We are looking for a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow

NTU touch lab is seeking a graduate student and postdocs who is interested in psychophysics, simulation, neuroimaging, and brain stimulation.

We are conducting conduct a variety of studies that are ranged from touch to social cognition.

(1) graduate student

There are several (competitive) scholarships available.

http://gc.ntu.edu.sg/Programmes/IGP/Pages/Interdisciplinary-Graduate-Programme-Scholarship.aspx

https://admissions.ntu.edu.sg/graduate/scholarships/pages/default.aspx

(2) postdoctoral fellow

There is competitive fellowship available at NTU

https://www.ntu.edu.sg/tracs/ppf/Pages/home_PPF

Articles (English only)

*indicates the corresponding author

1. Kitada R, Kwon J, Doizaki R, Nakagawa E, Tanigawa T, Kochiyama T, Kajimoto H, Sakamoto M, Sadato N (in press) Brain networks underlying the processing of sound symbolism related to tactile softness perception: a functional MRI study. Scientific Reports
2. Pasqualotto A, Ng MHS, Tan ZY, Kitada R* (2020) Tactile perception of pleasantness in relation to perceived softness. Scientific Reports 10: 11189
3. Okamoto Y*, Kitada R, Kochiyama T, Naruse H, Makita K, Miyahara M, Okazawa H and Kosaka H* (2020) Visual Body Part Representation in the Lateral Occipitotemporal Cortex in Children/Adolescents and Adults. Cerebral Cortex Communications 1: 1-13  
4. Okamoto Y*, Kitada R, Seki A, Yanaka H; Kochiyama T; Koeda T (2020) Differences between children and adults in functional connectivity between the inferior frontal gyrus and extrastriate body area for gestural interaction. Social Neuroscience 15: 311-323 
5. Pasqualotto A*, Jia Yin C, Ohka M, Kitada R* (2020) The effect of object compliance on the velvet hand illusion IEEE Transactions on Haptics 13: 571-577
6. Kanayama N*, Hara M, Watanabe J, Kitada R, Sakamoto M, Yamawaki S (2019) Controlled emotional tactile stimulation during functional magnetic resonance imaging and Electroencephalography Journal of Neuroscience Methods 327: 108393
7. Kitada R*, Doizaki R, Kwon J, Nakagawa E, Kajimoto H, Sakamoto M, Sadato N (2019) Brain networks underlying tactile softness perception: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study NeuroImage 197, 156-166.
8. Ito K*, Chew Wei O, Kitada R* (2019) Emotional Tears Communicate Sadness But Not Excessive Emotions Without Other Contextual Knowledge. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 878
9. Suvilehto JT, Nummenmaa L, Harada T, Dunbar RIM, Hari R, Turner R, Sadato N, Kitada R* (2019) Cross-cultural similarity in relationship-specific social touching Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286(1901):20190467
10. Fahey S, Santana C, Kitada R, Zheng Z* (2019) Affective judgment of social touch on a hand modulated by hand embodiment Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72, 2408-2422 
11. Sasaki AT, Okamoto Y, Kochiyama T, Kitada R*, Sadato N (2018) Distinct sensitivities of the lateral prefrontal cortex and extrastriate body area to contingency between executed and observed actions Cortex, 108, 234-251.
12. Rajaei N, Aoki N, Takahashi HK, Miyaoka T, Kochiyama T, Ohka M, Sadato N, Kitada R* (2018) The brain networks underlying conscious tactile perception of textures revealed by the Velvet Hand Illusion Human Brain Mapping, 39, 4787-4801
13. Okamoto Y*, Kitada R, Miyahara M, Kochiyama T, Naruse H, Sadato N, Okazawa H, Kosaka H (2018) Altered perspective-dependent brain activationfor viewing hands and associated imitation difficulties for individuals with ASD NeuroImage: Clinical, 19, 384-395 
14. Kawamichi H*, Sugawara SK, Hamano YH, Kitada R, Nakagawa E, Kochiyama T, Sadato N (2018) Neural correlates underlying change in state self-esteem Scientific Reports 8,  1798
15. Fujimoto S, Tanaka S, Laakso I, Yamaguchi T, Kon N, Nakayama T, Kondo K and Kitada R* (2017) The Effect of Dual-Hemisphere Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Parietal Operculum on Tactile Orientation Discrimination. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 11:173.
16. Sumiya M, Koike T, Okazaki S, Kitada R* & Sadato N* (2017) Brain networks of social action-outcome contingency: the role of the ventral striatum in integrating signals from the sensory cortex and medial prefrontal cortex. Neuroscience Research 123, 43-54
17. Okamoto Y*, Kosaka H, Kitada R, Seki A, Tanabe HC, Hayashi MJ, Kochiyama T, Saito DN, Yanaka HT, Munesue T, Ishitobi M, Omori M, Wada Y, Okazawa H, Koeda T, Sadato N (2017) Age-dependent atypicalities in body- and face-sensitive activation of the EBA and FFA in individuals with ASD. Neuroscience Research 119, 38-52
18. Yang J, Kitada R*, Kochiyama T, Yu Y, Makita K, Araki Y, Wu J* and Sadato N (2017) Brain networks involved in tactile speed classification of moving dot patterns: the effects of speed and dot periodicity Scientific Reports, 7, 40931
19. Tanaka SC*, Yamada K*, Kitada R, Tanaka S, Sugawara SK, Ohtake F and Sadato N* (2016) Overstatement in happiness reporting with ordinal, bounded scale. Scientific Reports, 6, 21321.
20. Takahashi HK, Kitada R*, Sasaki AT, Kawamichi H, Okazaki S, Kochiyama T and Sadato N* (2015) Brain networks of affective mentalizing revealed by the tear effect: the integrative role of the medial prefrontal cortex and precuneus. Neuroscience Research, 101, pp. 32-43. 
21. Kawamichi H*, Kitada R*, Yoshihara K, Takahashi H and Sadato N (2015) Interpersonal Touch Suppresses Visual Processing of Aversive Stimuli.   Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 164 (1st and 2nd authors equally contributed to the study)
22. Okamoto Y, Kitada R, Tanabe HC, Hayashi MJ, Kochiyiama T, Munesue T, Ishitobi M, Saito DN, Yanaka HT, Omori M, Wada Y, Okazawa H, Sasaki AT, Morita T, Itakura S, Kosaka H and Sadato N*(2014) Attenuation of the contingency detection effect in the extrastriate body area in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroscience Research, 87, pp. 66-76
23. Kitada R*, Sasaki AT, Okamoto Y, Kochiyama T and Sadato N (2014) Role of the precuneus in the detection of incongruency between tactile and visual texture information: A functional MRI study. Neuropsychologia, 64, pp.252–262
24. Kitada R*, Yoshihara K, Sasaki AT, Hashiguchi M, Kochiyama T and Sadato N (2014) The brain network underlying the recognition of hand gestures in the blind: the supramodal role of the extrastriate body area. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34, pp. 10096-10108
25. Miyahara M*, Kitada R*, Sasaki AT, Okamoto Y, Tanabe HC and Sadato N (2013) From gestures to words: spontaneous verbal labeling of complex sequential hand movements reduces fMRI activation of the imitation-related regions. Neuroscience Research, 75, pp. 228-238
26. Kitada R*, Okamoto Y, Sasaki AT, Kochiyama T, Miyahara M, Lederman SJ and Sadato N (2013) Early visual experience and the recognition of basic facial expressions: involvement of the middle temporal and inferior frontal gyri during haptic identification by the early blind. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 7
27. Kitada R*, Sadato N and Lederman SJ (2012) Tactile perception of nonpainful unpleasantness in relation to perceived roughness: Effects of inter-element spacing and speed of relative motion of rigid 2-D raised-dot patterns at two body loci, Perception, 41, pp. 204-229
28. Pawluk D*, Kitada R, Abramowicz A, Hamilton C and Lederman SJ (2011) Figure/Ground Segmentation via a Haptic Glance: Attributing Initial Finger Contacts to Objects or Their Supporting Surfaces. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 4, pp. 2-13
29. Kitada R*, Johnsrude IS, Kochiyama T and Lederman SJ (2010) Brain networks involved in haptic and visual identification of facial expressions of emotion: an fMRI study. NeuroImage, 49, pp. 1677-1689
30. Kitada R*, Dijkerman HC, Soo G and Lederman SJ (2010) Representing human hands haptically or visually from first-person versus third-person perspectives. Perception, 39, pp. 236-254
31. Kitada R*, Johnsrude IS, Kochiyama T and Lederman SJ (2009) Functional specialization and convergence in the occipito-temporal cortex supporting haptic and visual identification of human faces and body parts: an fMRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21, pp. 2027-2045
32. Lederman SJ*, Klatzky RL, Abramowicz A, Salsman K, Kitada R and Hamilton C (2007) Haptic recognition of static and dynamic expressions of emotion in the live face. Psychological Science, 18, pp. 158-164
33. Lawrence MA, Kitada R, Klatzky RL and Lederman SJ* (2007) Haptic roughness perception of linear gratings via bare finger or rigid probe. Perception, 36, pp. 547-557
34. Kitada R, Kito T, Saito DN, Kochiyama T, Matsumura M, Sadato N* and Lederman SJ (2006) Multisensory activation of the intraparietal area when classifying grating orientation: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. The Journal of neuroscience, 26, pp. 7491-7501
35. Kilgour AR, Kitada R, Servos P, James TW and Lederman SJ* (2005) Haptic face identification activates ventral occipital and temporal areas: an fMRI study Brain and Cognition, 59, pp. 246-257---PDF
36. Kitada R, Hashimoto T, Kochiyama T, Kito T, Okada T, Matsumura M, Lederman SJ and Sadato N* (2005) Tactile estimation of the roughness of gratings yields a graded response in the human brain: an fMRI study. NeuroImage, 25, pp. 90-100
37. Kitada R, Kochiyama T, Hashimoto T, Naito E and Matsumura M* (2003) Moving tactile stimuli of fingers are integrated in the intraparietal and inferior parietal cortices. Neuroreport, 14, pp. 719-724
38. Naito E, Kochiyama T, Kitada R, Nakamura S, Matsumura M, Yonekura Y and Sadato N* (2002) Internally simulated movement sensations during motor imagery activate cortical motor areas and the cerebellum. The Journal of Neuroscience, 22, pp. 3683-3691---PDF
39. Kitada R, Naito E, and Matsumura M* (2002) Perceptual changes in illusory wrist flexion angles resulting from motor imagery of the same wrist movements. Neuroscience, 109, pp. 701-707