    30. Shuntaro Kotani, Shinichi Furuya (2018) State anxiety disorganizes finger movements during musical performance. Journal of Neurophysiology 120(2): 439-451
    31. Shinichi Furuya*, Sayuri Yokota* (2018) Temporal exploration of sequential movements in sequential movements shapes efficient neuromuscular control. Journal of Neurophysiology 120(1): 196-210
    32. Shinichi Furuya*, Kazumasa Uehara*, Takashi Sakamoto, Takashi Hanakawa (2018) Aberrant cortical excitability explains the loss of hand dexterity in musician's dystonia. The Journal of Physiology 596(12): 2397-2411
    33. Shinichi Furuya*, Yuta Furukawa*, Kazumasa Uehara, Takanori Oku (2018) Probing sensory-motor integration during musical performance. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 1423(1): 211-218
    34. Masato Hirano, Shinji Kubota, Shinichi Furuya, Yoshiki Koizume, Shinya Tanaka, and Kozo Funase (2018) The acquisition of skilled finger movements is accompanied by the reorganization of the corticospinal system. Journal of Neurophysiology 119(2): 573-584
    35. Shinichi Furuya (2018) Individual differences in sensorimotor skills among musicians. Current Opinion in Behavioral Science 20: 61-66
    36. Yuta Furukawa, Kazumasa Uehara, Shinichi Furuya (2017) Expertise-dependent motor somatotopy of music perception. Neuroscience Letters 650: 97-102
    37. Eckart Altenmüller. Shinichi Furuya (2017) Apollos Gift and Curse: Making music as a model for adaptive and maladaptive plasticity. Neuroforum 23(2): 57-75
    38. Sarah Pirio Richardson, Eckart Altenmüller, Katharine Alter, Ron L. Alterman, Robert Chen, Steven Frucht, Shinichi Furuya, Joseph Jankovic, H. A. Jinnah, Teresa J. Kimberley, Codrin Lungu, Joel S. Perlmutter, Cecília N. Prudente, Mark Hallett (2017) Research priorities in limb and task-specific dystonias. Frontiers in Neurology 8:170
    39. Takanori Oku*, Shinichi Furuya* (2017) Skillful force control in expert pianists. Experimental Brain Research 235(5): 1603-1615
    40. Eckart Altenmüller. Shinichi Furuya (2016) Brain plasticity and the concept of metaplasticity in skilled musicians. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 957:197-208
    41. Moe Hosoda, Shinichi Furuya (2016) Shared somatosensory and motor functions in musicians. Scientific Reports 6: 37632
    42. Kenta Tominaga, Andre Lee, Eckart Altenmüller, Fumio Miyazaki, Shinichi Furuya (2016) Kinematic origins of motor fluctuation in expert pianists. PLoS One 11(8): e0161324
    43. Christos Ioannou, Shinichi Furuya, Eckart Altenmüller (2016) Objective evaluation of performance stress in musicians with dystonia: a feasibility study. Journal of Motor Behavior 48(6): 562-572
    44. Andre Lee, Jacob Voget, Shinichi Furuya, Masanori Morise, Eckart Altenmüller (2016) Quantification of sound instability in embouchure tremor based on the time varying fundamental frequency. Journal of Neural Transmission 123(5): 515-521
    45. Christos Ioannou, Shinichi Furuya, Eckart Altenmüller (2016) The impact of stress on motor performance in skilled musicians suffering from focal dystonia: Physiological and psychological characteristics. Neuropsychologia 85: 226-236
    46. Shinichi Furuya, Takashi Hanakawa (2016) The curse of motor expertise: use-dependent focal dystonia as manifestation of maladaptive changes in body representation. Neuroscience Research 104: 112-119
    47. Shinichi Furuya, Takayuki Oku, Fumio Miyazaki, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2015) Secrets of virtuoso: neuromuscular attributes of motor virtuosity in expert musicians. Scientific Reports 5: 15750
    48. Shinichi Furuya, Kenta Tominaga, Fumio Miyazaki, Eckart Altenmüller (2015) Losing dexterity: impaired coordination of finger movements in musician's dystonia. Scientific Reports 5: 13360
    49. Shinichi Furuya, Eckart Altenmüller (2015) Acquisition and reacquisition of motor coordination in musicians. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1337: 118–124
    50. Sara Winges, Shinichi Furuya (2015) Distinct digit kinematics by professional and amateur pianists. Neuroscience 284: 643–652
    51. Andre Lee, Kenta Tominaga, Shinichi Furuya, Fumio Miyazaki, Eckart Altenmüller (2015) Electrophysiological characteristics of task-specific tremor in 22 instrumentalists. Journal of Neural Transmission 122(3): 393-401
    52. Shinichi Furuya, Matthias Klaus, Michael Nitsche, Walter Paulus, Eckart Altenmüller (2014) Ceiling effects prevent further improvement of transcranial stimulation in skilled musicians. The Journal of Neuroscience 34(41): 13834-13839
    53. Andre Lee*, Shinichi Furuya*, Masanori Morise, Peter Iltius, Eckart Altenmüller (2014) Quantification of instability of tone production in embouchure dystonia. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders 20(11): 1161-1164
    54. Andre Lee, Kenta Tominaga, Shinichi Furuya, Fumio Miyazaki, Eckart Altenmüller (2014) Quantification of secondary task-specific tremor after temporal lobectomy. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8:559
    55. Floris van Vugt, Shinichi Furuya, Henning Vauth, Hans-Christian Jabusch, Eckart Altenmüller (2014) Spatial and temporal symmetries in motor primitives in skilled piano performance at different tempi. Experimental Brain Research 232(11): 3555-3567
    56. Shinichi Furuya, Ayumi Nakamura, Noriko Nagata (2014) Acquisition of individuated finger movements through musical practice. Neuroscience 275(C): 444-454
    57. Shinichi Furuya, Ayumi Nakamura, Noriko Nagata (2014) Extraction of finger coordination pattern associated with motor learning in piano practice using principal component analysis. Neuroscience Letters 577(C): 38-44
    58. Andre Lee, Shinichi Furuya, Eckart Altenmüller (2014) Epidemiology and treatment of 23 musicians with task specific tremor. Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders 1:5
    59. Shinichi Furuya, Michael Nitsche, Walter Paulus, Eckart Altenmüller (2014) Surmounting retraining limits in musicians’ dystonia by transcranial stimulation. Annals of Neurology 75(5): 700-707
    60. Marieke van der Steen, Eva Molendijk, Eckart Altenmüller, Shinichi Furuya (2014) Expert pianists do not listen: the expertise-dependent influence of temporal perturbation on the production of sequential movements. Neuroscience 269(C): 290-298
    61. Andre Lee, Kenta Tominaga, Shinichi Furuya, Fumio Miyazaki, Eckart Altenmüller (2014) Coherence of coactivation and acceleration in task-specific primary bowing tremor. Journal of Neural Transmission 121(7):739-742
    62. Shinichi Furuya, Ayumi Nakamura, Noriko Nagata (2013) Transfer of piano practice at submaximal speed in fast performance of skilled finger movements. BMC Neuroscience 14: 133
    63. Shinichi Furuya, Eckart Altenmüller (2013) Finger-specific loss of independent control of finger movements in musician's dystonia. Neuroscience 247C: 152-163
    64. Andre Lee, Shinichi Furuya, Matthias Karst, Eckart Altenmüller (2013) Alteration in predictability of sensory outcome of motor action in focal hand dystonia. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7: 172 (7 pages)
    65. Sara Winges, Shinichi Furuya, Nathaniel Faber, Martha Flanders (2013) Patterns of muscle activity for digital coarticulation. Journal of Neurophysiology 110(1): 230-242
    66. Andre Lee, Kenta Tominaga, Shinichi Furuya, Fumio Miyazaki, Eckart Altenmüller (2013) Task-specific tremor in violinists: evidence of coactivation in the 3-8 Hz frequency range. Movement Disorders 28(13): 1890-1892
    67. Shinichi Furuya, Eckart Altenmüller (2013) Flexibility of movement organization in piano performance. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7: 173 (10 pages)
    68. Shinichi Furuya, Michael Nitsche, Walter Paulus, Eckart Altenmüller (2013) Early optimization in finger dexterity of skilled pianists: implication of transcranial stimulation. BMC Neuroscience 14:35 (8 pages)
    69. Rebecca Schaefer, Shinichi Furuya, Leigh Smith, Blair Kaneshiro, Petri Toiviainen (2012) Probing neural mechanisms of music perception, cognition, and performance using multivariate decoding. Psychomusicology 22(2): 168-174
    70. Shinichi Furuya, John Soechting (2012) Speed invariance of independent control of finger movements in pianists. Journal of Neurophysiology 108(7): 2060-2068
    71. Shinichi Furuya, Tomoko Aoki, Hidehiro Nakahara, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2012) Individual differences in the biomechanical effect of loudness and tempo on upper-limb movements during repetitive piano keystrokes. Human Movement Science 31(1): 26-39
    72. Shinichi Furuya, Martha Flanders, John Soechting (2011) Hand kinematics of piano playing. Journal of Neurophysiology 106(6): 2849-2864
    73. Shinichi Furuya, Tatsushi Goda, Haruhiro Katayose, Hiroyoshi Miwa, Noriko Nagata (2011) Distinct interjoint coordination during fast alternate keystroke in pianists with superior skill. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 5: 50 (13 pages)
    74. Hidehiro Nakahara, Shinichi Furuya, Tsutomu Masuko, Peter Francis, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2011) Performing music can induce greater modulation of emotion-related psychophysiological responses than listening to music. International Journal of Psychophysiology 81(3): 152-158
    75. Shinichi Furuya, Eckart Altenmüller, Haruhiro Katayose, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2010) Control of multi-joint arm movements for the manipulation of touch in keystroke by expert pianists. BMC Neuroscience 11(1): 82 (15 pages)
    76. Shinichi Furuya, John Soechting (2010) Role of auditory feedback in the control of successive keystrokes during piano playing. Experimental Brain Research 204(2): 223-237
    77. Hidehiro Nakahara, Shinichi Furuya, Peter Francis, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2010) Psycho-physiological responses to expressive piano performance. International Journal of Psychophysiology 75(3): 268-276
    78. Shinichi Furuya, Rieko Osu, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2009) Effective utilization of gravity during arm downswing in keystroke by expert pianists. Neuroscience 164(2): 822-831
    79. Hidehiro Nakahara, Shinichi Furuya, Tsutomu Masuko, Satoshi Obata, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2009) Emotion-related changes in heart rate and its variability during perception and performance of music. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1169(1): 359-362
    80. Shinichi Furuya, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2008) Expertise-dependent modulation of muscular and non-muscular torques in multi-joint arm movements during piano keystroke. Neuroscience 156(2): 390-402
    81. Shinichi Furuya, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2008) Organization of the upper limb movement for piano key-depression differs between expert pianists and novice players. Experimental Brain Research 185(4): 581-593
    82. Shinichi Furuya, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2007) Roles of proximal-to-distal sequential organization of the upper limb segments in striking the keys by expert pianists. Neuroscience Letters 421(3): 264-269
    83. Hiroshi Kinoshita, Shinichi Furuya, Tomoko Aoki, Eckart Altenmüller (2007) Loudness control in pianists as exemplified in keystroke force measurements at different touches. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 121(5Pt1): 2959-2969
    84. Shinichi Furuya, Hidehiro Nakahara, Tomoko Aoki, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2006) Prevalence and causal factors of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremity and trunk among Japanese pianists and piano students. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 21(3): 112-117
    85. Tomoko Aoki, Shinichi Furuya, Hiroshi Kinoshita (2005) Finger tapping ability in male and female pianists and nonmusician control. Motor Control 9(1): 23-39

    Conference Articles (peer-reviewed)

     

    1. Vincent KM Cheung, Lana Okuma, Kazuhisa Shibata, Kosetsu Tsukuda, Masataka Goto, Shinichi Furuya (2023) Decoding drums, instrumentals, vocals, and mixed sources in music using human brain activity with fMRI. Decoding drums, instrumentals, vocals, and mixed sources in music using human brain activity with fMRI. Proceedings of the 24th ISMIR Conference. 197-206
    2. Ruofan Liu, Erwin Wu, Chen-Chieh Liao, Hayato Nishioka, Shinichi Furuya, Hideki Koike (2023) PianoSyncAR: Enhancing Piano Learning through Visualizing Synchronized Hand Pose Discrepancies in Augmented Reality. 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR). 859-868
    3. Erwin Wu, Hayato Nishioka, Shinichi Furuya, Hideki Koike (2023) Marker-removal Networks to Collect Precise 3D Hand Data for RGB-based Estimation and its Application in Piano. Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV). 2977-2986
    4. Ruofan Liu, Erwin Wu, Chen-Chieh Liao, Hayato Nishioka, Shinichi Furuya, Hideki Koike (2022) Synchronized Hand Difference Visualization for Piano Learning. ACM SIGGRAPH 2022 Posters. 1-2
  • Research Topics

    Beyond the limits of Human Sensory-Motor-Cognitive Skills

    ”surmounting the ceiling effect"

    Optimized Biofeedback

    Multimodal Bio-/Neuro-feedback, Hand Exoskeleton, Haptic Interface, VR/AR training, AI-based recommendation

    Optimal Practice

    Online & Offline Learning, Memory consolidation & interference, Neuroplasticity, Practice regime, Supervised/Reinforcement learning, Internal model, Imagery training

    Neuromuscular Skills

    MoCap, Data Glove, EMG, Force & position sensors, Robotics, Data science & Machine learning

    Sensory-Motor Integration

    Psychophysics, Sensory assessment, Multimodal integration, EEG, TMS, peripheral nerve stimulation, Perceptual Learning

    Injury Prevention & Retraining

    Epidemiology, Biomechanics, Intervention, Rehabilitation, Exoskeleton, Haptic device, Machine Learning

    Focal Dystonia, Stage Fright

    tDCS, TMS, EEG, Machine Learning, Multivariate analysis, Hand exo-skeleton, choking under pressure

  • Fulltime members

    Researchers, Engineers, Evangelists

    broken image

    PI

    Sensorimotor control & learning in musical performance

    broken image

    Project Research Leader

    Overcoming the limits of sensory-motor skills in experts

    broken image

    Project Engineering Leader

    Assessment and enhancement of experts' expertise

    broken image

    Project Researcher

    Bio-educational engineering for boosting musicians' skills

    broken image

    Project Engineer

    Designing and developing sensing and training system

    broken image

    Project Researcher

    Augmenting creativity and reward in music performance and perception

    broken image

    Project Researcher

    Stabilizing memory retrieval under pressure in pianists

    broken image

    Project Researcher

    Neuromuscular plasticity of motor dexterity

    broken image

    Postdoctoral Fellow (JSPS PD)

    Catalyst of sensorimotor training for experts

    broken image

    Ph.D. candidate (JSPS DC1)

    Bridging between musical expression and skills

    broken image

    Kaori KUROMIYA

    Ph.D. candidate and Evangelist

    Evidence-based physical education for pianists

    broken image

    Sachiko SHIOTANI

    Project Researcher

    Physical Therapist (PT)

    broken image

    Momoko SHIOKI

    Evangelist

    pianist

  • Non-fulltime members

    Visiting Researchers, Engineers, Project Staffs in Music Excellence Project

    broken image

    Adjunct Researcher

    Associate Professor at Toyohashi University of Technology

    broken image

    Adjunct Researcher

    Associate Professor at Meiji University

    broken image

    Engineer & Project Manager

    Sony CSL TPDG engineer

  • Research Assistants (RA) & Internship Students

    part-time student members

    Development

    Keitaro Murakami (Tokyo Univ.)

    Ryo Nakabayashi (Tokyo Univ.)

    Yori Namioka (Tokyo Univ. of the Arts)

    Yukiya Mita (Tokyo Univ.)

    Hidetaka Katsuyama (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

    Kosei Matsuyama (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

    Daiki Usami (Tokyo Institute of Technology) 

    Research

    Erwin Wu (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

    Masaki Yasuhara (Nagaoka University of Technology)

    Kengo Matsuzaka (Waseda Univ.)

    Yosuke Kawasaki (Keio Univ.)

    Junya Koguchi (Meiji Univ.)

    Liu Ruofan (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

    Tamaka Harada (Tokyo Univ.)

    Alumni

    Shu Sakamoto (McMaster University, Canada)

    Mai Akahoshi (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

    Reigo Ban (Tokyo Univ., Japan)

    Satoshi Takimoto (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)

    Taisuke Matsushiro (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

    Manabu Endo (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

    Akira Kobayashi (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

    Takaharu Suzuki (Tokyo Univ.)
    Yuli Kamiya (Tokyo Univ.)

  • Current External Collaborators

  • Alumni

    Past members (grad students from Sophia University)

    broken image

    Ryuya TANIBUCHI

    Bachelor & Master (2016~2019)

    Robotics-based training for musicians

    broken image

    Mizuha SAKURADA

    Bachelor & Master (2016~2019)

    Optimal practice for acquiring musical virtuosity

    broken image

    Tomohiro

    SAITO

    Bachelor & Master (2016~2019)

    Human interface for musicians

    broken image

    Yuta

    FURUKAWA

    Bachelor & Master, JSPS DC1 (2015~2019)

    Metaplasticity of auditory-motor system in musicians

    broken image

    Shuntaro

    KOTANI

    Bachelor & Master (2015~2018)

    Hand motor control under mental pressure

    broken image

    Moe HOSODA

    Bachelor & Master (2015~2018)

    Sensory-motor coupling in musicians

    broken image

    Shogo KUWABARA

    Bachelor (2016~2017)

    Exoskeleton for hand motor training

    broken image

    Hiroshi

    MATSUI

    Bachelor (2016~2017)

    Online visuomotor coordination in musical performance

    broken image

    Sayuri

    YOKOTA

    Bachelor (2015~2016)

    Impacts of variable practice on muscular synergy in musical performance

    broken image

    Ami

    SHIMIZU

    Bachelor (2015~2016)

    Hand synergy in musician's dystonia

    broken image

    Mamoru

    TAYA

    Bachelor (2014~2016)

    Development of piano-embedded sensors

    broken image

    You

    MURATA

    Bachelor (2014~2015)

    Identification of musician's dystonia using deep neural network and random forest 

    broken image

    Hiroshi MATSUBAYASHI

    Bachelor (2014~2015)

    Machine learning approach for characterizing musician's dystonia

  • On Media

    Introduction of "Musical Dynaformics" on Sony Stories

    Musical Dynaformics: R&D for enhancing expertise and preventing injury

    PEAC: Technology-based support for musicians

    PEAC: Physical Education for Artists Curriculum

    Neuro-rehabilitation for Musicians' Dystonia @ RTL (in German)

    Joint Event with Lang Lang @ SONY Explora Science (in Japanese)

    Sony CSL Stories (3oth year anniversary)

    An overview of activities of Sony CSL incl. a brief introduction of our research

    TEDxSophia 2016 "Harmonizing Science with Musicians"

    Introduction of Music Excellence Project (in Japanese)

  • Interested in working at MED lab?

    More about our research? www.neuropiano.net

    Research Assistant

    for students

    Internship

    for students & postdocs

    Post-doc

    for PhD students/holders

  • Opportunities to Join MED Lab

    For students and post-docs

    Students & Internship

    I can only accept some students who get involved in our research projects as a paid project-based part-time member (e.g. RA and internship who assists running experiments and data analysis as well as other activities related to research and development). The part-time members are required to have some expertise (e.g. programming, prototyping, human experiment), and will be selected through our formal selection process. Please feel free to contact me about the details. You can join us as a part of our JST CREST project or Sony CSL internship program. I have/had accepted students from Tokyo Institute of Technology and the University of Tokyo, pre-med student from the United States, master students from University of London Goldsmiths, and a physical therapist (PT). Your workplace will be Sony CSL Tokyo. So please keep in mind that you are required to stay in Tokyo during this period. We will provide financial supports based on your expertise and what projects you get involved in.

     

    If your supervisor formally agrees with my co-supervision of your research, I'm willing to accept it, based on mutual consent after a formal interview process. I have/had supervised students from different universities in this way (e.g. Kwansei Gakuin University, Hannover Medical University (MHH), Sophia University, Tokyo University of the Arts, the University of Tokyo, Nagaoka Institute of Technology). Currently, I have been co-supervising 2 PhD students.

     

    If you are an international student/scholar, you can also work with us temporarily (e.g. 3-6 months) as an internship student/scholar, if you can come to and work at Tokyo. If you are a graduate student, I do recommend you to obtain a permission of your formal mentor. Our company, Sony CSL, has an international internship program covering cost of your flight and accommodation (there's a max. limit of the coverage), which you may want to apply for (email here). Apart from our company's program, Japanese government has some fellowships for temporally-visiting scholars, which can fund your trip and stay (e.g. JSPS).

     

    In any case, we particularly welcome students with basic skills and knowledge of computer programming (e.g. Matlab, R, Python, and/or C++) and statistics.

    Post-docs

    If you are interested in working with us as a post-doc, please get in touch.

     

    Your country may offer fellowships supporting your research activities in Japan (e.g. Alexander von Humboldt, DFG, Marie Curie, Fulbright). Also, the Japanese government (JSPS) provides a fellowship for young foreign researchers (max. 2 yrs, recommended!).

     

    We have a space, equipment, and projects for post-docs in my team (SONY CSL at Tokyo), and can provide unique opportunities of investigating a lot of expert musicians and musicians with focal dystonia with neurophysiological, robotic, VR/AR, and psychophysic techniques. Our institute has many international scholars, and all of the researchers and staffs communicate in English. You may have opportunities of networking and collaborating with our research colleagues in Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka, because I have some grants collaborating with the other scholars in different cities.

     

    Post-docs are strongly encouraged to have fundamental knowledge/skill of both statistics (e.g. R) and programming (e.g. Matlab, Python). People with experience of programming (C++, C#, JAVA, Python, LabView, and/or Unity), haptic interface, human psychophysics, physiological measurement such as TMS/EEG/EMG, robotics, and/or machine learning are also highly welcomed. Although we study musicians, our primary focus in research is neuroplasticity of sensorimotor skills and training to overcome limits of experts' expertise.

  • Contact Form

    Don't hesitate to contact me about any questions which may arise.