Bang, on the head!

This is Japanese comic duo Obon and Kobon.

They have entertained audiences together for over 58 years.

Yet behind their smiling faces was a long history of discord.

Even though we'd be onstage
every day, it was irritating.

We both felt that what the other was doing
was no longer good enough.

You know how it drives you crazy.

I'm furious!

Though they didn't express it outwardly, they had intense emotions welling up inside.

Anger, sadness, joy...

How do these various human emotions arise?

The process, which has long been a mystery, has gradually been revealed through brain research.

What has been seen is a surprisingly close relationship between emotions and our bodies.

Emotional awareness is actually in a very
similar place to physical awareness.

Efforts are underway to use this mechanism to approach physical ailments from an "emotional" perspective.

On today's episode, we'll take a look at the complex mechanisms of the mind and the true nature of "emotion."

Welcome to Science View.

Today's program is about the science of emotions.

How emotions are produced has been a mystery for many years.

Yet new brain research and experiments have revealed how this works.

Joining us today is Mr. DavidHajime Kornhauser,

Director of Kyoto University's Office of Global Communications.

Mr. Kornhauser, it's nice to see you again.

It's great to be back!

Emotions are a difficult subject because they cannot be seen and are hard to quantify.

Exactly, emotions have become the subject of scientific research only in the last 20 years or so,

with the development of brain visualization technology.

Various findings have been gathered, and we now understand the surprising mechanisms that produce emotions!

This is Nagoya University Hospital.

Dr. Kazuya Motomura belongs to the Department of Neurosurgery.

He is working on a new surgery to remove tumors while protecting brain function.

Can you understand me?

You are undergoing surgery,
but you're awake.

This is "conscious sedation" in which the patient is awakened from anesthesia.

Bend and extend.
Bend.

By performing tasks while applying electrical stimulation directly to the brain,

the location of nerves involved in important functions can be identified.

Did you get a funny feeling in your tongue?
Or has it stopped moving?

It feels a little dull.

The ability to consider the resection approach while monitoring the patient's response

allows surgeons to preserve the maximum amount of function related to movement and speech.

However...

The tumor has been removed while
retaining movement and speech functions.

However, there are many patients
who cannot lead a social life.

They cannot express their feelings well.

They struggle in their social life,
work, or profession.

Motomura is currently studying a surgical method that preserves emotion.

He's interested in an area called the insular cortex, which is located under the frontal and temporal lobes.

Although it has been considered a place for monitoring internal conditions such as body pain and heartbeat,

Motomura believes that it may also be involved in generating emotions.

When I saw postoperative patients
with tumors in the insular cortex or gyrus,

I noticed a lack of facial expression,
or emotions seemed flat.

That led me to wonder if the insular cortex
might be involved in emotions.

Research has begun to unravel the function of this insular cortex.

Dr. Satoshi Umeda of Keio University specializes in cognitive neuroscience.

Umeda's research team conducted the following experiment.

We'll now begin the questions.

They are using a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging or fMRI machine

to visualize which parts of the brain are active when answering various questions.

For example, questions about the current emotional state.

They also ask questions about physical conditions such as gastrointestinal pain and pulse,

as well as questions about personal belongings.

The result...

They found that the insular cortex is active when...

perceiving one's emotional and physical states.

The insular cortex is what senses
when something is wrong with the body.

We now know that emotions are also
very much related to sensing such anomalies.

How is the insular cortex involved in the generation of emotions?

Let's take a look at Obon with one of the mechanisms that Umeda considers.

For example, when Obon, who wants to do something new, receives a curt reply from Kobon.

I lose it.

You know how it drives you crazy.

I'm furious!

At this moment, inside Obon's body...

Information from the ears is understood and sent to the amygdala.

When this information is transmitted to the autonomic nervous system...

changes occur, such as a faster heartbeat and increased blood pressure.

Then... that information goes to the insular cortex.

Changes in the body detected by the insular cortex are integrated

with information from the prefrontal cortex and other areas,

and are recognized as emotions generated within the body.

In Obon's case, the combination of his blood pressure rising and getting upset,

his past experiences, and the circumstances of the situation led to the emotion of anger.

This is like, when you're nervous your heart starts pounding,

and when you notice that, it makes you even more nervous.

That's right.

Actually, emotions are produced by the action of both the body as well as the brain.

Consider a situation where you're suddenly being attacked by an animal.

First, you recognize the danger of the situation.

Then, the amygdala, which was mentioned in the video, responds and the autonomic nervous system tends to become excited.

This causes the heart to pound and breathing to become labored.

And we recognize this state in the brain's insular cortex.

I see.

And the autonomic nervous system is what transmits information from the brain to the body.

Have a look at this.

So it extends throughout the body, in various organs and blood vessels.

That's right.

And the insular cortex is what compiles information about changes in the body

that is transmitted throughout the autonomic nervous system.

We now know that the insular cortex is involved in various bodily sensations.

The technical term for this is "interoception."

Interoception...

It's the counterpart to something called "exteroception,"

which involves perceptions of the outside world, such as sight and smell.

On the other hand, interoception is the perception of internal conditions

such as one's heartbeat, breathing, hunger, tiredness, and lethargy.

Interoception is related to emotion.

Individual differences in interoception have been found to be closely related to differences

in certain abilities that are important for people to live.

That was confirmed by Dr. Masahiro Imafuku.

What he focused on was the relationship between interoception and human social cognition,

or the ability to sense the emotions of others.

In a paper published in 2020, he conducted the following experiment.

First, it examines individual differences in the accuracy of interoception.

Subjects wear sensors that can measure heart rate.

Now please count the number of heartbeats.

Subjects count their heartbeats for a fixed period of time, relying solely on their senses.

- How many beats were there?
- 57.

91.

28.

The difference between the person's perceived heart rate and the actual heart rate is calculated.

This test is repeated several times to estimate the accuracy of interoception.

The results for these three people are shown here.

The experiment then examines empathy as it relates to social cognition.

Relax and look at the screen.

Subjects are instructed to look only at the screen.

By examining natural responses to facial expressions shown on the monitor,

"the ease of empathy" for other people's emotions is measured.

A person is considered to have high empathy if the corners of his or her mouth naturally turn up

in response to the other person's smile.

And a person is considered to have high social cognition

if he or she doesn't react when the other person is looking away,

but smiles only when making eye contact.

The result... people with more accurate interoception were rated as more empathetic people

who were more likely to smile when they had eye contact with the other person.

Empathy is feeling the emotions of others
by simulating their pain and sadness.

Proper awareness of the sensations in your own body　
is considered essential for building social skills.

So, the more you understand the state of your own body, the more you can detect changes in others,

which would mean that, you can also understand the emotion and pain of others.

Right.

Even though you're not in that emotional state, just imagining that the other person is,

causes a physical response, an autonomic response.

That is what the insular cortex picks up.

That's like when, for example, my close friend was going through a really tough situation in life.

Sometimes I would also feel really sad and worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

In fact, that is how a close-knit group is formed.

In other words, social cognition is a group of people who are in sync with each other in various states of mind and body.

But as we saw in the video, there are some people who don't have very accurate interoception...

Right. Some people struggle with accurate interoception and perception of emotions.

This is actually known to be related to a variety of diseases.

How do emotions relate to health?

A large study was conducted on a scale far greater than most.

The research took place in Hisayama Town, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Over the past 60 years, the health data of almost the entire population has been medically analyzed.

One of the people involved in the research is Dr. Mao Shibata of Kyushu University.

Shibata and her colleagues conducted a survey on emotions among approximately 900 residents here.

Here is the questionnaire used for
international alexithymia.

It asks about 20 items.

For example...

I don't know what emotion I'm feeling.

I was so shocked.

What do you think, Haruka?

Um, I don't know.

And while some can speak fluently about tangible situations and facts...

How do you feel about it, Mr. Ishii?

Me?

Questionnaire items such as "I'm not aware of my inner self,"

and "It's difficult to find the right words to describe my feelings"

all relate to the awareness and communication of emotions.

What emerged from this was the relationship between emotions and chronic pain.

Shibata found that people who have difficulty recognizing their own emotions are more prone to chronic pain.

Why is this?

A person who has difficulty noticing emotions also has reduced interoception,

so they're unable to notice small abnormalities in their bodies.

Often, by the time the person becomes aware of the abnormalities, they've already become chronic.

Stomach problems or headaches
should already be a warning,

but it's hard for such people to notice them.

They often seem to suddenly notice those ailments
when they become very serious.

For this kind of pain, one hospital takes an "emotional" approach:

practicing to speak with one's true feelings.

The heart of the matter is that the person
doesn't know what they really feel.

The idea is to improve the dullness of the interoception that leads to severe pain

by becoming aware of previously unnoticed feelings.

There is also this kind of treatment.

Focus attention on your stomach.

Training the brain to become aware of interoception helps prepare it to sense the state of the body.

People who say they're not tired may begin to
realize how tired their bodies really are,

or they may become more aware of their emotions.
They can sense those sort of changes.

This makes sense.

If you're not in tune with your own emotions,

you tend to miss the little signals from your body that could lead to a major illness.

That's why the training which was just mentioned is so important.

One learns to become aware of the movement of their abdomen when breathing.

By doing this, they will become aware of minor changes in the body,

and then be able to perceive any abnormalities, such as feeling tired.

I understand that it's important to be aware of feelings and pain.

But if you're too aware of them, you might become overly sensitive and wear yourself out, won't you?

That's true.

In fact, it has been shown that if the person is overly sensitive, it can cause physical and mental problems.

Take "irritable bowel syndrome," for example.

This is a disease in which diarrhea and constipation occur repeatedly

even though there is nothing wrong with the intestines.

It is thought that one of the causes is that the insular cortex overreacts to slight stimuli.

Is there any treatment for that?

Well, one promising treatment for patients who cannot be cured with drugs is to intentionally stimulate interoception.

For example, a patient may take a sip of cold water, which he or she normally does not drink

due to concern about getting a stomachache.

Or, they can use a belt to put pressure on the stomach.

This is a way of experiencing a behavior that they would normally avoid.

As they repeat this, the insular cortex becomes accustomed to the stimulation

and stops overreacting, and the symptoms are suppressed.

So adjusting one's interoception to the appropriate level can keep the state of mind stable and lead to good health.

Our next topic is about the development of wheelchairs that are better suited to their users.

Ordinary hospital wheelchairs tend to be heavy and large in order to accommodate various users,

and also lack personalized features.

Yet today's Takumi, or innovator, has developed special types of wheelchairs

that fit their users' physique, level of disability, and lifestyle.

A customer has come to a wheelchair dealer.

This is Sugawara Michinao, who lost his mobility from the waist down after an accident 14 years ago.

Today, he has come to buy a new wheelchair for the first time in 13 years.

It's well-balanced.

I can turn in a circle so easily.

I can move quickly in the direction I want to go.

Why does this wheelchair perform so well?

The answer lies in a special manufacturing process.

We've come to the Takumi's business in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture.

Hello!

Today's Takumi is Ishii Katsuyuki.

He is the president of a company that has been in business for 35 years.

What kind of work goes into making an easy-to-use wheelchair?

This is a wheelchair for daily use.
It's part of a modular category,

which offers a variety of options
to match the user's size and disability.

This wheelchair allows the user to choose a frame that fits their requirements

for seat width, depth, and height as well as length of the legs.

There are up to 12 different types of front wheels, which affect riding comfort.

The choices range from inexpensive and long-lasting plastic ones,

to rubber types that absorb more shock, replaceable types for worn-out rubber,

and ones with wider width for stable running.

The material of the handles used to move the wheelchair can be anodized aluminum or vinyl coated.

This depends on the degree of disability.

For those with a weak grip,
a non-slip vinyl coating is applied

allowing force to be transmitted firmly
even with little effort.

The angle between the backrest and seat is also relevant.

If the user's abdominal muscles
are not very strong or weak,

he or she will fall forward,

so the frame pattern is such that
the center of gravity lies to the back.

Unlike a normal chair that is flat,
the wheelchair seat angles up.

In this way, there are seemingly endless combinations of different sized frames, various parts, and coloring.

This "modular wheelchair" is one of a kind.

This wheelchair was inspired by a certain person's idea.

Pictured here is Ishii Shigeyuki,
the company founder and also my father.

Shigeyuki was once a motorcycle engineer and racer,

but in 1984, he suffered a spinal cord injury in an accident during a motorcycle test ride.

He was forced to use a wheelchair.

However, the wheelchairs available at the time were stainless steel,

heavy, and made large enough for anyone to use,

so they were not easy to maneuver.

There were also few designs to choose from.

Essentially, there were no wheelchairs that Shigeyuki wanted to use.

So he decided to develop one himself.

The user can choose the wheelchair
that best suits his or her needs.

Having this choice creates attachment.

Becoming attached to the wheelchair
means using it like a part of the body.

My father wanted to make a wheelchair
that was cool and easy to use.

Four years after the accident, Shigeyuki founded his company.

These designers worked with Shigeyuki when they were developing the wheelchair.

They remember that Shigeyuki went through a lot of trial and error.

All of our frames use 75R.
It's our culture.

75R refers to the curve drawn by a circle with a radius of 75 millimeters.

The company determined that this curvature is optimal for the frame.

It's the easiest to bend.

It's mechanically bendable, looks good,
and has the right dimensions for the frame.

The first wheelchair Shigeyuki launched had a 90R frame.

But there were problems with its appearance and functionality.

If the radius is too large, there isn't
enough space for your hands.

This is dangerous if your hands
are wet as they can slip.

75R allows for easy hand placement.

After much trial and error, the cool and functional 75R feature was born.

The frame material is also unique.

The material is high-strength 7000 series aluminum.

Thin and strong, it can be lightened and is also easy to bend and process.

The 75R is formed at its angles by a computer-controlled machine.

The wheelchairs are assembled one by one by combining many parts according to the user's instructions.

This means that no two wheelchairs are ever alike.

In 2012, Shigeyuki passed away from cancer.

Katsuyuki, the current president, inherited his father's wishes and developed a new product.

A sports wheelchair for children.

His company also manufactures competition wheelchairs for use by para-athletes.

Athletes using his custom-designed wheelchairs have won 144 medals at 14 Paralympic Games.

Yet, children's wheelchairs were not suitable for custom designs because their bodies change as they grow.

So he developed a wheelchair with an adjustable function

that allows the size to be changed in stages as the child develops.

Now approximately 10% of all of their competition wheelchairs manufactured are for children.

The company is also actively pursuing joint development with other companies.

This is a foot-pedaled wheelchair that enables people with walking difficulties to move at their own will,

while at the same time promoting muscle rehabilitation in a natural way.

Designers reduced the weight of the wheelchair, which had previously been an issue.

Ishii is even planning to increase the number of overseas offices in the future.

If we can adapt our products
to the local culture and lifestyle,

I think customers will buy them.