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The activities of the Tokyo Center
E Matsushima1, T Kojima, S Obayashi
1WHO Tokyo Center and Department of Neuropsychiatry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University School of Medicine, Japan.
Insights
The World Health Organization
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
- Global Health Initiatives
Background:
- The World Health Organization (WHO) Tokyo Center has undertaken significant research and collaborative projects.
- These activities address children's behavioral issues and mental disorder classification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the bio-psycho-social factors in children's emotional and behavioral problems.
- To contribute to the standardization of mental disorder diagnostics through ICD-10.
- To explore the utility of exploratory eye movements in schizophrenia diagnosis.
Main Methods:
- Conducted a multi-center bio-psycho-social study on children's behavior (1985-1987).
- Served as the Field Trial Coordinating Center for ICD-10 in Japan, leading to the 1993 publication.
- Initiated and coordinated a global collaborative project on exploratory eye movements in schizophrenia patients.
Main Results:
- Childhood deviant behavior is linked to psychosocial disadvantages rather than biological factors.
- The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders was adapted and published in Japanese.
- Exploratory eye movements show specificity for schizophrenia, aiding in language-independent diagnosis.
Conclusions:
- Psychosocial factors significantly influence childhood behavioral issues.
- International collaboration is crucial for mental health diagnostic consistency.
- Exploratory eye movement analysis offers a promising, objective tool for schizophrenia detection.
Abstract:
The main World Health Organization (WHO) activities of the Tokyo Center are as follows: (1) It performed the research project entitled 'A Bio-Psycho-Social Study on Children with Emotional and Behavioral Problems' in cooperation with the Beijing and Seoul Centers from 1985 to 1987. These results suggested that the deviant behavior of children in the general population had no biological background, but presumably stemmed from psychosocial disadvantages. (2) It has participated in a field trial for the proposed draft for chapter V of the ICD-10 as the Field Trial Coordinating Center in Japan since 1986 and the first Japanese edition of the ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders: Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines were published in 1993. (3) It proposed the collaborative project exploratory eye movements in patients with schizophrenia in 1989 and has promoted the project with the cooperation of six centers that included Beijing, Casablanca, Montreal, Munich, Prague and Sapporo. The findings of the present project indicated that exploratory eye movements may be specific to schizophrenia and can be practically used to discriminate schizophrenia without significantly depending on language.