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Frontal activation during a verbal-fluency task as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an optical method which allows non-invasive in vivo measurements of concentration changes of oxygenated hemoglobin (O 2Hb) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) in brain tissue. The present study investigated the blood oxygenation changes that were associated with th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research bulletin 2003-06, Vol.61 (1), p.51-56
Main Authors: Herrmann, M.J., Ehlis, A.-C., Fallgatter, A.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an optical method which allows non-invasive in vivo measurements of concentration changes of oxygenated hemoglobin (O 2Hb) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) in brain tissue. The present study investigated the blood oxygenation changes that were associated with the execution of the Verbal-Fluency Test (VFT) in left and right prefrontal brain areas of 14 healthy subjects by means of NIRS. During the VFT, subjects were required to pronounce as many nouns as possible beginning with the letters “A,” “F,” and “S.” Compared to a baseline resting condition, we found a significant increase of O 2Hb (left hemisphere: baseline, 1.2±1.1 μm; VFT letter S , 3.56±2.02 μm; right hemisphere: baseline, 1.26±1.08 μm; VFT letter S , 3.67±2.03 μm) and a significant decrease of HHb (left hemisphere: baseline, −0.21±0.59 μm; VFT letter S , −0.67±0.60 μm; right hemisphere: baseline, −0.29±0.53 μm; VFT letter S , −0.68±0.44 μm) during the execution of the VFT over both hemispheres. No lateralization effects were observed. The results confirm that NIRS is suitable for the measurement of blood oxygenation changes in frontal brain areas that are associated with cognitive tasks.
ISSN:0361-9230
1873-2747
DOI:10.1016/S0361-9230(03)00066-2