Source: NHK
Seattle Times: Doctor Says "Ichiro has a very fine prefrontal cortex"
Countless attempts have been made over the years to try to pinpoint Ichiro's prowess, but Dr. Kenichiro Mogi may have trumped all explanations. "Ichiro," he says with confidence, "has a very fine prefrontal cortex." Well, Mogi should know. He's a celebrity brain scientist in Japan. More to the point, he also co-hosts a TV show loosely translated as "Secrets of the Ultimate Professional," a popular weekly documentary series focusing on the methodology that has allowed certain individuals to reach the pinnacles of their trades...For 70 days over three different spans of last season, a four-person, one-camera crew...followed Ichiro's every move, trying to discern his professional methodology. Japanese viewers were obviously interested in the findings. The program drew a 10.4 rating on the NHK network, by far its highest-rated program of the competitive New Year's holiday period and one of the highest-rated "Professional" episodes of all time..."Ichiro's way is a very hard way and certainly out of the norm," Mogi says. "In order to rely on your own feelings like that, you have to have something called metacognition. It's the ability to observe yourself as if you're observing your own internal state from the outside. Of course, it's all your own feeling, but you can access and analyze it as if you are observing it from an objective point of view...In order to do that, you need to have these metacognitive abilities, and that is actually carried by the prefrontal cortex in your brain"...more...
