2025.7.29

An interview with XNef CEO Mitsuo Kawato was featured in the Nikkei online edition in an article titled “Communicating Specialized Research Findings: The Importance of Storytelling in Deepening Understanding,” as part of the Science Next Views series.

2025.6.30

Press Release
Regulatory Approval Obtained for an AI-Based Medical Device to Support the Diagnosis of Psychiatric Disorders — XNef-Brainalyzer Analysis Program, a Brain Circuit Biomarker for Psychiatric Diagnosis —
The XNef-Brainalyzer Analysis Program, a brain circuit biomarker for psychiatric diagnosis jointly developed by XNef, ATR, and Hiroshima University, received approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on March 5, 2025, as a Class II software as a medical device (SaMD). This represents first-stage approval under Japan’s two-stage approval framework.

2025.1.23

A paper co-authored by XNef CEO Mitsuo Kawato was selected as one of three Editor’s Choice articles for 2024 by Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (PCN), a journal published by Wiley.
Cushing CA, Lau H, Kawato M, Craske MG, Taschereau-Dumouchel V: A double-blind trial of decoded neurofeedback intervention for specific phobias, Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 78: 678-686, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.13726 (2024)

2024.10.15

An interview with XNef CEO Mitsuo Kawato appeared in the autumn issue of the Osaka Science and Technology Center’s magazine, the OZTEC, highlighting XNef’s initiatives.
“Studying the Brain from a Physics Perspective: New Hope for Psychiatric Care”
(Reproduced with permission from the Osaka Science and Technology Center.)

2024.10.8

XNef’s initiatives were featured in the October issue of the mental health magazine Kokoro no Genki+ (Plus).
“Part 6: Contributing to Mental Well-Being Through Neuroscience and AI”
(Reproduced with permission from the Community Mental Health & Welfare Bonding Organization, a certified nonprofit organization.)

2024.8.8

XNef Inc. has raised JPY 500 million in Series A funding from MPI Fund III, managed by MedVenture Partners Inc.

2024.7.11

XNef CEO Mitsuo Kawato delivered a keynote presentation titled “Advancing Personalized Psychiatry: Leveraging Biomarkers and Neurofeedback” at the 5th Neuroergonomics conference in Bordeaux, France.

2024.7.8

We are pleased to announce that our project, “Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders,” has successfully passed its interim evaluation and has been approved for continuation. The project is being conducted under the Practical Application Development category of the Startup Program (ViCLE), part of AMED’s Cyclic Innovation for Clinical Empowerment (CiCLE) initiative.

2024.6.30

XNef CEO Mitsuo Kawato was invited to deliver a keynote lecture titled “AI-based precision psychiatry” at the IEEE Brain Workshop on AI for Neurotechnology, held at PACIFICO Yokohama as part of the World Congress on Computational Intelligence (WCCI 2024).

2024.6.20

XNef CEO Mitsuo Kawato delivered an invited lecture titled “AI-Based Personalized Psychiatry” at the 3rd Healthcare DX Forum, organized by Seed Planning.

2023.10.26

XNef CEO Mitsuo Kawato delivered an invited lecture titled “The Present and Future of Neurofeedback” at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Japan Neurosurgical Society.

2023.10.25

XNef is a sponsor of the 10th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Brain-Machine Interface, to be held on November 11, 2023.

2023.9.8

We are pleased to announce that the effectiveness of a neurofeedback approach for treating depression was evaluated in patients with treatment-resistant depression, and the findings have been published in the Journal of Affective Disorders Reports.
Application of functional connectivity neurofeedback in patients with treatment-resistant depression: A preliminary report

2023.8.3

Nature Branded Contents “Focal Point on Brain Science in Japan” has been published.

2023.4.10

We are pleased to announce that we got the business license of Second Class Marketing Authorization Holder on April 10, 2023.
We will make a further development of various machine-learning softwares, so called “Brainalyzer” series, for supporting the diagnosis of not only major depressive disorder.

2023.3.30

We are pleased to announce that we applied for Medical Devices Reviews to use machine-learning software as a medical device for supporting the diagnosis of major depressive disorder to PMDA (Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency) on March 30, 2023, and it was accepted.
We will make a further announcement when the application is approved through the review process.

2023.3.9

Our advertisement feature was published on 9 March 2023, as part of Nature Index Japan in the online version of Nature, a weekly international journal publishing the finest peer-reviewed research in science and technology.
Supporting depression diagnosis through machine learning, XNef

2020.12.8

Machine Learning Identifies New Brain Network Signature of Major Depression in collaboration with ATR and Hiroshima University.(PLoS Biology)
XNef is working for practical clinical application of this brain network marker for major depressive disorder (MDD) that is useful at any imaging site.

2020.10.2

Research findings about PTSD neurofeedback were published in the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun.

2020.9.27

2020.7.20

A collaboration with KDDI about smartphone dependence was announced in the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun.

2020.7.10

2020.5.14

Research results about neurofeedback were published in the Mainichi Shimbun.

2018.5.25

2016.11.22

The article about "Rewriting the memory of fear: a way to treat PTSD" was published in the Asahi Shimbun.