scholarly journals Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Reveals Abnormal Hemodynamics in the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex of Menopausal Depression Patients

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang-Yun Ma ◽  
Yong-Jun Wang ◽  
Bo Xu ◽  
Kun Feng ◽  
Gao-Xiang Sun ◽  
...  

Background/Objective. Menopausal depression (MD) is characterized by depressive symptoms along with hormonal fluctuations. We investigate brain function alteration between major depressive disorder (MDD) and MD.Methods. The difference in oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) for the prefrontal cortex (PFC) was compared retrospectively among 90 females presented with 30 MDD, 30 MD, and 30 healthy controls (HCs) using verbal fluency task (VFT) with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).Results. We observed a significant difference in Oxy-Hb alteration in the left dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) using VFT with NIRS (channel 18,P=0.007) between the MD and MDD groups. A significant difference in Oxy-Hb levels was observed among the three groups in the bilateral DLPFC (channels 18, 27, 33, 39, 41, and 45;P<0.05). Compared to the HCs, the MD group presented lower Oxy-Hb activation in the right DLPFC (channel 41;P=0.048) and the left DLPFC (channels 18, 39, and 45;P<0.05), and the MDD group presented lower Oxy-Hb activation in the right DLPFC (channels 27, 33, and 41;P<0.05) and the left DLPFC (channels 39 and 45;P<0.05).Conclusion. Abnormal hemodynamics of the left DLPFC can differentiate MD from MDD by NIRS.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsumichi Tachibana ◽  
J. Adam Noah ◽  
Yumie Ono ◽  
Daisuke Taguchi ◽  
Shuichi Ueda

Abstract Understanding how the brain modulates improvisation has been the focus of numerous studies in recent years. Models have suggested regulation of activity between default mode and executive control networks play a role in improvisational execution. Several studies comparing formulaic to improvised sequences support this framework and document increases in activity in medial frontal lobe with decreased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). These patterns can be influenced through training and neural responses may differ between in beginner and expert musicians. Our goal was to test the generalizability of this framework and determine similarity in neural activity in the prefrontal cortex during improvisation. Twenty guitarists performed improvised and formulaic sequences in a blues rock format while brain activity was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Results indicate similar modulation in DLPFC as seen previously. Specific decreases of activity from left DLPFC in the end compared to beginning or middle of improvised sequences were also found. Despite the range of skills of participants, we also found significant correlation between subjective feelings of improvisational performance and modulation in left DLPFC. Processing of subjective feelings regardless of skill may contribute to neural modulation and may be a factor in understanding neural activity during improvisation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takayuki Nakahachi ◽  
Ryouhei Ishii ◽  
Leonides Canuet ◽  
Iori Sato ◽  
Kiyoko Kamibeppu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Tetris has recently expanded its place of activity not only to the original entertainment but also to clinical applications such as prevention of trauma flashback. However, to our knowledge, no studies focused on the cortical activation patterns themselves when playing Tetris in a natural form. This study aimed to investigate the activation patterns in the frontal cortex during naturally-performed Tetris for 90 seconds in 24 healthy subjects using functional near-infrared spectroscopy robust to artifacts by motion and electric devices. We also calculated the correlations of behavioral data with cortical activations, and compared the differences in activations between the high and low performers of Tetris. Results: The results demonstrated that significant activations in the frontal cortex during Tetris play had two factors, each showing a similar activation pattern. One of the factors was distributed over the lateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally, and the other was localized to the right prefrontal cortex. Moreover, in the high performers, the activations of the areas centered on the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were estimated to increase and correlations of the activations between those areas and the other areas decrease compared with the low performers. Conclusions: It is suggested that high Tetris performers might reduce functional connectivity between activations of the areas centered on the right DLPFC and the other areas, and increase the local activations compared with low performers. It would be necessary to consider whether its visuospatial cognitive loads stimulate the appropriate areas of the subject’s brain to effectively utilize Tetris play for clinical interventions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 450-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Hirao

Although self-efficacy has been used extensively in the field of nursing (e.g., as an outcome measure of nursing interventions), its underlying nature is poorly understood. Investigation of the relationship between self-efficacy and brain activation will help explain the fundamental nature of self-efficacy. In this study, we compared prefrontal activation measured with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) across 89 undergraduate students categorized into three groups based on their General Self-Efficacy Scale scores: low self-efficacy ( n = 59), moderate self-efficacy ( n = 17), and high self-efficacy ( n = 13). Changes in the hemoglobin levels of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during a verbal fluency task were assessed using two-channel NIRS. Significant differences in the oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) level of the left PFC (LPFC) were observed via analysis of variance. Post hoc Tukey’s test showed a significant difference only between low self-efficacy and moderate self-efficacy groups. We found a medium between-group effect size in the moderate self-efficacy group versus the low self-efficacy group for the changes in oxy-Hb levels of the LPFC ( d = .78; 95% confidence interval for effect size [0.22, 1.33]). No significant between-group differences were observed with respect to changes in the oxy-Hb in the right PFC. The results indicate less left prefrontal activation in the low self-efficacy group than in the moderate self-efficacy group. These findings provide evidence to support the fundamental nature of self-efficacy.


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