中島えり奈 – NeuroMusicLab

Profile

Born in 2001. She enrolled at Keio University in 2020 and joined the Fujii Laboratory in April 2021. Since childhood, she has been engaged in songwriting, composition, and musical performance, which has fostered a strong interest in human sensibility and creativity. After taking a one-year leave of absence to pursue musical activities, she resumed her graduate studies in spring 2025. Her academic interests lie in neuroaesthetics, with a focus on elucidating the mechanisms underlying human sensibility. She also aims to investigate the neural basis of creativity and to develop technologies and applications that enhance creative abilities. She is passionate about rock music, guitar, and John Mayer.

contact

e.nakajima@keio.jp

Education

M.S., Neuroscience, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, 2024‒Present

Thesis: Temporal Dynamics of Large-Scale Brain Networks Associated with Subjective Self- Evaluation During Musical Creativity. Supervisor: Shinya Fujii, Ph.D.

B.A., Psychology, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Fujisawa, 2020‒2024

Thesis: Implicit and Explicit Preference for Consonance: The Process of Aesthetic Evaluation in Music. Supervisor: Shinya Fujii, Ph.D.

Research Interests

Neural mechanisms of creativity
Creativity in artistic creation and composition
Subjective experience and self-evaluation in creativity
Universality of aesthetic sensibility and the role of experience and expertise
Music perception and cognition

Research experience

Graduate Researcher: Neurosciences and Music Laboratory, Keio University, Fujisawa, 2025‒Present

Design and conduct an EEG experiment measuring brain activity during melody composition tasks.
Propose a conceptualization of creativity in artistic creation as “the capacity to generate outcomes that approximate one’s internal ideal,” and examine the relationship between subjective experience and brain activity.
Analyze temporal dynamics of large-scale brain networks during creative processes using EEG microstate analysis.

Research Assistant: Laboratory for Haptic Perception and Cognitive Physiology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, 2025‒Present

Analyze auditory information processing in nonhuman primates using whole-cortical electrocorticography (ECoG) to investigate neural activity underlying the perception and cognition of sounds and vocalizations.
Acquire interdisciplinary, multi-level neuroscience knowledge spanning molecular and cellular mechanisms to systems, cognitive, and social neuroscience through the Brain Science Training Program.

Undergraduate Researcher: Neurosciences and Music Laboratory, Keio University, Fujisawa / Aesthetic Science Laboratory, Keio University, Tokyo, 2022‒2024

Designed and conducted interdisciplinary research through collaboration across departments and laboratories, applying theoretical frameworks and methodologies from visual cognition to auditory research.
Using Implicit Association Test, empirically demonstrated a dissociation between explicit (conscious) and implicit (automatic) aesthetic evaluations of consonant and dissonant chords.
Received the Encouragement Award at the 23rd Keio SFC Academic Conference, and was selected as an Outstanding Graduation Project.
Supported by the Yamagishi Student Project Support Program (2023), competitively awarded.
Acquired psychological and neuroaesthetic methodologies for quantitatively investigating human sensibility and subjective experience.

Publication

Nakajima, E., Kondoh, S., Kawabata, H., & Fujii, S. Implicit and Explicit Preference for Consonance: The Process of Aesthetic Evaluation in Music (Manuscript in preparation)

Conference and Presentations

Nakajima, E., Kondoh, S., Kawabata, H., & Fujii, S. Musical Experience Modulates Implicit–Explicit Dissociation in Consonance. APA convention (American Psychological Association), Washington D.C., United States, August 2026. (refereed poster)
Nakajima, E., Kondoh, S., Sata, S., & Fujii, S. Neural Correlates of Proximity to Internal Ideal in Musical Creation: An Exploratory EEG Microstate Analysis. SfNC (Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity), Pennsylvania, United States, June 2026. (refereed poster)
Nakajima, E., Kondoh, S., Kawabata, H., & Fujii, S. 協和音・不協和音に対する美的評価プロセス̶ 顕在評価と潜在評価における音楽経験の役割. 4th General Meeting of Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A) “Materia-Mind,” Tokyo, Japan, January 2026. (poster)
Nakajima, E., Kondoh, S., Kawabata, H., & Fujii, S. Musical Experience Relates to Explicit but Not Implicit Consonance Preference. 21st Annual NeuroMusic Conference, Toronto, Canada, November 2025. (refereed poster)
Nakajima, E., Kondoh, S., Kawabata, H., & Fujii, S. 協和音と不協和音に対する顕在的・潜在的美的評価と音楽経験の関係. Autumn Meeting of the Japanese Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Osaka, Japan, November 2025. (refereed oral presentation)
Nakajima, E., Kondoh, S., Kawabata, H., & Fujii, S. 協和音・不協和音の美的評価プロセスと知識依存性. 23rd Annual Conference of the Keio SFC Academic Society, Fujisawa, Japan, March 2024. (oral presentation) Encouragement Award.

Grants and Fellowships

Keio University Graduate Scholarship (2025)
Keio University Shinjuku Mita-kai Scholarship (2025)
Keio University Research Incentive Scholarship (2024)
Competitively Awarded Yamagishi Student Project Support Program (2023)
Tokio Marine Kagami Memorial Foundation Scholarship (2021–2024)

Awards and Honors

Outstanding Graduation Project Award, Keio University (2024)
Encouragement Award, Keio SFC Academic Society (2024)

Musical Practice

Vocalist with over 20 years of training; singer-songwriter and guitarist with 9 years of experience in composition and performance.
Featured performer, Official Live Showcase, Voice Music School (2020).
Voice Music School: Training in music theory, songwriting and composition, vocal and instrumental performance (2017–2024).
Grand Prize Winner, Music Revolution, Yamaha Music Foundation; national-level music contest (2016).
Finalist, Love in Action: Song for the Life, Japanese Red Cross Society; national-level music contest (2016).
Performed at disability-support concerts, including Yamanoto Fureai Concert and Wataboushi Music Festival (2004–2016).