"Connecting Clinical Psychology Fields and Neuroscience"

"Connecting Clinical Psychology Fields and Neuroscience and Neuroscience"

Sumiya, Motofumi
(Department of Physiological Science, School of Life Science)

We spoke with Motofumi Sumiya, a second-year student in the Doctoral Course in the Department of Physiological Science, whose base institute is the National Institute of Physiological Science (NIPS). Mr. Sumiya is currently studying the phenomena occurring in the brain when a person is engaged in a conversation, by using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). On graduation from an American university, he studied at a graduate school in Japan, and became a clinical psychotherapist. After having seen the actual field as a clinical psychotherapist, he enrolled in SOKENDAI. We interviewed Sumiya, who has a rather unique background, on what brought him into research and why he chose SOKENDAI.

Q: What made you decide to start current research?

A: I became interested in psychology when I went to a university in the United States. As the psychology classes I took in the first and second years were fascinating, I transferred to another university where I could study psychology further for my junior and senior years. Universities in the U.S. allow you to take a wide range of classes, and the senior thesis was not mandatory. So, I found myself lecturers who were engaged in research I was interested in, or a place for an internship of clinical psychology. After I graduated, I returned to Japan, and after having worked in the human service and education fields, I enrolled in a master's course of clinical psychology. In my master's program, I studied the autistic spectrum disorder that presents communication difficulties, with which I have been engaged in various places. After having completed my master's course, I worked in the field of clinical psychology, but found out that the knowledge for supporting development of patients there lacked quantitative, physiological, and neuroscience bases. I wanted to obtain scientific knowledge and to study neuroscience at the doctoral level. Thus, I looked for a laboratory researching communication from the perspective of neuroscience.

Q: What made you choose SOKENDAI?

A: I got to know this laboratory first when I read one of its papers. I looked into the laboratory and got to know SOKENDAI's Department of Physiological Science. The reason I chose SOKENDAI was, besides it having the laboratory I wanted to join, that the school and NIPS ? the base institute of the Department of Physiological Science ? offered full support in personnel, material and financial aspects.
NIPS has faculty members renowned worldwide and up-and-coming young researchers and students. Pursuing my doctoral course with such people in the same environment gives me opportunities to learn how to proceed with my research, how to debate, and how to acquire highly advanced knowledge. Also, SOKENDAI offers ample opportunities to interact with students in other fields. Getting to know the students who are working hard in other fields, and discussing with them, widen my own perspective and help to create a network of people.
It may be no surprise given the rich human resources, but the ample material resources are an advantage as well. As an example, NIPS has three fMRIs. Most medical universities have fMRIs for medical purposes, and their research uses are affected by hospital hours and such. There is no such restriction for fMRIs at NIPS, as they are all for research purposes in the first place. Also, two of the three fMRIs are capable of simultaneously measuring the brain activities of two people communicating by conversations and eye contact. Globally there have been few studies on real time communication between two people using an fMRI. The advantages offered by the Department of Physiological Science include the freedom to use instruments for your own research and the chance to do research that could be done nowhere else.
Furthermore, a certain amount of salary is paid by the RA system in the Department of Physiological Science, and that minimizes your financial burden. I think the environment of the doctoral courses here at SOKENDAI is excellent.

Q: Please tell us about the details of your study.

A: I am currently doing research to reveal the neural base that is associated with communication by conducting experiments on humans, using the fMRI. Patients with mental disorders who have social impairments such as autism have problems communicating with others. However, the neural mechanism of communication is not well understood, in healthy people as well as those with mental disorders.

So, among different methods of communication, I am focusing on the most common method of daily communication ? conversations, and studying the joy of conversations with healthy adult people as subjects. fMRI is a technology that visualizes the variations of nuclear magnetic resonance signals accompanying the variation of blood flow in the brain; it is a brain function imaging technology that has been developed in recent years. Engaging the subjects of the experiment in the themes of conversations, we observe their brain activities with this fMRI to study the variation of the brain activities in response to each theme. In order to establish these conversation themes, I talked extensively with the advisors of our lab, and conducted numbers of preliminary experiments as well. From the research planning through the actual start of the experiment, it took about a year. I have obtained most of the data in about four months since we started taking data, and now I am trying to write a paper based on the data acquired.

The experiment has revealed that, for a joyful conversation, the accompanying associations of both speaker's action (example: speech) and listener's action (example: nodding) are essential. In other words, the association of two individuals that is the structure of a conversation itself contains the factor of joy. There have been few case studies of communication by experiments using the fMRI. I think, therefore, that this research is novel and unique in terms of revealing that the factor of joy in conversation, in other words, a motivation for people to have conversations, is in the association of two individuals.
I intend to continue my research on the essence of communication, and eventually, I am hoping to connect it to research related to the understanding and the developmental support of social impairments such as autism.

Q: How do you spend your days off?

A: Mostly, I am working in the lab. But when I'm not working, I may go to a cafe, play the bass, go swimming, or do some climbing. I try to stay physically active and take breaks.

Q: What do you intend to do after completing your degree?

A: I am thinking of doing research abroad. It has been only ten years or so since my specialized field ? social neuroscience ? was established, and there are only limited numbers of researchers in Japan. The U.S. and Europe are more advanced in this field, so I would like to learn in those countries. But eventually, I would like to take a post in Japan. Whatever I say, I feel at home in Japan.

Q: Please give some advice to those who aim to pursue doctoral courses.

A: If possible, it is preferable to have three or four year short-term goals in the undergraduate years, and a long-term goal for the post-doctoral years of what you would like to be doing. Having a goal or not affects the quality of every day. In my case, I try to collect information actively not only for the agendas in front of me, but for other things as well, and extend the range of conferences I attend, which helps me carry out fulfilling research.
And when you think about your career after you graduate, it may be good to think about changing your specialized field. It's one option to stick to one specialized field to deepen your specialty, but I think that having knowledge and experience in multiple fields by changing your specialized area is also important. As I have seen clinical psychology on the ground, I came to think that it lacks scientific bases for developmental support. There have been many studies on developmental support, but the current situation is that they do not refer deeply to the factors when the implemented interventions worked, or on the contrary, when they did not work. I thought there was a need for a scientific basis to solve this problem, and I jumped into the neuroscience field. I think that knowing both fields allows me to think more deeply and not superficially, and yields more meaningful research accomplishments.

- After the Interview -

I met Mr. Sumiya through SOKENDAI's students seminar committee. As we worked together as committee members, I learned a lot from his visionary ideas and highly capable communication skill. Though he already has superior skills, I think that the physiological science lab's ample personnel and material resources as well as generous financial support will refine his skills even further.

Profile

Sumiya, Motofumi

Status: Department of Physiological Science, School of Life Science
Special Field: Social neuroscience, clinical psychology

Graduated from University of Arizona, Behavioral Science, majoring in psychology, in August 2006. Completed master's course in development psychology at the Department of Child Culture at the Graduate School of Shirayuri Women's University in March 2013. Enrolled in the Doctoral Course of Physiological Science in the School of Life Science of SOKENDAI (the Graduate School of Advanced Studies) since April 2015. He received the SOKENDAI President's Award in April 2014.