Ryuta Kawashima

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Ryuta Kawashima (川島 隆太 Kawashima Ryūta?) (born May 23, 1959) is a Japanese neuroscientist known to video game players for his appearance in the Brain Training series of video games for the Nintendo DS (known as Brain Age in North America)[1]


Contents

[edit] Biography

Kawashima was born in 1959 in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. In the 1970's he enrolled in Tōhoku University. After graduating with an MD at the school of medicine, he emigrated to Sweden to become a guest researcher at the famed Karolinska Institutet. He then moved back to Tōhoku and is now a resident Professor with tenure. He is famous in Japan, and is former member of Japan's National Council, concerning Language and Culture.

Ryuta Kawashima [1]

[edit] Career

One of his primary research topics is mapping the regions of the brain to faculties such as emotion, language, memorization, and cognition. Kawashima is trained in neurophysiology and is an expert on brain imaging. His other primary topic involves applying this information to aid children to develop, aging people to retain, and patients to recover their learning facilities.[2]

[edit] Publications and Releases

In 2003, Kawashima authored Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain, which was a great success in Japan. When released worldwide, it sold more than 2.5 million copies. A handheld stand-alone unit was later developed, and in 2005 was turned into Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! for the Nintendo DS. A sequel has since been released and a third installment is planned. Rather than accept them for himself, he has used the royalties from the game (estimated in 2.4 billion yen) to build two laboratories.[3][4]

In 2007 an English language version of Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain was published by Penguin Books.


Ryuta has appeared in the Brain Age series [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Touch! Generations Profile
  2. ^ Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tōhuku University, Sendai, Japan.Functional Brain Imaging, New Industry Hatchery Center Prof. Ryuta Kawashima. Retrieved 31 May 2006.
  3. ^ 'Brain training' Dr Kawashima has no time for games. Agence France-Presse (2008-01-31). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  4. ^ Dr Kawashima Refuses Brain Age Royalties. GameKiq (2008-02-03). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.