Dean and Professor of the School of Psychology

Hirohito M. Kondo, Ph.D.

Biography

Hirohito Kondo conducted extensive research on the nature of working memory and attentional control during his PhD studies. He earned his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Kyoto University in 2002, followed by a year as a post-doctoral fellow. His deep interest in conscious awareness has driven him to explore mechanisms underlying the formation of meaningful perceptual objects in the human brain. In 2003, he joined NTT Communication Science Laboratories as a Research Scientist. From 2014 to 2016, he also served as a Visiting Scholar at the United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University. In 2017, he joined Chukyo University in Nagoya, where he currently holds the position of Dean and Professor at the School of Psychology.

Research Interests

A central goal of his research is to clarify neural mechanisms that allow individuals to perceive meaningful objects from ambiguous sensory inputs. He is also deeply interested in the temporal dynamics of attentional fluctuation, as reductions in attentional levels can lead to mental distraction, cognitive errors, and even serious accidents. In addition, he investigates how sensory information processing influences both emotional responses and physiological reactions. His research particularly focuses on individual differences in perceptual organization, sustained attention, and emotional processing. To achieve these aims, he employs a combination of methodologies, including psychophysics, neuroimaging techniques (fMRI and MRS), and genotyping analysis.

Service to Scientific Communities

Reviewing Editor / Editorial Board Scientific Reports
Associate Editor Frontiers in Neuroscience

Frontiers in Psychology

Lead Guest Editor Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Guest Editor / Topic Editor Scientific Reports
Frontiers in Neuroscience
Conference Chair The 45th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Psychonomic Society

CNRS-NTT Joint Seminar 2016

  • Theme: Theoretical and experimental approaches towards auditory scene analysis

Research Assistant

Manami Ueda, M.A. Clinical psychologist

Research Student

Yohsuke Hasegawa, M.A. Contract Staff at Field Research Center, School of Contemporary Sociology, Chukyo University

Graduate Students

Daigo Hozaki, M.A. autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), photoplethysmography (PPG)
Yasumasa Fukui auditory scene analysis, misophonia
Hibiki Okita auditory scene analysis, sound-image localization
Haruto Hida multistable perception, transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS)
Ayu Kitano sustained attention, electroencephalography (EEG)

Alumni and Former Members

Ryo Kozawa, Ph.D Part-Time Lecturer at Chukyo University
Shoki Maeda, M.A. Completion of his Master degree in 2026
Yuko Haga, Ph.D Part-Time Lecturer at Chukyo University
Mizuki Niijima, M.A. Completion of his Master degree in 2025
Liu Ruoyu, M.A. Completion of his Master degree in 2025
Rikuto Suzuki, M.A. Completion of his Master degree in 2024
Shin-ya Tokuda, M.A. Completion of his Master degree in 2024
Jean-Michel Hupé, Ph.D Researcher at University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès and CNRS
Hao Tam Ho, Ph.D Postdoc Researcher at École normale supérieure (Ens)
Ryuju Hasegawa, M.A. Completion of his Master degree in 2022
Kanae Tada, M.A. Completion of her Master degree in 2022