Event: "Reconstruction of the Humanities Based on Neuroscientific Understandings of Affect" by NIPS Research Group

On November 5th to 6th, the NIPS research group is planning a large scale event titled "Reconstruction of the Humanities Based on Neuroscientific Understandings of Affect".

Date, time, and place

• Date/time: November 5th, 2021 1:00 PM ~ November 6th, 2021 12:00 PM
• Place: Main conference room, NIPS 1st floor or via Zoom (hybrid event)

Event overview

Academic disciplines in the humanities and social sciences such as psychology, linguistics, economics, and aesthetics construct models of internal states and processes based on observations and records of human behavior. Although the topic of how affect influences human behavior is important particularly in the humanities, models that include affect as an explanatory variable have been difficult to construct because an individual’s subjective affect cannot be directly measured. However, with recent advancements of fMRI and statistical models, it is now possible to estimate the potential affective states of an individual by observing their brain activity. In this workshop, participants will discuss at length how academic disciplines in the humanities and social sciences can further progress by actively utilizing such technologies in the future.

Speakers

• Junichi Chikazoe (Associate Professor, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences/Research Team Leader, Neurotechnology R&D Unit, Araya Inc.)
• Daichi Mochihashi (Associate Professor, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics)
• Yasutora Watanabe (Professor, The University of Tokyo)
• Tomohiro Ishizu (Associate Professor, Kansai University)
• Takafumi Minamimoto (Group Leader, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology)
• Koji Jimura (Associate Professor, Keio University)
• Ichiro Kobayashi (Professor, Ochanomizu University)
• Yohei Oseki (Lecturer, The University of Tokyo)
• Yutaka Kayaba (Lecturer, The University of Tokyo)
• Tatsuya Daikoku (Project Assistant Professor, International Research Center for Neuro intelligence, The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study)
• Akira Utsumi (Professor, The University of Electro-Communications)

[Proposal Representative] Daichi Mochihashi (Department of Statistical Inference and Mathematics, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics)
[In-House Correspondent] Junichi Chikazoe (National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences)

How to apply

If you plan to attend the event, please pre-register by Monday, November 1 2021 using the form below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrLwK_PV7K3Rqxw4VjeJISWBLAwx0Kk9BV_nCch4--nWdt8A/viewform

Event program

November 5th, 2021 (Friday)

12:30 PM　Reception opens
[1:00 PM ~ 1:10 PM]　Opening remarks by Junichi Chikazoe (Neurotechnology R&D Unit, Araya Inc.)
[1:10 PM ~ 1:45 PM]　“Machines that mimic a person’s aesthetic preferences” Junichi Chikazoe (Neurotechnology R&D Unit, Araya Inc.)
[1:45 PM ~ 2:20 PM]　"Understanding affective processing by manipulating brain functions" Takafumi Minamimoto (National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology)
[2:20 PM ~ 2:55 PM]　"Developing human-like language processing models through cognitive and brain information processing" Yohei Ozeki (The University of Tokyo)
[2:55 PM ~ 3:15 PM]　Break (20 minutes)
[3:15 PM ~ 3:50 PM]　"Efforts to decode brain information through deep learning" Ichiro Kobayashi (Ochanomizu University)
[3:50 PM ~ 4:25 PM]　"Investigating cognitive mechanisms related to metaphors" Akira Utsumi (University of Electro-Communications)
[4:25 PM ~ 5:00 PM]　"Probabilistic latent semantic scaling" Daichi Mochihashi (The Institute of Statistical Mathematics)
[5:00 PM ~ 5:10 PM]　Break (10 minutes)
[6:30 PM ~ 7:00 PM]　Panel session: "How technology to visualize affect will change the humanities and what technology may cause a breakthrough in the humanities”
Hosts: Daichi Mochihashi, Junichi Chikazoe

November 6th, 2021 (Friday)

[9:00 AM]　Reception opens
[9:00 AM ~ 9:35 AM]　"Considering aesthetic concepts through brain function research" Tomohiro Ishizu (Kansai University)
[9:35 AM ~ 10:10 AM]　"Understanding the artistic sensibility and creativity of music from statistical learning of the brain" Tatsuya Daikoku (International Research Center for Neurointelligence, The University of Tokyo)[
[10:10 AM ~ 10:15 AM]　Break (5 minutes)
[10:15 AM ~ 10:50 AM]　"Brain mechanisms that reflect the utility of future expectations: Can neuroscience contribute to behavioral economics?” Koji Jimura (Keio University)
[10:50 AM ~ 11:25 AM]　"Demonstrating dynamic decision-making in behavioral economics" Yutaka Kayaba (The University of Tokyo)
[11:25 AM ~ 12:00 PM]　"Results of some empirical studies in economics that have unknown mechanisms" Yasutora Watanabe (The University of Tokyo)
[12:00 PM ~ 12:05 PM]　Closing Remarks: Daichi Mochihashi (The Institute of Statistical Mathematics)

PR

The announcement of the symposium will also be available on the website of Sadato Laboratory, National Institute for Physiological Sciences.

https://www.nips.ac.jp/fmritms/kenkyukai/information/2021/09/nips20211105-06.html

※The meeting ID and password will be sent to registered participants afterward.

We hope you attend this event to learn more about the research being conducted by members in this research area.