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Purpose This study aims to evaluate a human rights-informed dementia prevention program promoting better health and social care among older adults. In this study, the authors examined whether a dual-task training would improve cognition in healthy older adults. Design/methodology/approach Individuals attending the systematic health education program for older adults based in Japan were recruited for study inclusion, and divided into a dual-task training group (TG) and a control group (CG). The TG underwent 90 min of a weekly dual-task training for 12 weeks. Severity of dementia was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test. Brain function was assessed using a go/no-go task paradigm, during which cerebral blood flow was additionally measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to quantify oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb). Findings MMSE total score, number of errors in the go/no-go tasks and oxy-Hb values showed significant improvements in the TG. Research limitations/implications Owing to the small number of participants allocated to the CG, the results must be interpreted with caution. Replication and further validation based on large-scale, randomized-controlled trials is warranted. Practical implications This study highlights potential benefits of incorporating an early prevention training for dementia into a human rights-friendly health education program. Social implications This study suggests a potential means to reduce costs of social security and health care by introducing a human rights-informed dementia prevention program. Originality/value The results suggest that dual-task training may improve cognitive function in healthy older adults, thereby contributing to better health and improvement of social health care, based on a human rights-informed health education program for the prevention of dementia.

Purpose This study aims to establish a Japanese-style healthcare program customized for Japan and Asia under ISO 9001: 2008 (ISO: International Organization for Standardization) to improve problem areas and to inspect the effectiveness of the program. Furthermore, the authors wanted to create this health program using the ISO widely available in Asian countries and make an international contribution. Design/methodology/approach The authors implemented a 6- to 10-month health program in Minowa Town, Matsumoto City and Nagano City in Japan. This study assessed findings from pedometric, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements and physical fitness, blood chemistry and brain function tests. Findings The comparisons were made by examining the interaction effects between groups of participants. Groups from three regions in Japan showed significant differences on the physical fitness tests; regarding the 10-meter obstacle walk, the results of the Minowa participants showed the greatest improvement and the Matsumoto participants showed the second greatest improvement. In the six-min walk, the time of the Minowa participants significantly improved. Research limitations/implications This health education program, which has been conducted by the Japanese authors since 1998, measures anthropometry, brain function and physical fitness and performs blood tests before and after the program and it measures energy consumption with a pedometer during the program. With the aim of improving exercise via encouragement from friends and a sense of community with fellow participants, participants learn together with hands-on training in tai chi and aerobics about the importance of ongoing exercise and proper nutrition. This health education met the Health Education ISO in 2014. Practical implications Since 2010, Nagano Prefecture, including Minowa Town, Matsumoto City and Nagano City, where our study was carried out, has been the area with the highest life expectancy rates in Japan. Social implications The authors want to make this health promotion through ISO widely available in Asian countries and an international contribution. Originality/value This study aimed to appropriately establish a Japanese-style healthcare program under the ISO 9001:2008 to improve problem areas and inspect its effectiveness.

Article, Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research 13(3): 187-192, (2020)

Modulated maskers produce less amount of masking than unmodulated maskers, an effect referred to as masking release (MR). Both listening in the temporal dips and fast cochlear compression have been suggested as underlying mechanisms. We addressed the role of dip listening by measuring temporal integration in simultaneous masking using Schroeder-phase harmonic complexes (SPHC) with various phase curvatures. In an experiment with six normal-hearing listeners, SPHC masker and pure-tone target stimuli were covaried in duration at a high masker level. The MR increased with stimulus duration, suggesting integration of target information across multiple masker dips. The duration dependence of the MR was predicted by a physiology-inspired model based on the temporal envelope modulation strength in the auditory periphery. The modeling analysis suggested that listeners detect the presence of the target by a reduction in fluctuation strength that results primarily from a decline of F0-based response peaks, an effect known as synchrony capture. The detailed pattern of masked thresholds across various masker phase curvatures was not predicted by the model, suggesting that its phase response does not well fit the human phase response. Overall, temporal integration across neural envelope features associated with the masker dips seems to contribute to the MR with SPHCs.

Peripheral compression is believed to play a major role in the masker phase effect (MPE). While compression is almost instantaneous, activation of the efferent system reduces compression in a temporally evolving manner. To study the role of efferent-controlled compression in the MPE, in experiment 1, simultaneous masking of a 30-ms 4-kHz tone by 40-ms Schroeder-phase harmonic complexes was measured with on- and off-frequency precursors as a function of masker phase curvature for two masker levels (60 and 90 dB sound pressure level). The MPE was quantified by the threshold range [min/max difference (MMD)] across the phase curvatures. For the 60-dB condition, the presence of on-frequency precursor decreased the MMD from 10 to 5 dB. Experiment 2 studied the role of the precursor on the auditory filter's bandwidth. The on-frequency precursor was found to increase the bandwidth, an effect incorporated in the subsequent modeling. A model of the auditory periphery including cochlear filtering and basilar membrane compression generally underestimated the MMDs. A model based on two-step compression, including compression of inner hair cells, accounted for the MMDs across precursor and level conditions. Overall, the observed precursor effects and the model predictions suggest an important role of compression in the simultaneous MPE.

The cochlear phase response is often estimated by measuring masking of a tonal target by harmonic complexes with various phase curvatures. Maskers yielding most modulated internal envelope representations after passing the cochlear filter are thought to produce minimum masking, with fast-acting cochlear compression as the main contributor to that effect. Thus, in hearing-impaired (HI) listeners, reduced cochlear compression hampers estimation of the phase response using the masking method. This study proposes an alternative approach, based on the effect of the envelope modulation strength on the sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs). To evaluate the general approach, ITD thresholds were measured in seven normal-hearing listeners using 300-ms Schroeder-phase harmonic complexes with nine different phase curvatures. ITD thresholds tended to be lowest for phase curvatures roughly similar to those previously shown to produce minimum masking. However, an unexpected ITD threshold peak was consistently observed for a particular negative phase curvature. An auditory nerve response based ITD model, which we first evaluated on published envelope ITD data, predicted the general pattern of our ITD thresholds, except for the threshold peak. Model predictions simulating outer hair cell loss support the feasibility of the ITD-based approach to estimate the phase response in HI listeners.

The reliability of commercially available pedometers is not known in detail. Therefore, the present study examines the accuracy and reliability of the FS500 (Acos), HJ301 (Omron), EX700 (Yamax), FB727 (Tanita) and TW600 (Citizen) pedometers to count steps and measure energy expenditure at various walking speeds. Twenty individuals (age, 32.5 ± 15.3 years; body mass index, 22.0 ± 1.6 kg/m2) walked at three speeds for 6 min. Step-counts and energy expenditure determined by each pedometer were compared with actual values. All five pedometers accurately measured steps at all speeds, but tended to underestimate expended calories to within 50% of the actual amount of energy expenditure. The correlation coefficients (R) between actual energy expenditure and pedometer values were between 0.74 and 0.87. Thus, feedback about energy expenditure is somewhat inaccurate. In contrast, step counts are very accurate, and thus pedometers are useful tools with which to indicate daily exercise levels., Article, The Open Sports Sciences Journal .6:56-61(2013)

Article, Heliyon. 4:e00961(2018)

Several studies have shown that various types of cognitive processing exist and exert different effects on brain activity. However, when a subject performs the same task, whether the task involves processing or not, such as in mental calculation or with a calculator, the different influences on the brain remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the influence of cortical activation when performing mental calculation and using a calculator have different effects on the brain. Fifteen healthy, right-handed participants (mean age, 26.3 ± 8.5 years; 12 men, 27.7 ± 9.0 years; 3 women, 20.6 ± 1.1 years) were recruited as subjects. We measured oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) levels while subjects performed subtraction tasks by mental calculation or using a calculator (3 min each). Measurements were made at the frontal lobe and temporal lobe. In both lobes, oxy-Hb level was significantly increased during mental calculation. Locations showing significantly increased oxy-Hb in mental calculation were the prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobe and supramarginal gyrus in the temporal lobe. These results suggest that the brain responds differently to tasks in mental calculation and using a calculator. We hypothesized that using the electronic calculator needs fewer neural networks than performing mental calculation. In recent years, thanks to the development of machines, many tasks have been automated, making our lives easier and more convenient. Our results may provide one example that the developments of modern technology influence brain function.

This study investigated the bandwidth of phase sensitivity. Subjects discriminated amplitude-modulated tones (AM), and quasi-frequency-modulated tones (QFM) in a two-interval, forced-choice task. An adaptive threshold procedure was used to estimate the modulation depth needed to discriminate the stimuli as a function of carrier and modulation frequency. Non-monotonicities in threshold-bandwidth functions were often observed at higher modulation frequencies. The results are discussed in terms of two potential cues: (1) waveform envelope, (2) cubic distortion products. In order to degrade the information obtained from auditory distortions, the phase for the carrier frequency was randomly sampled from a uniform distribution, which diminished the non-monotonicities with minimal effect at lower modulation frequencies. Model simulations demonstrated that phase randomization degrades distortion product cues with only a modest effect on temporal cues. Final results show that maximum bandwidths for phase sensitivity (BWmax) were not proportional to carrier frequencies.

This pilot study compares the effects of static therapeutic trunk stretching using an unstable flex chair, a stretching bench and a stretching stick on physical fitness with those of a general Japanese style of static stretching. The participants underwent physical fitness tests. Before and after warming up using a general Japanese style of stretching and trunk treatment stretching. Twenty-three healthy college students (age, 20.7 ± 1.2 years; height, 165.3 ± 7.6 cm; weight, 59.0 ± 9.7 kg; BMI 21.4 ± 2.3) were enrolled in this study. The physical fitness test assesses grip strength, sit-ups, eyes-closed single-leg stance, sit-and-reach flexibility, six-minute walk, and ten-meter obstacle course. The participants performed vertical jump, forward standing flexion measured using the analog flexion meter, thoracolumbar extension, horizontal flexure, deep forward bow. These results suggest that trunk stretching improves flexibility, walking ability, endurance and explosive power more effectively than the general Japanese style of stretching. Three static trunk stretches can improve flexibility, walking ability, endurance and explosive power. Trunk treatment stretching before physical activity might reduce the incidence of injury and improve the physical performance of individuals who participate in exercise, athletes and injured persons undergoing rehabilitation., Article, BAOJ Medical and nursing.1(1):003(2015)

Harmonic complexes are often used as maskers for measuring the cochlear phase response. The phase curvature can affect the masking in order of up to 20 dB, an effect known as the masker-phase effect. There is evidence that signals yielding peaky internal masker representations after passing the cochlear filter produce minimum masking, with the fast-acting cochlear compression as the main contributor to that effect. Thus, in hearing-impaired listeners showing reduced or absent compression, the estimation of phase response using the masking method may be difficult. Here, an alternative method is proposed, which is based on the effect of signal peakedness on the sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITD) in the signal envelope. With the two methods, ITD and masking thresholds were measured, respectively, in seven normal-hearing listeners. The stimuli were 300-ms Schroeder-phase harmonic complexes, ranging from 3400 to 4600 Hz with a 100-Hz fundamental frequency, with the signal phase curvature varied between −1 and 1. The lowest ITD thresholds were observed for phase curvatures that produced minimum masking. This suggests that the ITD method is a promising candidate for estimating the cochlear phase response in hearing-impaired listeners.

The purpose of this study was to compare the hemodynamic changes that occur during Mahjong game play in virtual and real-life settings. Fourteen healthy right-handed men (average age ± standard deviation; 36.7 ± 14.9 years) played: 1) a Mahjong solitaire game on a video console against virtual rivals; 2) a Mahjong game against human opponents without conversation; and 3) a Mahjong game against human opponents with conversation. We measured oxygenated hemoglobin concentration at 44 locations over both hemispheres during Mahjong game play in each setting using near-infrared spectroscopy. The increase in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration at several locations, including Broca’s area, the somatosensory cortex, the somatosensory association cortex, the supramarginal gyrus part of Wernicke’s area, the primary and auditory association cortex, the angular gyrus part of Wernicke’s area, and the associative visual cortex was greater during game play in the real-life settings than during game play in the video game setting. There were no significant differences during game play in real-life settings without and with conversation. Each cortical area correlated with broad or specific areas. The common correlation areas were found at Angular gyrus part of Wernicke’s area of left hemisphere during real-life settings without and with conversation, but not during game play in a video game setting. These results suggest that the brain responds differently to game play in real world and virtual world settings, and indicate that comparison of games played in the virtual world and the real world may be an effective model to enhance understanding of the effects of video game on the brain., Article, Biochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry.4(2):164(2015)

This research, conducted in 1998 and 2008, uses go/no-go data to investigate the fundamentals of cognitive functioning in the inhibitory control ability of Japanese children. 844 subjects from kindergarten to junior high school participated in go/no-go task experiments. Performance of go/no-go tasks, which are frequently used to investigate response inhibition, measures a variety of cognitive components besides response inhibition. With normal brain development, the ability to inhibit responses improves substantially in adolescence. An increase over time in the error rate during the go/no-go tasks of subjects of the same age indicates that these processes are not functioning properly. Comparisons between the 1998 and 2008 data revealed several differences in error rates. In 2008, there were increases in the number of errors in groups from each age range. The comparison also revealed that overall error rates peaked at later ages in the 2008 subjects. Taken together, these results show changing conditions in the inhibitory function of the prefrontal cortex. However, the reason for these changing conditions remains unclear. While a lifestyle questionnaire revealed several differences in factors such as bedtimes and hours spent watching TV, analysis did not reveal a significant correlation., Article, BioPsychoSocial Medicine.8(1):14(2014)

Spectral weight estimates are obtained in a commodulation masking release (CMR) experiment in which masking and flanking bands each consist of five equal‐intensity tones spanning 20 Hz. The masking and flanking bands are centered at 1000 and 900 Hz, respectively, and the signal is an increment in the intensity of the 1000 Hz component. The phases for the five components of the masking band are randomly sampled on each trial and are identically assigned to the components of the flanking band, yielding commodulated bands. A small, random intensity perturbation is added to each component of the stimulus, and an analysis of trial‐by‐trial responses provides spectral weight estimates. Spectral weights are also obtained from simulations of two multiple channel models [Hall et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 76, 50–56 (1984); S. Buus, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 78, 1958–1965 (1985)] and one single‐channel model [B. G. Berg, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100, 1013–1023 (1996)]. Data for most subjects show strong support for Hall’s multi...

This study investigated the bandwidth of phase sensitivity (i.e., discrimination of waveform envelopes). Subjects discriminated amplitude modulated (AM) tones, and quasi‐frequency modulated (QFM) tones in a 2IFC. An adaptive threshold procedure was used to estimate modulation depth m needed to make the discrimination as a function of carrier and modulation frequency. Nonmonotonic threshold functions were often observed at higher modulation frequencies. The effect is discussed in terms of two potential cues: (1) waveform envelope, (2) cubic distortion products. In order to degrade the information obtained from the distortion products, the phase for the carrier frequency was randomly sampled with a range of, Δθ=π/3. The randomized phase diminishes the nonmonotonicities of the threshold functions. Final results show that bandwidths of maximum sensitivity are not proportional to carrier frequencies. There are also noticeable individual differences in both the effects of the distortion products and the maximum...