scholarly journals fNIRS Assessment of Speech Comprehension in Children with Normal Hearing and Children with Hearing Aids in Virtual Acoustic Environments: Pilot Data and Practical Recommendations

Children ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Laura Bell ◽  
Z. Ellen Peng ◽  
Florian Pausch ◽  
Vanessa Reindl ◽  
Christiane Neuschaefer-Rube ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Pilot Data ◽  
Combined Application ◽  
Acoustic Environments

The integration of virtual acoustic environments (VAEs) with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers novel avenues to investigate behavioral and neural processes of speech-in-noise (SIN) comprehension in complex auditory scenes. Particularly in children with hearing aids (HAs), the combined application might offer new insights into the neural mechanism of SIN perception in simulated real-life acoustic scenarios. Here, we present first pilot data from six children with normal hearing (NH) and three children with bilateral HAs to explore the potential applicability of this novel approach. Children with NH received a speech recognition benefit from low room reverberation and target-distractors’ spatial separation, particularly when the pitch of the target and the distractors was similar. On the neural level, the left inferior frontal gyrus appeared to support SIN comprehension during effortful listening. Children with HAs showed decreased SIN perception across conditions. The VAE-fNIRS approach is critically compared to traditional SIN assessments. Although the current study shows that feasibility still needs to be improved, the combined application potentially offers a promising tool to investigate novel research questions in simulated real-life listening. Future modified VAE-fNIRS applications are warranted to replicate the current findings and to validate its application in research and clinical settings.

scholarly journals Modifications in Prefrontal Cortex Oxygenation in Linear and Curvilinear Dual Task Walking: A Combined fNIRS and IMUs Study

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6159
Author(s):  
Valeria Belluscio ◽  
Gabriele Casti ◽  
Marco Ferrari ◽  
Valentina Quaresima ◽  
Maria Sofia Sappia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Hemoglobin Concentration ◽  
Cortical Activation ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Gait Quality

Increased oxygenated hemoglobin concentration of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been observed during linear walking, particularly when there is a high attention demand on the task, like in dual-task (DT) paradigms. Despite the knowledge that cognitive and motor demands depend on the complexity of the motor task, most studies have only focused on usual walking, while little is known for more challenging tasks, such as curved paths. To explore the relationship between cortical activation and gait biomechanics, 20 healthy young adults were asked to perform linear and curvilinear walking trajectories in single-task and DT conditions. PFC activation was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, while gait quality with four inertial measurement units. The Figure-of-8-Walk-Test was adopted as the curvilinear trajectory, with the “Serial 7s” test as concurrent cognitive task. Results show that walking along curvilinear trajectories in DT led to increased PFC activation and decreased motor performance. Under DT walking, the neural correlates of executive function and gait control tend to be modified in response to the cognitive resources imposed by the motor task. Being more representative of real-life situations, this approach to curved walking has the potential to reveal crucial information and to improve people’ s balance, safety, and life’s quality.

scholarly journals Mandibular prognathism attenuates brain blood flow induced by chewing

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Kanzaki ◽  
Satoshi Wada ◽  
Masao Kumazawa ◽  
Yuko Yamada ◽  
Tomomi Sudo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Blood Flow ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Mandibular Prognathism ◽  
Normal Occlusion ◽  
Calculation Task ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractMastication is closely related to brain function. Animal experiments have revealed that tooth loss has a negative influence on brain function. Clinical studies also suggest that normal occlusion is an essential factor for favorable brain function. Mandibular prognathism (MP) usually results in occlusal dysfunction. However, the relationship between MP and brain function remains unclear. In the present study, we examined the relationship between MP and brain function by measuring brain blood flow (BBF). Seventeen subjects with normal occlusion (NORM) and 25 patients with MP participated in this study. The number of occlusal contacts were counted. Electromyography of the masseter muscles during clenching was also recorded. BBF was measured with non-invasive functional near-infrared spectroscopy during calculation task and chewing task. The number of the occlusal contacts and masseter muscle activity were lower in MP compared with NORM. The calculation task increased BBF in both groups. The chewing task also increased BBF in the inferior frontal gyrus in both groups, although the increase in MP was smaller than in NORM. We discovered that patients with MP exhibited a smaller increase in BBF at the inferior frontal gyrus during chewing as compared with NORM. As such, MP would negatively affect brain function.

scholarly journals Cortical Hemodynamic Mechanisms of Reversal learning using High-Resolution Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: A Pilot Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
charlotte piau ◽  
Mahdi Mahmoudzadeh ◽  
Astrid Kibleur ◽  
Mircea Polosan ◽  
Olivier David ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Reversal Learning ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Behavioral Flexibility ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Behavioral Abnormalities ◽  
Reward And Punishment

Abstract Background: Reversal learning is widely used to analyze cognitive flexibility and characterize behavioral abnormalities associated with impulsivity and disinhibition. Recent studies using fMRI have focused on regions involved in reversal learning with negative and positive reinforcers. Although the frontal cortex has been consistently implicated in reversal learning, few studies have focused on whether reward and punishment may have different effects on lateral frontal structures in these tasks. Here, in eight healthy subjects, we used functional near infra-red spectroscopy (fNIRS) to characterize brain activity dynamics and differentiate the involvement of frontal structures in learning driven by reward and punishment. Results: We observed functional hemispheric asymmetries between punishment and reward processing by fNIRS following reversal of a learned rule. Moreover, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-DLPFC) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were activated under the reward condition only, whereas the orbito-frontal cortex (OFC) was significantly activated under the punishment condition, with a tendency towards activation for the right cortical hemisphere (r-DLPFC and r-IFG). Our results are compatible with the suggestion that the DLPFC is involved in the detection of contingency change. We propose a new representation for reward and punishment, with left lateralization for the reward process. Conclusions: These results provide insights into the indirect neural mechanisms of reversal learning and behavioral flexibility and confirm the use of fNIRS imaging in reversal-learning tasks as a translational strategy, particularly in subjects who cannot undergo fMRI recordings.

scholarly journals Characteristics of executive control network function based on a lateralized version of the ANT-R test in athletes from open skill sports: An fNIRS study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Yu ◽  
Yi B. Liu ◽  
Guang Yang
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Executive Control Network ◽  
Network Function ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
The Right ◽  
Flanker Interference

AbstractThe purpose of the study was to investigate the executive control network function characteristics of interceptive and strategic sports athletes from open skill sports. In order to do so, we used a revised lateralized attention network task to measure executive control efficiency and activation related to flanker interference changes on the right frontoparietal network using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in athletes from different sport sub-categories. Strategic athletes had higher accuracy and lower flanker conflict effects on accuracy, as well as longer reaction time and stronger conflict effects under the valid cue and invalid cue conditions. This was accompanied by higher activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus. These results extend the evidence suggesting that differences among interceptive sports and strategic sports athletes are due to the former using higher velocities to solve conflicts, and the latter using higher accuracy in the same tasks. These effects are attributed to differences in the right frontoparietal network.

scholarly journals Infant and adult brains are coupled to the dynamics of natural communication

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise A. Piazza ◽  
Liat Hasenfratz ◽  
Uri Hasson ◽  
Casey Lew-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Temporal Precision ◽  
Speech Prosody ◽  
Mutual Gaze ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Moment

AbstractInfancy is the foundational period for learning from adults, and the dynamics of the social environment have long been proposed as central to children’s development. Here we reveal a novel, highly naturalistic approach for studying live interactions between infants and adults. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we simultaneously and continuously measured the brains of infants (9-15 months) and an adult while they communicated and played with each other in real time. We found that time-locked neural coupling within dyads was significantly greater when they interacted with each other than with control individuals. In addition, we found that both infant and adult brains continuously tracked the moment-to-moment fluctuations of mutual gaze, infant emotion, and adult speech prosody with high temporal precision. This investigation advances what is currently known about how the brains and behaviors of infants both shape and reflect those of adults during real-life communication.

ASSESSING WORKING MEMORY IN REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS WITH FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY

2009 ◽  
Vol 02 (04) ◽  
pp. 423-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
TING LI ◽  
LI LI ◽  
QINGMING LUO ◽  
HUI GONG
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Promising Alternative

Working memory is one of the most important functions in our brain, which has been widely studied with unreal-life measured technologies. A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) instrument with a portable and low-cost design is developed, which is capable of providing hemodynamic measurement associated with brain function in real-life situations. Using this instrument, we performed working memory studies involved in Chinese words encoding, verbal, and spatial stem recognition, which are mainly studied with other technologies. Our results show that fNIRS can well assess working memory activities, in comparison with the reported results mainly using other methodologies. Furthermore, we find that hemodynamic change in the prefrontal cortex during all working memory tasks is highly associated with subjects' behavioral data. fNIRS is shown to be a promising alternative to the current methodologies for studying or assessing functional brain activities in natural condition.

scholarly journals Analyzing Brain Functions by Subject Classification of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Data Using Convolutional Neural Networks Analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoru Hiwa ◽  
Kenya Hanawa ◽  
Ryota Tamura ◽  
Keisuke Hachisuka ◽  
Tomoyuki Hiroyasu
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Brain Functions

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is suitable for noninvasive mapping of relative changes in regional cortical activity but is limited for quantitative comparisons among cortical sites, subjects, and populations. We have developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) analysis method that learns feature vectors for accurate identification of group differences in fNIRS responses. In this study, subject gender was classified using CNN analysis of fNIRS data. fNIRS data were acquired from male and female subjects during a visual number memory task performed in a white noise environment because previous studies had revealed that the pattern of cortical blood flow during the task differed between males and females. A learned classifier accurately distinguished males from females based on distinct fNIRS signals from regions of interest (ROI) including the inferior frontal gyrus and premotor areas that were identified by the learning algorithm. These cortical regions are associated with memory storage, attention, and task motor response. The accuracy of the classifier suggests stable gender-based differences in cerebral blood flow during this task. The proposed CNN analysis method can objectively identify ROIs using fNIRS time series data for machine learning to distinguish features between groups.

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