Research

How does the stream of consciousness enter episodic memory? To approach this question, we are especially interested in the temporal dynamics of brain network activation that supports episodic memory encoding. In our recent fMRI study, we found that time-varying functional connectivity patterns among large-scale brain networks can reliably predict temporal fluctuations of encoding performance of episodic memory. One of our long-term goals is to understand how the stream of consciousness is generated by ongoing activation in our brains.

In collaboration with Prof Hasegawa's lab at Niigata Univ, we are using high-density ECoG to investigate brain activation patterns in non-human primates. We found that associated pictorial memory can be encoded as similar activation patterns in the medial temporal lobe of macaque monkeys. There is little hope of becoming able to have conversation with animals like Dr Dolittle, but someday we may be able to read the minds of animals from their brain activation patterns.