2025年10月8日

社外の研究者や有識者から多様な視点や最新の知見を得るため、このたび弊社和光本社にて社内講演会「KAIWA」を開催いたしました。

講演者: 

兼子 峰明 　自然科学研究機構　生理学研究所 システム脳科学研究領域　認知行動発達機構研究部門 助教

https://researchmap.jp/takaakikaneko

Title of the talk:

"Understanding the brain as a mentalizing machine”

Abstract:

Daily communication relies on inferences about others' internal states behind their actions, a cognitive process known as mentalizing. Understanding how the human brain transforms sensory information into inferences about others’internal states may provide new insights into the nature of social interactions and therapeutic interventions, as well as the development of more effective human–machine interactions. In this talk, I will introduce a series of studies investigating the neural mechanisms underlying mentalizing using non-human primates as model species. First, we established a novel behavioral analysis system that precisely captures 3D motions of primate behaviors under freely moving conditions. This system enables fully data-driven analysis of behaviors, such as unsupervised evaluation of the progressive manifestation of Parkinson’s disease symptoms solely from videographic data. Furthermore, although 3D motions per se are merely pieces of spatiotemporal information about bodily actions, they enable the decoding of a broad spectrum of behavioral traits from natural behaviors, including internal states of animals akin to the mentalizing process. In turn, using this framework, we have identified a cortical area that is causally involved in behavioral flexibility in response to others’ internal states. Lastly, I will argue that the design of artificial neural networks emulates the computational principles underlying mentalizing that the biological brain may perform.

本講演では、日常的なコミュニケーションに欠かせない「他者の心を推測する能力（メンタライジング）」の神経基盤を、非ヒト霊長類を用いた研究などについてご紹介いただきました。