Keio University Syllabus and Timetable

This seminar focuses on the theme of "NeuroMusic", aiming to unravel the "unknown" aspects of music and scientifically explore its essence through research activities. "NeuroMusic" (The Neurosciences and Music) is an academic discipline that investigates how musical information from the environment is processed by the human brain and nervous system, and how it gives rise to rich and unique mental states (Fujii, Research on Music Perception and Cognition, 2023).

[Content] This seminar explores the theme of "NeuroMusic," aiming to scientifically uncover music. Music is a deeply embedded cultural element, yet questions like "What is music?" remain unanswered. The seminar examines how the brain processes music and how it shapes unique mental states.
[Objective] The seminar aims to understand music's processing in the brain and its link to human traits like evolution, sociality, creativity, emotion, and cognition. It seeks to reveal music’s universal power through scientific inquiry and deepen our understanding of humanity. Students will learn to set research questions and conduct logical investigations independently.
[Methodology] The seminar involves literature review, discussions, experiment design, data analysis, and presentations. Students will read key academic papers, set research questions based on their interests, and conduct experiments. Data on human physiology will be analyzed using time-series and statistical methods to study the relationship between music, the brain, and the body. Findings will be presented with feedback to improve presentation and critical thinking skills.
[Learning Outcomes] Participants will understand NeuroMusic basics and recent research trends. They will develop critical analysis skills for scientific papers and learn to plan and execute research projects. Students will acquire essential data analysis skills and interpret results scientifically. The seminar fosters communication skills, encouraging constructive feedback to advance research and contribute to music science.

NeuroMusic

[Unraveling the Mechanism of Multisensory Groove Perception and Its Application to Musical Art Expression] When humans listen to music, they may clap their hands, step to the beat, or dance naturally, feeling joy and moving their bodies in response. This sensation, where listening to music evokes pleasure and the desire to move, is known as the “groove.” This research project approaches groove as a multisensory phenomenon, aiming to scientifically identify the characteristics of rhythmic performances that evoke groove and to develop and test systems that generate such rhythms. The project also applies its findings to create new forms of musical expression. This project is supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) PRESTO Program (https://www.kri.sfc.keio.ac.jp/ja/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/fujii_jst-presto_2023-1.pdf ). Participants interested in this project are encouraged to read the review paper by Etani et al. (2023) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105522 ) beforehand and clarify their specific interests in groove-related research.

[Co-Creation Hub for a Meta-Care City: Addressing Youth Distress and Promoting Well-Being] In recent years, youth distress has become a significant social issue, reflected in rising cases of depression, adjustment disorders, and high suicide rates. To achieve a sustainable society with high well-being in the approaching 100-year lifespan era, it is crucial to foster psychological resilience in adolescents and young adults during formative years when social activities intensify. This project focuses on the benefits of music and art as tools to address the mental challenges of distressed youth. It aims to scientifically investigate how music and art influence mental and physical states and their underlying neural mechanisms. Based on these insights, the project seeks to deliver innovative, evidence-based music and art content through the metaverse to help young people build psychological resilience. The project is part of the JST’s COI-NEXT Program. Participants are encouraged to review the Mind1020Lab Project Issue 5 webpage (https://minds1020lab.yokohama/project/issue5/ ) and the paper by Kondoh et al. (2024) on EEG-based music selection systems (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.07.621657v1 ) and clarify their research interests.

[Development of a Sensory-Auditory Interaction-Based Motion Support Platform for Mitigating Gait Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease Patients] Parkinson’s disease (PD) is increasing at an alarming rate compared to other diseases, with an estimated 13 million patients worldwide by 2040. Gait disorders, such as freezing of gait are common among PD patients and often lead to falls, increasing the risk of becoming bedridden. Addressing gait disorders in PD patients is thus of high social value. Interestingly, rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) has been shown to alleviate gait disorders in PD patients. This project aims to develop an interactive motion support platform using smart shoes to sense PD patients' gait and provide real-time rhythmic feedback to improve gait through RAS. The project is part of the NEDO Strategic Innovation Program (SIP) Phase 3 for expanding the virtual economy. Participants are encouraged to visit the Orphe Inc. smart shoes webpage (https://orphe.shoes) and read papers on interactive RAS improving gait timing in PD patients (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0032600 ) and gait disorder assessments in PD patients (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/w8t77zesnu0cgagak6g4m/.pdf?rlkey=s4xhml58ikir93rs5cttdei8q&st=9ikdis33&dl=0 ) to clarify their specific research interests.

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Shinya Fujii. **Research Trends in NeuroMusic: From the Musician's Brain to Predictive Coding of Music.** *Journal of Music Perception and Cognition*, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 101-122, 2023. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rw0gmoo4d7xhfdp2qae2r/_-28-2_-_2023.pdf?rlkey=ue67h2oy7vn9tnc89ue3tgicj&dl=0
Shinya Fujii. **The Heisei Era: The Encounter between Music and Neuroscience.** *KEIO SFC JOURNAL*, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 186-201, 2018. https://gakkai.sfc.keio.ac.jp/journal/.assets/SFCJ18-1-08.pdf

Etani, T., Miura, A., Kawase, S., Fujii, S., Keller, P. E., Vuust, P., & Kudo, K. (2023). A review of psychological and neuroscientific research on musical groove. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 158, 105522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105522
Fujii, S., Kudo, K., Ohtsuki, T., & Oda, S. (2009). Tapping performance and underlying wrist muscle activity of non-drummers, drummers, and the world’s fastest drummer. Neuroscience Letters, 459(2), 69–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2009.04.055
Fujii, S., & Wan, C. Y. (2014). The Role of Rhythm in Speech and Language Rehabilitation: The SEP Hypothesis. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 777. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00777
Fujii, S., Watanabe, H., Oohashi, H., Hirashima, M., Nozaki, D., & Taga, G. (2014). Precursors of dancing and singing to music in three- to four-months-old infants. PloS One, 9(5), e97680. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097680
Kawai, Y., Fujii, S., & Asada, M. (2024). Oscillations create groove: A reservoir model for learning complex drumming performances. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.17.603863

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