Unraveling the mystery
behind human evolution
from the science of music

Our bodies move naturally in time to the tunes that we hear by chance. While this is an involuntary response, an advanced level of information processing, which is possible only for human beings, takes place inside our brains at that point in time.Assistant Professor Shinya Fujii is an unconventional researcher. After falling in love with the drums in his teens,he has been polishing his skills as a drummer while engaging in research work based on the themes of drums and music. He is currently conducting research on a wide range of subjects concerning the fundamental question of what music is to human beings, from the perspective of neuroscience and physical science.Music holds a wealth of hints to contribute to our understanding of human beings,and we may find the key to solving the puzzle behind human evolution hidden in its depths.

 Taking quantitative measure of the transcendental skills of the world’s fastest drummer

I specialize in music and neuroscience (neuromusic) and physical science, and conduct research about the skillful musical performance, and how music is processed in the human brain.

I am a researcher, as well as a drummer. My love for drums led me to start research on the muscles and physical movements of drummers, and I took up an electromyographic study on the world’s fastest drummer (WFD). The WFD can play the drums with both hands at a speed of about 1,200 times per minute. I shed light on how the WFD activates his wrist muscles to achieve transcendental performance. Generally, the performing arts are not expressed in the form of numerical figures, but it would be possible to provide an explanation on the differences between skillful players and less skillful players if we drew up a mathematical model and took quantitative measure of the performance. Furthermore, I measured the brain function and structure of the world’s fastest drummer by using MRI at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, and conducted research on the differences between the brains of drummers and the brains of singers.

As I made progress on the research, I began to pursue the more fundamental question of why humans are able to play the drums and perform in rhythm to begin with, and what music is for human beings. Hence, I am now conducting research about the origins of musicality in human beings, and how music and linguistic rhythms are processed in the brain.

Harvard Beat Assessment Test

Fujii developed the Harvard Beat Assessment Test (H-BAT) (left) jointly with Dr. Schlaug at Harvard Medical School. H-BAT can be used to conduct separate assessments on the rhythm perception and production. The figure on the right shows the regions of the brain that are related to the processing of musical and linguistic rhythms. The aim is to elucidate the similarities and differences in the brain’s information processing processes for musical and linguistic rhythms, and to develop a new speech rehabilitation method as well as effective second-language acquisition techniques.

  The ability to follow music provides hints to exploring what human beings are

  Augmenting the learning ability of the human brain The skills of an ordinary person surpass the skills of a genius

My current research project involves augmentation of human intelligence through cutting-edge technology. For example, I am trying beating the record set by the world’s fastest drummer while using brain-machine interface technologies.

The world’s fastest drummer is known as a genius, and his performance may be considered to be a natural gift. On the other hand, as I have shed light on how the muscles work during performance through my previous research work, I think it should be possible to establish an unprecedented learning method if we studied how the brain and muscles work together in a coordinated manner, stimulated the brain and muscles artificially using technology, and fed back the information. By harnessing such cutting-edge brain-machine interface technology and augmenting the learning ability of the human brain, I dream of a future where ordinary people can easily acquire the transcendental skills of a genius.

The drum alone holds a universe that facilitates understanding of human beings, and the research theme would expand infinitely if we were to consider “music” as a larger genre. There is much outstanding research in Japan in fields such as neuroscience, physical science, cognitive science, and motor control. When we combine this strength with music, we can anticipate the birth of interesting research that far surpasses the research that has been carried out to date. By expanding human intelligence and creativity through music, I hope to create a movement for disseminating revolutionary research from the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) to the world.

Underlying wrist muscle activity

The world’s fastest drummer sets record with over 20 beats per second (1,200 beats per minute). Fujii has unlocked the secrets behind how the world’s fastest drummer moves his wrist muscles to perform with transcendental skills. The data that was actually measured and taken is shown in the diagram.

  Applying the motivation for music to rehabilitation

When I was a student in university, I was passionate about practicing on the drums for many hours every day. The motivation which drove me at the time was my desire to produce the sounds I was pursuing. I am now studying “music-supported rehabilitation,” which applies such musical motivation to medical applications.

After a stroke patient sustains damage to the motor area of the brain, it is important to go through rehabilitation in order to reacquire his or her original motor skills. In light of that, I took up the initiative of developing an auditory feedback system to help patients reacquire their former movements in an enjoyable manner, through the skillful use of their motivation to listen to the music that they like. If they were able to engage in such exercises, they would be able to listen to comfortable sounds or the music they like. Since such exercises are fed back in the form of sounds, I study how this system can be used to help patients relearn reaching movements.

Furthermore, while it is difficult for patients of Parkinson’s disease to exercise, we know that matching the movements to musical rhythms makes it easier for them to do so. However, we have not learnt enough about that mechanism. When a patient sustains damage to his or her brain, resulting in difficulty in physical movements, what are the kinds of changes that arise when they listen to music, and how does this make it easier for them to move? By gaining an understanding of this, we may be able to design an environment that can effectively improve patients’ symptoms by having them listen to music, without relying on surgical operations and medication. There is great potential in the relationship between music, brains, and medicine.