Publication

*: corresponding author

2026

• Fujii, A*. & Hirai, M.* (in press)

2025

• Maruo, K. & Hirai, M.* (2025) Electrophysiological mechanisms underlying the perception of biological motion: A systematic scoping review, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 176, 106265. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106265
• Hirai, M.*, Ikeda, A., Kato, T., Ikeda, T., Asada, K., Hakuno, Y., Matsushima, K., Awaya, T., Okazaki, S., Kato, T., Heike, T., Hagiwara, M., Yamagata, T., Tomiwa, K., & Kimura, R. (2025) Comparison of the Sensory Profile Among Autistic Individuals and Individuals with Williams Syndrome, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55(6), 2092-2099. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06205-1

2024

• Hirai, M.* & Asada, K. (2024) Can Social Motivation Theory Explain the Socio-Cognitive Profile of Individuals with Williams Syndrome? A Cross-Syndrome Approach, Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. DOI: 10.1007/s40489-024-00486-7
• Shi, H. & Hirai, M.* (2024) Autistic traits linked to anxiety and dichotomous thinking: sensory sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty as mediators in non-clinical population, Scientific Reports, 14, 23334. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-73628-w
• Ikeda, A*., Hakuno, Y., Asada, K., Ikeda, T., Yamagata, T., & Hirai, M. (2024) Developmental process of the understanding of linguistic register in children: A comparison of typically developing children, autistic children, and children with Williams syndrome, Autism Research, 17(9), 1902-1915. DOI: 10.1002/aur.3210
• Quesque, F., Apperly, I., Baillargeon, R., Baron-Cohen, S., Becchio, C., Bekkering, H., Bernstein, D., Bertoux, M., Bird, G., Bukowski, H., Burgmer, P., Carruthers, P., Catmur, C., Dziobek, I., Epley, N., Erle, T. M., Frith, C., Uta Frith, Galang, C. M., Gallese, V., Grynberg, D., Happé, F., Hirai, M., Hodges, S. D., Kanske, P., Kret, M., Lamm, C., Nandrino, J. L., Obhi, S., Olderbak, S., Perner, J., Rossetti, Y., Schneider, D., Schurz, M., Schuwerk, T., Sebanz, N., Shamay-Tsoory, S., Silani, G., Spaulding, S., Todd, A. R., Westra, E., Zahavi, D., & Brass, M. (2024) Defining key concepts for mental state attribution, Communications Psychology, 2, 29. DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00077-6
• Hirai, M.*, Asada, K., Kato, T., Ikeda, T., Hakuno, Y., Ikeda, A., Matsushima, K., Awaya, T., Okazaki, S., Kato, T., Funabiki, Y., Murai, T., Heike, T., Hagiwara, M., Yamagata, T., Tomiwa, K., & Kimura, R. (2024) Comparison of the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 among Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Williams Syndrome in Japan, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 54(8), 3176-3184. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05740-7

2023

• Ikeda, A*., Hakuno, Y., Asada, K., Ikeda, T., Yamagata, T., & Hirai, M. (2023) Development of emotion comprehension in children with autism spectrum disorder and Williams syndrome, Autism Research, 16(12), 2378-2390. DOI: 10.1002/aur.3053
• Suzuki, N. & Hirai, M.* (2023) Autistic traits associated with dichotomic thinking mediated by intolerance of uncertainty, Scientific Reports, 13, 14286. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41164-8

2022

• Ikeda, A., Kanakogi, Y., & Hirai, M.* (2022) Visual perspective-taking ability in 7- and 12-month-old infants, PLoS ONE, 17(2), e0263653. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263653
• Hirai, M.* & Hakuno, Y. (2022) Electrophysiological evidence of global structure-from-motion processing of biological motion in 6-month-old infants, Neuropsychologia, 170, 108229. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108229
• Hirai, M.*, Sakurada, T., Ikeda, T., Monden, Y., Shimoizumi, H., & Yamagata, T. (2022) Developmental changes of the neural mechanisms underlying level-2 visual perspective-taking: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study, Developmental Psychobiology, 64(1), e22229. DOI: 10.1002/dev.22229
• Hirai, M.*#, Kanakogi, Y.#, & Ikeda, A. (# equally contributed) (2022) Observing inefficient action can induce infant preference and learning, Developmental Science, 25(1), e13152. DOI: 10.1111/desc.13152

2021

• Hirai, M.*#, Sakurada, T.#, Izawa, J., Ikeda, T., Monden, Y., Shimoizumi, H., & Yamagata, T. (# equally contributed) (2021) Greater reliance on proprioceptive information during a reaching task with perspective manipulation among children with autism spectrum disorders, Scientific Reports, 11, 16099. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-95349-0

2020

• Hirai, M.* & Senju, A. (2020) Two-process theory of biological motion processing, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 111, 114-124. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.010
• Hanley, M., Riby, D. M.*., Derges, M.-J., Douligeri, A., Philyaw, Z., Ikeda, T., Monden, Y., Shimoizumi, H., Yamagata, T., Hirai, M. (2020) Does culture shape face perception in autism? Cross-cultural evidence of the own-race advantage from the UK and Japan, Developmental Science, 23(5), e12942. DOI: 10.1111/desc.12942
• Hirai, M.*, Muramatsu, Y., & Nakamura, M. (2020) Developmental changes in orienting towards faces: A behavioral and eye-tracking study, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 44(2), 157-165. DOI: 10.1177/0165025419844031
• Hirai, M.*, Muramatsu, Y., & Nakamura, M. (2020) Role of the embodied cognition process in perspective-taking ability during childhood, Child Development, 91(1), 214-235. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13172

2019

• Hirai, M.*, & Kanakogi, Y. (2019) Communicative Hand-Waving Gestures Facilitate Object Learning in Preverbal Infants, Developmental Science, 22(4), e12787. DOI: 10.1111/desc.12787
• Sakurada, T., Goto, A., Tetsuka, M., Nakajima, T., Morita, M., Yamamoto, S. I., Hirai, M., & Kawai, K. (2019) Prefrontal activity predicts individual differences in optimal attentional strategy for preventing motor performance decline: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study, Neurophotonics, 6(2), 025012. DOI: 10.1117/1.NPh.6.2.025012
• Sakurada, T*., Hirai, M., & Watanabe, E. (2019) Individual optimal attentional strategy during implicit motor learning boosts frontoparietal neural processing efficiency: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study, Brain and Behavior, 9(1), e01183. DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1183
• Hirai, M.*, Sakurada, T., & Muramatsu, S. I. (2019) Face-to-trait inferences in patients with Parkinson's disease, Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 41(2), 170-178. DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2018.1513452

2018

• Ikeda, T., Hirai, M.*, Sakurada, T., Monden, Y., Tokuda, T., Nagashima, M., Shimoizumi, H., Dan, I., & Yamagata, T. (2018) Atypical neural modulation in the right prefrontal cortex in autism spectrum disorder revealed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy, Neurophotonics, 5(3), 035008. DOI: 10.1117/1.NPh.5.3.035008
• Ikeda, T., Tokuda, T., Monden, Y., Hirai, M., Mizushima, S., Nagashima, M., Kyutoku, Y., Taniguchi, T., Shimoizumi, H., Dan, I., & Yamagata, T. (2018) Hypoactivation of the Right Prefrontal Cortex Underlying Motor Related Inhibitory Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Japanese Psychological Research, 60(4), 251-264. DOI: 10.1111/jpr.12204
• Sakurada, T., Knoblich, G., Sebanz, N., Muramatsu, S. I., Hirai, M.* (2018) Probing links between action perception and action production in Parkinson's disease using Fitts' law, Neuropsychologia, 111, 201-208. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.02.001

2017

• Sakurada, T., Nakajima, T., Morita, M., Hirai, M.*, Watanabe, E. (2017) Improved motor performance in patients with acute stroke using the optimal individual attentional strategy, Scientific Reports, 7, 40592. DOI: 10.1038/srep40592
• Hirai, M.*, Muramatsu, Y., Mizuno, S., Kurahashi, N., Kurahashi, H., Nakamura, M. (2017) Preserved search asymmetry in the detection of fearful faces among neutral faces in individuals with Williams syndrome revealed by measurement of both manual responses and eye tracking, Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 9, 8. DOI: 10.1186/s11689-017-9190-0

2016

• Hirai, M.*, Muramatsu, Y., Mizuno, S., Kurahashi, N., Kurahashi, H., Nakamura, M. (2016) Typical visual search performance and atypical gaze behaviors in response to faces in Williams syndrome, Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 8, 38. DOI: 10.1186/s11689-016-9172-7
• Hirai, M.*, Muramatsu, Y., Mizuno, S., Kurahashi, N., Kurahashi, H., Nakamura, M. (2016) Intact attentional orienting toward inverted faces revealed by both manual responses and eye-movement measurement in individuals with Williams syndrome, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 60(10), 969-981. DOI: 10.1111/jir.12318
• Sakurada, T., Hirai, M.*, Watanabe, E. (2016) Optimization of a motor learning attention-directing strategy based on an individual's motor imagery ability, Experimental Brain Research, 234(1), 301-311. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4464-9
• Watanabe, E., Satoh, M., Konno, T., Hirai, M., Yamaguchi, T. (2016) The Trans-Visible Navigator: a see-through neuronavigation system using augmented reality, World Neurosurgery, 87, 399-405. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2015.11.084

2014

• Hirai, M.*, Gunji, A., Inoue, Y., Kita, Y., Hayashi, T., Nishimaki, K., Nakamura, M., Kakigi, R., Inagaki, M. (2014) Differential electrophysiological responses to biological motion in children and adults with and without autism spectrum disorders, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 8(12), 1623-1634. DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2014.08.016
• Hashimoto, N., Toyomaki, A., Hirai, M., Miyamoto, T., Narita, H., Okubo, R., Kusumi, I. (2014) Absent activation in MPFC and TPJ but not STS during the perception of biological motion in schizophrenia: A functional MRI study, Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 10, 2221-2230. DOI: 10.2147/NDT.S70074

2013

• Hirai, M.*, Muramatsu, Y., Mizuno, S., Kurahashi, N., Kurahashi, H., Nakamura, M. (2013) Developmental changes in mental rotation ability and visual perspective-taking in children and adults with Williams syndrome, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 856. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00856
• Hirai, M.*, Watanabe, S., Honda, Y., Kakigi, R. (2013) Developmental changes in point-light walker processing during childhood: a two-year follow-up ERP study, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 5, 51-62. DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2013.01.002
• Nakamura, M., Watanabe, S., Inagaki, M., Hirai, M., Miki, K., Honda, Y., Kakigi, R. (2013) Electrophysiological study of face inversion effects in Williams syndrome, Brain and Development, 35(4), 323-330. DOI: 10.1016/j.braindev.2012.05.010

2012以前

• Hirai, M., Chang, D. H. F., Saunders, D. R., Troje, N. F.* (2011) Body configuration modulates the usage of local cues to direction in biological motion perception, Psychological Science, 22(12), 1543-1549. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611417257
• Hirai, M., Saunders, D. R., Troje, N. F.* (2011) Allocation of attention to biological motion: local motion dominates global shape, Journal of Vision, 11(3), 4. DOI: 10.1167/11.3.4
• Miki, K., Watanabe, S., Teruya, M., Takeshima, Y., Urakawa, T., Hirai, M., Honda, Y., Kakigi, R. (2011) The development of the perception of facial emotional change examined using ERPs, Clinical Neurophysiology, 122(3), 530-538. DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2010.07.013
• Watanabe, M., Hirai, M., Marino, R. A., Cameron, I. G. (2010) Occipital-parietal network prepares reflexive saccades, Journal of Neuroscience, 30(42), 13917-13918. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3884-10.2010
• Fukushima, H., Hirata, S., Ueno, A., Matsuda, G., Fuwa, K., Sugama, K., Kusunoki, K., Hirai, M., Hiraki, K., Tomonaga, M., Hasegawa, T. (2010) Neural correlates of face and object perception in an awake chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) examined by scalp-surface event-related potentials, PLoS ONE, 5(10), e13366. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013366
• Hirai, M.*, Nakamura, M., Kaneoke, Y., Kakigi, R. (2009) Intact point-light walker processing in Williams syndrome: a magnetoencephalography study, NeuroReport, 20(3), 267-272. DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832000de
• Hirai, M.*, Watanabe, S., Honda, Y., Kakigi, R. (2009) Developmental changes in point-light walker processing during childhood and adolescence: an event-related potential study, Neuroscience, 161(1), 311-325. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.03.026
• Hirai, M.*, Kakigi, R. (2009) Differential orientation effect in the neural response to interacting biological motion of two agents, BMC Neuroscience, 10, 39. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-10-39
• Kaneoke, Y., Urakawa, T., Hirai, M., Kakigi, R., Murakami, I. (2009) Neural basis of stable perception of an ambiguous apparent motion stimulus, Neuroscience, 159(1), 150-160. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.12.014
• Hirai, M.*, Kakigi, R. (2008) Differential cortical processing of local and global motion information in biological motion: an event-related potential study, Journal of Vision, 8(16), 2. DOI: 10.1167/8.16.2
• Hirai, M.*, Kaneoke, Y., Nakata, H., Kakigi, R. (2008) Neural responses related to point-light walker perception: a magnetoencephalographic study, Clinical Neurophysiology, 119(12), 2775-2784. DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2008.09.008
• Hirai, M.*, Watanabe, S., Honda, Y., Miki, K., Kakigi, R. (2008) Emotional object and scene stimuli modulate subsequent face processing: an event-related potential study, Brain Research Bulletin, 77(5), 264-273. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.08.011
• Nakata, H., Tamura, Y., Sakamoto, K., Akatsuka, K., Hirai, M., Inui, K., Hoshiyama, M., Saitoh, Y., Yamamoto, T., Katayama, Y., Kakigi, R. (2008) Evoked magnetic fields following noxious laser stimulation of the thigh in humans, NeuroImage, 42(2), 858-868. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.05.046
• Hirai, M.*, Hiraki, K.* (2007) Differential neural responses to humans vs. robots: an event-related potential study, Brain Research, 1165, 105-115. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.05.078
• Hirai, M.*, Hiraki, K.* (2006) Visual search for biological motion: an event-related potential study, Neuroscience Letters, 403(3), 299-304. DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2006.05.002
• Hirai, M.*, Hiraki, K. (2005) The relative importance of spatial versus temporal structure in the perception of biological motion: an event-related potential study, Cognition, 99(1), B15-B29. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2005.05.003
• Hirai, M.*, Senju, A., Fukushima, H., Hiraki, K. (2005) Active processing of biological motion perception: an ERP study, Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 23(2-3), 387-396. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2004.11.005
• Hirai, M.*, Hiraki, K. (2005) An event-related potentials study of biological motion perception in human infants, Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research, 22(2), 301-304. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2004.08.008
• Fukushima, H., Hirai, M., Arita, A., Kamewari, K., Hiraki, K. (2004) Neural dynamics in human imitation revealed by ERP surface topography, NeuroReport, 15(13), 2129-2132. DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200409150-00026
• Hirai, M.*, Fukushima, H., Hiraki, K. (2003) An event-related potentials study of biological motion perception in humans, Neuroscience Letters, 344(1), 41-44. DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3940(03)00413-0