Functional electrical stimulation (FES) has been proposed as a technique that could restore the paralyzed motor functions of the patients who injured their upper motor neurons. In this paper, use of voluntary movement of the auricula was proposed as a control command for FES system. The movement may be used exclusively for controlling FES system, because it is seldom used in daily living. However, the percentage of persons who can move the auricula is small. In order to overcome this difficulty, a method of learning the movement was developed in this paper. The method was a training with electrical stimulation to the posterior auricular muscle and electromyogram (EMG) feedback. Three subjects attempted to learn the movement with this method, and two of them acquired the movement in a short term. Furthermore, in order to detect the auricular movement by EMG signal of the posterior auricular muscle, we studied the influence of other movements on the detection of the auricular movement. Power spectrum of noise during neck movement was distributed in lower frequency than that of the EMG signal. The noise during jaw movement was smaller in amplitude than the EMG signal. These experimental results suggested that the influence of both neck and jaw movements on detection of the auricular movement could be removed by appropriate signal processing. In addition, we also studied about fatigue characteristic of the posterior auricular muscle and reaction time of the auricular movement. It was difficult to move the auricula constantly over 1 minute, but it was probable to move it intermittently for 15 minutes. The reaction time of the movement was a little longer than that of finger movement. These suggested that the auricular movement could give short-time control commands repeatedly to FES system for long term.

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This paper presents operational learning experiments to manipulate a robotic thumb by using posterior auricular muscle which is a body part that we do not use on a daily life. In the experiments, reaching motions are conducted using sensory feedback of the robotic thumb through a device that presents continuous position of the robotic thumb. The experimental results indicate that the operability of the robotic thumb improves by repeating the operation learning; also, the results indicate that there is a possibility of improving the operability of a robotic thumb by acquiring internal models through repetitive operational learning.

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The auditory post-auricular responses (PAR) were recorded in 28 children aged 0 to 12 with unilateral microtia, and the influence of the post-auricular muscle (PAM) development on the responses were investigated. Responses obtained from the sides of microtic ears and normal ears showed no significant differences in the wave form, threshold, latency, nor in amplitude. Muscle volume of the PAM did not affect the amplitude of the PAR.

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コモン・ツパイの顔面神経, および顔面筋にっいて, 深層面からの剖出による系統解剖学的観察を行い, 次の結果を得た。
1. 顔面神経の本幹から深枝, および後耳介神経を派出したのち, ヒトでみられる上枝, 下枝に分岐する事なく, 頸枝, 側頭前頭枝, 下顎縁枝, そして終末の上顎枝となる。
2. 末梢主要枝は, 相互間の判別が容易で, 分岐様式はヒトより遙かに単純で整然としている。
3. 顔面筋に関しては, 諸家の見解と異なる筋を認め鼻筋の横部として取り扱った。
4. 深頸括約筋の一部としての下眼瞼下制筋の存在を確認した。

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Two experiments were conducted to examine what kind of awareness to the internal control process should be encouraged in order to effectively acquire the control of a novel muscular activity with electromyograph (EMG) biofeedback. The m. auricularis posterior (the muscle to draw an ear backward) was selected as the target muscle of this study. Experiment I investigated the relation between control ability and awareness of the target muscle activity. Results showed that subjects who were able to move their ears could be aware of the target muscle activity more precisely than those who were unable to do it. In experiment II, 32 undergraduate and graduate students who could not move their ears were required to activate their left m. auricularis posterior. Results provided evidences supporting the hypothesis that, in the initial stage of the acquisition of control, subjects who were encouraged to be aware of ways and feelings of striving (efferent process) and were given EMG feedback signals from the target muscle could aquire the control of the target muscle activity more effectively than those who were encouraged to be aware of a bodily feeling brought about by the striving (afferent process) and who were given no EMG feedback signals.

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Present study aimed at to examine the process that people acquire the control of a novel muscular activity, of which they have had little experience of voluntary control, by electromyograph (EMG) biofeedback. Thirty undergraduate students who were unable to move their ears served as subjects. They were asked to give tension unto the m. auricularis posterior (the muscle to draw an ear backward). A factorial design was employed with two levels of strategy (transferring, non-transferring) and three methods of how to provide with the EMG feedback signals from the m. auricularis posterior druing training session (no-feedback, biofeedback, intermittent biofeed-back). The experiment was consisted of four sessions: rest, pre-test, training, and post-test. Main results were as follows: (1) Two groups, which subjects used the transferring strategy and the feedback signals, significantly increased the integrated EMG of the m. auricuraris posterior from pre- to post-tests. (2) Furthermore, the EMG-increase was significantly greater in one group, which feedback signals were intermittently given at every other training trial, than another group, which feedback signals were given at all trials. (3) It was also found that no increase of awareness to the muscular tension occured despite the increase of EMG activity.

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Present study was performed to examine the effects of instructions designed to encourage the awareness of the internal control process on the acquisition of voluntary control of a novel muscular activity. The m. auricularis posterior(the muscle which draws an auricle backward) was selected as the object of the experiment. Twenty-four undergraduate and graduate students who could not move their auricles were required to activate their left m. auricularis posterior and underwent rest, pretest, training, and posttest sessions. They were assigned to one of three groups, i. e., a group BF who were provided with electromyograph (EMG) feedback signals from the left m. auricularis posterior on all training trials, a group NF who were provided with no such information on any training trials, and a group SBF who, in order to encourage their awareness of the experiencing, were provided with EMG feedback at their request on each training trial and asked some questionsabout ways and feelings of striving to activate the left m , auricularis posterior, a bodily feeling brought about by striving, and how to use the feedback signal on every three training trials. Main results were as follows : (1) Mean percentage increase of integrated EMG in the left m. auricularis posterior from pretest to posttest were almost significantly greater for the group SBF than for the gorup BF, and for the group BF than for the group NF. (2) The number of subjects who could learn to move their auricles in the group SBF was also more than that in the other two groups. (3) Only for the group SBF, all subjects knew correctly whether they could move their aurilcles after the experiment. These results provided evidence supporting the hypothesis of the present study that subjects could aquire voluntary control of a novel muscular activity more effectively by being encouraged in their awareness of the internal control process.

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パワーグローブの操作入力として用いることを目的として頭部筋肉の変形や移動を検知するインターフェースの開発に取組んでいる。これにより意図的に行う下顎の軽いかみ締めや耳、眉の動きでパワーグローブを操作可能になる。スポンジと導電布を用いて製作した小型軽量の静電容量式変位センサをベルトに搭載し、頭部に巻きつけて使用する。試作したインターフェースの評価テストを行い、良好な結果を得たので報告する。

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ヒトの表情筋の記載は、16世紀中期のガレノスに始まる。詳細な表情筋の解剖図はアンドレヴェザリウスに始まり、その後は他の解剖学者によって、それぞれ特色のある図として記載されている。

今回、解剖図の歴史的変化と表情筋という名称の移り変わりをガレノス、レオナルドダヴィンチより19世紀後半に至るまで調査した。その結果、ヴェザリウスの後、サントリーニによって表情筋の詳細な記述と解剖図が記載されたことがわかった。サントリーニが記述したより以前は、頭部の筋として表情筋と咀嚼筋は同一の頭部の筋と考えられていた。サントリーニによってはじめて表情筋と咀嚼筋が明確に区別された。さらに笑筋についてもその詳細が記述された。しかし、それでも19世紀前半では、表情筋と咀嚼筋の区別をしていない解剖書が多くみられた。

我が国での表情筋と咀嚼筋の最初の説明記載は、クルムスの解剖書を原本とした『解体新書』であった。明治期になると、ドイツ医学が採用されたことでドイツ語の解剖書を用いた説明と解剖図が多数を占めていた。

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