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Sakai Lab
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A lab that uses MRI to uncover the brain mechanisms that underlie language.
AboutAbout the lab
Where in the brain does language arise?
The Sakai Lab studies the mechanisms of higher brain functions, with a focus on language.
When people speak or understand what others say, the brain is thought to carry out information processing based on "Universal Grammar" without conscious awareness.
The lab investigates which brain systems implement the principles of that computation, using physical measurement technologies such as MRI and MEG.
Technologies that can measure brain activity without damaging the brain are the key to advancing the neurobiology of language.
Key terms
- Higher brain functions
- The complex information processing that the brain performs at its highest level, as in language
- Universal Grammar
- The basic mechanisms of grammar that are thought to be shared by all languages
- Functional brain imaging
- Technology that, without damaging the brain, measures where and how strongly the brain is active and presents the result as images
ResearchResearch themes
The lab conducts research centered on the neurobiology of language, in the field of brain science known as "systems neuroscience." Its goal is to uncover which brain systems implement the computational principles of Universal Grammar.
*Illustrative imageAnalysis of brain function in humans
The lab measures and analyzes brain activity using advanced physical measurement technologies, such as MRI, which uses nuclear magnetic resonance, and MEG (magnetoencephalography), which uses superconducting quantum interference devices. fMRI in particular is a method that allows repeated measurements to confirm reproducibility.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms of higher brain functions for language
To clarify the grammaticality, universality, and innateness of natural language, the lab has developed research paradigms for investigating the functional differentiation and functional localization of Universal Grammar, and carries out functional brain imaging of language.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Sakai Lab consist of faculty, researchers, graduate students, undergraduate students, and research assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorKuniyoshi L SakaiPublications ↗
- Assistant Professor梅島 奎立
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “DTI-sagittal-fibers” Thomas Schultz / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Analysis of brain function in humans: “Fingertapping experiment DXIII” Zereshk / Public domain (cropped)
- Mechanisms of higher brain functions for language: “Brodmann area 45” en:User:Washington irving / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sato Lab): “Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEM” Mogana Das Murtey and Patchamuthu Ramasamy / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yajima Lab): “Tetrahymena pyriformis - 400x - Ciliatur ( )” Picturepest / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Arai Lab): “Myoglobin” AzaToth / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Wakasugi Lab): “Angiogenesis medical animation still” www.scientificanimations.com / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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