Minagawa, Yasuyo

写真a

Affiliation

Faculty of Letters ( Hiyoshi )

Position

Professor

Related Websites
Scopus Paper Info  
Paper Count: 65 Citation Count: 1813 h-index: 22

Click to view the Scopus page. The data was downloaded from Scopus API in April 26, 2026, via http://api.elsevier.com and http://www.scopus.com .

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Career 【 Display / hide 】

  • 2000.04
    -
    2001.03

    東京大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 客員研究員

  • 2000.11
    -
    2001.03

    国立身体障害者リハビリテーションセンター, 研究所, リサーチレジデント

  • 2001.04
    -
    2004.03

    国立国語研究所，日本学術振興会, 日本学術振興会特別研究員ＰＤ

  • 2004.04
    -
    2006.03

    慶應義塾大学文学部心理学専攻・科学技術振興機構, 研究員

  • 2006.04
    -
    2007.06

    University College London(UCL), Dept. Medical Physics，Dept. Human Communication Science, 訪問研究員(Visiting Research Fellow)

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Academic Background 【 Display / hide 】

  • 1989.04
    -
    1993.03

    International Christian University, 教養学部, 語学科

    University, Graduated

  • 1994.04
    -
    1996.03

    International Christian University, 大学院比較文化研究科, 日本語学・日本語教育学

    Graduate School, Completed, Master's course

  • 1996.04
    -
    2000.03

    The University of Tokyo, 大学院医学系研究科, 脳神経医学専攻認知・言語医学講座修了

    Graduate School, Completed, Doctoral course

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Academic Degrees 【 Display / hide 】

  • 博士（医学）, The University of Tokyo, Coursework, 2000.09

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Research Areas 【 Display / hide 】

  • Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, Psycholinguistics

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Research Keywords 【 Display / hide 】

  • コミュニケーション

  • 脳の発達

  • 言語獲得

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Books 【 Display / hide 】

  • Oxford Handbook of Neurolinguistics

    Minagawa, Y., Cristia, A., Oxford University Press, 2019.05

    Scope: Chapter 7 Optical imaging can shed light on language brain function

  • 聞くと話すの脳科学

    廣谷定男，筧一彦，辰巳格，皆川 泰代，持田岳美，渡辺眞澄, コロナ社, 2017.11

    Scope: 乳幼児の発達における音声知覚生成相互作用

  • 新・発達心理学ハンドブック

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo, 福村出版社, 2016.07

    Scope: 第20章 脳科学からの示唆

  • Frontiers in Developmental Psychology Research: Japanese Perspectives

    Minagawa, Y., Tsuji, S., HITUZI SYOBO publishing, 2016.07

    Scope: Cerebral lateralization for speech processing assessed with Near Infrared Spectroscopy: typical and atypical development. pp.113-128

  • 発達科学ハンドブック８・脳の発達科学

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo, 新曜社, 2015.09

    Scope: 第13章 発達初期の言語脳機能発達

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Papers 【 Display / hide 】

  • Reward-related language processing of maternal speech in infants at different likelihood of ASD

    Eiichi Hoshino, Masahiro Hata, Mingdi Xu, Yasuyo Minagawa

    Social Cognitive And Affective Neuroscience (Oxford University Press (OUP))  21 ( 1 )  2025.12

    Last author, Accepted,  ISSN  1749-5016

    　View Summary

    Abstract

    This longitudinal study investigated the differential impacts of maternal speech on early socio-communicative development in infants at low likelihood (LL) and elevated likelihood (EL) of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we measured cortical responses and connectivity in 6-month-old infants while they listened to their mother’s voice and an unfamiliar female voice. LL infants exhibited extensive cortical activation and robust connectivity in temporal and frontal regions, particularly in areas associated with voice processing, reward, and language functions. In contrast, EL infants showed minimal activation and weaker connectivity in these regions. Specifically, LL infants demonstrated significant connectivity between the superior temporal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus on the left side, and between the orbitofrontal cortex and language areas, facilitating language processing and reward-related responses to maternal speech. These neural patterns were absent in EL infants, highlighting a neural basis for subsequent language delays. Furthermore, many of these reward-related or language-related networks predicted subsequent language development. Our findings underscore the importance of neural sensitivity to familiar human voices, regarding them as rewards that will eventually facilitate the acquisition of speech.

  • Emerging sensitivity to talking mouth in infants with low and elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder: A longitudinal study

    Masahiro Hata, Mingdi Xu, Yoko Hakuno, Eriko Yamamoto, Yasuyo Minagawa

    Infant Behavior and Development (Elsevier BV)  79   102057 - 102057 2025.06

    Last author, Accepted,  ISSN  01636383

    　View Summary

    The talker's mouth provides significant multimodal information that supports language development. Studies have revealed that infants over 6 months of age show increased attention to the mouth of a talking face, which results in vocabulary growth. However, few studies have reported the relationship between early gaze behavior and later language development in infants with an elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (EL infants). Since ASD cannot be diagnosed in infancy, these infants provide a valuable opportunity to investigate early developmental differences in visual attention that may be associated with ASD. Therefore, we conducted a longitudinal eye-tracking experiment at ages 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months to investigate differences in gaze behavior between infants with a low likelihood of ASD (LL infants) and EL infants. We found that, exclusively in LL infants, the proportion of mouth-looking time significantly increased from 6 months to 9 months of age and remained relatively constant thereafter. In contrast, in EL infants, although the proportion of mouth-looking time gradually increased with age up to 24 months, their attentional change to talking mouth started later than that in LL infants. Furthermore, our results showed a conditionally positive relationship between mouth-looking and expressive vocabulary size in LL infants but not in EL infants. These findings indicate that EL infants may not utilize audiovisual information as valuable cues for language acquisition during infancy and toddlerhood, which may be a factor in their slow language development.

  • 乳児の匂い物質が快・不快の乳児発声に対する母親の脳反応に与える影響―fNIRS 研究―

    孫王書堯, 玉田優衣, 星野英一, 森本智志, 徐鳴鏑, 平澤佑啓, 白須未香, 岡本雅子, 東原和成, 皆川泰代

    慶應義塾大学大学院社会学研究科紀要  2025

    Last author, Accepted

  • A Two-Way Analysis of Brain Synchrony: Assessing Brain-Event Relationships Using Information Metrics

    Satoshi Morimoto, Yasuyo Minagawa

    IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE))  31 ( 4 ) 1 - 12 2025

    Last author, Accepted,  ISSN  1077260X

    　View Summary

    Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is well-suited for hyperscanning in naturalistic situations, offering significant potential for assessing social brain function in everyday life. Previous studies have reported inter-brain synchrony during social interactions and sought to explore its mechanisms by correlating behavioral events with brain signals. However, commonly used regression analyses, such as Generalized Linear Models (GLM), rely on target events hypothesized as explanatory variables. This reliance introduces a dependency on the researcher's assumptions, which can compromise replicability in social neuroscience. While such dependency may be less problematic in strictly controlled experimental paradigms focused on specific hypotheses, it poses significant challenges in naturalistic experiments like social interactions, where numerous events and signals may serve as potential explanatory variables. To address this limitation, we introduced a new approach: signed-normalized mutual information for wavelet transform coherence (WTC-sNMI). This method enables a two-way analysis to evaluate relationships between event sequences and brain synchrony. Through simulations and real-data applications, we evaluated the performance of the proposed method. The results showed that WTC-sNMI analysis performed comparably to regression analysis in detecting both inter-brain synchrony and within-brain synchrony (i.e., brain connectivity). Moreover, applying WTC-sNMI to a tapping dataset revealed the expected patterns of synchrony between the lateral sides of the motor area. These findings validate the effectiveness of WTC-sNMI as a robust two-way analytical tool for studying brain-event relationships.

  • Cerebral Correlates of Robot-Assisted Upper Limb Motion Driven by Motor Intention in Healthy Individuals: An fNIRS Study

    Margaux Noémie Lafitte, Christina Sylvia Andrea, Hideki Kadone, Eiichi Hoshino, Masashi Yamazaki, Yasuyo Minagawa, Kenji Suzuki

    IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE))  33   2322 - 2334 2025

    Accepted,  ISSN  15344320

    　View Summary

    The past few years have seen an exponential growth of the robot-assisted rehabilitation field and new technological developments allowing the integration of the user's intention through detection of physiological information. The inclusion of motor intention is thought to be promising for motor rehabilitation and to facilitate neuroplasticity potentially by stimulating the cortical circuitry more than, or at least differently from, non-voluntary passive motion. Yet, contrasting results are reported in the literature. We aimed here to investigate the importance of the integration of motor intention on cortical activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) by comparing the active use of an assistive exoskeleton targeting the shoulder with passive use and unassisted motion. We recorded the activity of the bilateral frontal and parietal cortices of 20 healthy individuals during an arm raising task. Active robot assistance showed similar activity patterns to unassisted motion with the exception of a greater activation of the prefrontal region. Correlates of intention could be confirmed by an activation of the supplementary motor area in active-assisted and unassisted but not passive condition. Activation of the contralateral primary sensorimotor regions did not differ between passive and active conditions but activity of the ipsilateral hemisphere and secondary regions was reduced during passive motion. Our results provide arguments in favor of the integration of the user's intention through physiological signals for rehabilitation, in favor of the investigation of secondary and ipsilateral regions, and in favor of the use of fNIRS to investigate differences in cortical correlates of passive and active motion.

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Papers, etc., Registered in KOARA 【 Display / hide 】

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Reviews, Commentaries, etc. 【 Display / hide 】

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Presentations 【 Display / hide 】

  • Cerebral basis of non-adjacency grammar learning: Neonates and 6-to 7-month-old infants.

    Cai, L, Hakuno, Y, Hata, M, Hoshino, E, Arimitsu, T, Takahashi, T, Watson, S, Townsend, S, Mueller, J, Minagawa, Y

    vICIS 2020 Congress, P1-D-63, 

    2020.07
    , 

    Poster presentation

  • Statistical learning of phonemic contrast in neonates: cerebral networks and activities.

    Hoshino, E., Arimitsu, T., Shinohara, N., Takahashi, T.,Minagawa, Y.

    [International presentation]  The functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference (Tokyo) , 

    2018.10
    , 

    Oral presentation (general)

  • Extraction of Synchronizing Cortical Activities between Mother and Infant.

    Morimoto, S., Hoshino, E., Hata, M., Asano, M., Minagawa Y.

    [International presentation]  fNIRS2018,Ⅲ-38. (Tokyo) , 

    2018.10
    , 

    Poster presentation

  • Development of social interactive brain: Behavioral and neurocognitive evidence

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo

    [International presentation]  ICDL-EPIROB 2018, 

    2018.09
    , 

    Oral presentation (invited, special)

  • 自閉症スペクトラム障害児とリスク児の音声コミュニケーション

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo

    [Domestic presentation]  日本音響学会, 

    2018.09
    , 

    Oral presentation (invited, special)

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Research Projects of Competitive Funds, etc. 【 Display / hide 】

  • Development of interactive communication ability and neurodevelopmental disorder

    2024.04
    -
    2027.03

    基盤研究(A), Principal investigator

  • Study on communication development of children with hearing difficulties for subjectification

    2022.06
    -
    2024.03

    MEXT,JSPS, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, 学術変革領域研究(A), Principal investigator

  • Early neural base of hierarchy rule learning and hierarchy structure of infant's vocalization

    2020.04
    -
    2022.03

    MEXT,JSPS, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, Principal investigator

  • Development of speech communication and its correlates of brain, cognition and motor system: A longitudinal cohort study of typically and atypically developing infants

    2019.06
    -
    2024.03

    MEXT,JSPS, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S), Principal investigator

  • Faculty of speech communication and typical and atypical neurocognitive development

    2019.04
    -
    2022.03

    MEXT,JSPS, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) , Principal investigator

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Works 【 Display / hide 】

  • 学際性で広げる未来の赤ちゃん研究：発達脳科学・心理学の立場から

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo

    2011.05
    -
    Present
    , 

    Other, Single

  • Investigating the cerebral bases of language acquisition with NIRS.

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo

    2011.04
    -
    Present
    , 

    Other, Single

  • プロソディ処理の大脳機能：発達とその障害

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo

    2010.07
    -
    Present
    , 

    Other, Single

  • 近赤外分光法による発達脳機能研究：母子間コミュニケーション

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo

    2010.07
    -
    Present
    , 

    Other, Single

  • 乳児にとっての母親声・非母親声そして母語・非母語

    MINAGAWA Yasuyo

    2009.12
    -
    Present
    , 

    Other, Single

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Awards 【 Display / hide 】

  • 日本音声学会賞学術研究奨励賞共同受賞

    2016.03, 日本音声学会, 「マイボイス：難病患者様の失われる声を救う」

  • 日本音声学会賞優秀発表賞

    2008.09, 日本音声学会, 「4ヶ月児における音声，非音声に対する脳反応の側性化」

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Courses Taught 【 Display / hide 】

  • ADVANCED PRACTICE IN CLINICAL DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2

    2026

  • ADVANCED SEMINAR IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 1

    2026

  • INTRODUCTION OF PSYCHOLOGY

    2026

  • PSYCHOLOGY 1

    2026

  • INTENSIVE SEMINAR: PSYCHOLOGY 1

    2026

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