Mai Hikita

Papers

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About

Mai Hikita is a leading researcher in cognitive robotics and cross-modal body representation, exploring how physical agents—humans, primates, and robots—dynamically reconstruct their sense of self through sensory integration. Her foundational work investigates how visual attention driven by saliency shapes body representation, particularly during tool use. Drawing on neurophysiological evidence from Japanese macaque monkeys, Hikita demonstrates that the brain’s representation of the body is not static but is flexibly updated through spatiotemporal interactions between vision and touch. Her most cited paper, "Visual attention by saliency leads cross-modal body representation" (2008, 32 citations), establishes a key framework for understanding how saliency-based attention enables the extension of body schema to tools—a critical insight for both neuroscience and robotics. A companion study (2008, 16 citations) further elaborates this cross-modal mechanism, showing how visual cues recalibrate tactile perception. Hikita’s work bridges cognitive science and artificial intelligence, informing the design of robots that can adaptively incorporate tools into their body models. Her contributions have influenced research on embodied cognition, human-robot interaction, and neurorehabilitation, making her a pivotal figure in the study of how agents perceive and extend their physical selves.