October 29, 2025

We are pleased to report that special lecture event “KAIWA”, inviting external experts to our Wako office, was held for the purpose of acquiring diverse perspectives and knowledge on new fields.

Guest speaker:

Name：Jun Kunimatsu

Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Institute of Medicine/ Transborder Medical Research Center, University of Tsukuba

WEB:　 https://www.md.tsukuba.ac.jp/basic-med/sys-physiol/

Profile:

Dr. Kunimatsu received his Ph.D. in Medical Science from the Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University in 2012. After serving as an Assistant Professor at the same institution, he worked as a Visiting Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States in 2015. He has held his current position since 2018. His research focuses on systems neurophysiology, with a particular interest in the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of breathing on cognitive function. He investigates these mechanisms through a combination of human and animal experiments.

Title of the talk: "The Power of Breathing on Cognition”

Abstract:

In practices such as meditation and yoga, consciously regulating one’s breathing helps control mental states. While this effect is familiar to many of us, it has been known primarily through experience, and the underlying scientific mechanisms remain largely unexplored. One major reason for this gap is the lack of animal models capable of performing voluntary breathing under experimental control. Recently, we developed a behavioral paradigm that enables macaque monkeys to perform voluntary breathing, allowing us to investigate the relationship between respiratory control and cognitive functions. In this seminar, I will introduce our recent findings on breathing in relation to movement, speech, and artistic expression, and share the latest insights into how breathing influences the regulation of the mind.