The research team of Professor Toshio Inui of the Faculty of Psychology, Otemon Gakuin University, who specializes in cognitive psychology, found that those who are sensitive to the vestibule and semicircular canals that control the sense of balance of the body (= people who are prone to motion sickness) are not. It was revealed that "the ability to perceive the viewpoint of others is high".
The research team described the brain mechanism related to "the ability to perceive the viewpoint of others", which is important in interpersonal communication, in the image using the reaction of the vestibule and semicircular canals when trying to understand the viewpoint of others. A simulation that moves the body to the position of another person occurs in the head. "In addition, body movements such as a sense of balance are perceived in the vestibule and semicircular canals in the ears, and from previous studies, people with high sensitivity to these organs are prone to motion sickness. Through experiments, it was verified that the simulation shown by the hypothesis can be performed faster than those who do not.
In the experiment, 476 students were divided into those who are prone to motion sickness and those who are not motion sick.A doll and a stuffed animal are placed face-to-face on a rotating table in front of the subject.The right or left ear of the stuffed animal was marked, and the participants answered which ear of the animal was marked when viewed from the doll, and the speed was measured.
As a result of measuring by changing the left and right of the mark and the viewing angle of the subject, it was confirmed that the average value of people who are prone to motion sickness is statistically significantly faster than those who do not.It was also found that the larger the rotation angle, the longer it takes.These experimental results support that those who are sensitive to the vestibule and semicircular canals, which control the sense of balance (= people who are prone to motion sickness), are "more capable of perceiving the perspective of others" than those who are not. rice field.
This discovery can be said to be an important finding in considering the process of formation of sociality and communication ability by clarifying that there are individual differences in the functions that are the basis for grasping the movements of others.It is also expected that training the vestibule and semicircular canals to increase sensitivity will lead to improvement of sociality and communication skills of children with developmental disabilities.
Also, regarding the mechanism of "out of body" that occurs when a certain part of the brain is damaged, the simulation of moving the body by the vestibule and the semicircular canals unconsciously occurs even though there is no other person due to the damage to the brain. It can be explained as if the other person perceives himself as being elsewhere.
The research results will be reported at the Japan Cognitive Psychology Society to be held in September 2018.
