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Gao J, Zhang L, Zhu J, Guo Z, Lin M, Bai L, Zheng P, Liu W, Huang J, Liu Z. Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamics and Functional Connectivity Changes during Performance Working Memory Tasks in Older Adults with Sleep Disorders. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13030497. [PMID: 36979307 PMCID: PMC10046575 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13030497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective: Older adults with sleep disorders (SDs) show impaired working memory abilities, and working memory processes are closely related to the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the neural mechanism of working memory impairment in older adults with SD remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate changes in PFC function among older adults with SD when carrying out the N-back task by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Method: A total of 37 older adults with SDs were enrolled in this study and matched with 37 healthy older adults by gender, age, and years of education. Changes in PFC function were observed by fNIRS when carrying out the N-back task. Results: The accuracy on the 0-back and 2-back tasks in the SD group was significantly lower than that in the healthy controls (HC) group. The oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration of channel 8 which located in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was significantly reduced in the SD group during the 2-back task, and the channel-to-channel connectivity between the PFC subregions was significantly decreased. Conclusions: These results suggest that patients with sleep disorders have a weak performance of working memory; indeed, the activation and functional connectivity in the prefrontal subregions were reduced in this study. This may provide new evidence for working memory impairment and brain function changes in elderly SDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahui Gao
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Jingfang Zhu
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Zhenxing Guo
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Miaoran Lin
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Linxin Bai
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Peiyun Zheng
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Weilin Liu
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Jia Huang
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
| | - Zhizhen Liu
- College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
- National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Rehabilitation Medicine Technology, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122, China
- Correspondence:
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Reduced Semantic Context and Signal-to-Noise Ratio Increase Listening Effort As Measured Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Ear Hear 2021; 43:836-848. [PMID: 34623112 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000001137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Understanding speech-in-noise can be highly effortful. Decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of speech increases listening effort, but it is relatively unclear if decreasing the level of semantic context does as well. The current study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to evaluate two primary hypotheses: (1) listening effort (operationalized as oxygenation of the left lateral PFC) increases as the SNR decreases and (2) listening effort increases as context decreases. DESIGN Twenty-eight younger adults with normal hearing completed the Revised Speech Perception in Noise Test, in which they listened to sentences and reported the final word. These sentences either had an easy SNR (+4 dB) or a hard SNR (-2 dB), and were either low in semantic context (e.g., "Tom could have thought about the sport") or high in context (e.g., "She had to vacuum the rug"). PFC oxygenation was measured throughout using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. RESULTS Accuracy on the Revised Speech Perception in Noise Test was worse when the SNR was hard than when it was easy, and worse for sentences low in semantic context than high in context. Similarly, oxygenation across the entire PFC (including the left lateral PFC) was greater when the SNR was hard, and left lateral PFC oxygenation was greater when context was low. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that activation of the left lateral PFC (interpreted here as reflecting listening effort) increases to compensate for acoustic and linguistic challenges. This may reflect the increased engagement of domain-general and domain-specific processes subserved by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (e.g., cognitive control) and inferior frontal gyrus (e.g., predicting the sensory consequences of articulatory gestures), respectively.
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Rovetti J, Goy H, Nurgitz R, Russo FA. Comparing verbal working memory load in auditory and visual modalities using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Behav Brain Res 2021; 402:113102. [PMID: 33422594 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.113102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/27/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The verbal identity n-back task is commonly used to assess verbal working memory (VWM) capacity. Only three studies have compared brain activation during the n-back when using auditory and visual stimuli. The earliest study, a positron emission tomography study of the 3-back, found no differences in VWM-related brain activation between n-back modalities. In contrast, two subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of the 2-back found that auditory VWM was associated with greater left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DL-PFC) activation than visual VWM, perhaps suggesting that auditory VWM requires more cognitive effort than its visual counterpart. The current study aimed to assess whether DL-PFC activation (i.e., cognitive effort) differs by VWM modality. To do this, 16 younger adults completed an auditory and visual n-back, both at four levels of VWM load. Concurrently, activation of the PFC was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a silent neuroimaging method. We found that DL-PFC activation increased with VWM load, but it was not affected by VWM modality or the interaction between load and modality. This supports the view that both VWM modalities require similar cognitive effort, and perhaps that previous fMRI results were an artefact of scanner noise. We also found that, across conditions, DL-PFC activation was positively correlated with reaction time. This may further support DL-PFC activation as an index of cognitive effort, and fNIRS as a method to measure it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Rovetti
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
| | - Huiwen Goy
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
| | - Rebecca Nurgitz
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
| | - Frank A Russo
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
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Rovetti J, Goy H, Pichora-Fuller MK, Russo FA. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy as a Measure of Listening Effort in Older Adults Who Use Hearing Aids. Trends Hear 2020; 23:2331216519886722. [PMID: 31722613 PMCID: PMC6856975 DOI: 10.1177/2331216519886722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Listening effort may be reduced when hearing aids improve access to the acoustic
signal. However, this possibility is difficult to evaluate because many
neuroimaging methods used to measure listening effort are incompatible with
hearing aid use. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which can be
used to measure the concentration of oxygen in the prefrontal cortex (PFC),
appears to be well-suited to this application. The first aim of this study was
to establish whether fNIRS could measure cognitive effort during listening in
older adults who use hearing aids. The second aim was to use fNIRS to determine
if listening effort, a form of cognitive effort, differed depending on whether
or not hearing aids were used when listening to sound presented at 35 dB SL
(flat gain). Sixteen older adults who were experienced hearing aid users
completed an auditory n-back task and a visual n-back task; both tasks were
completed with and without hearing aids. We found that PFC oxygenation increased
with n-back working memory demand in both modalities, supporting the use of
fNIRS to measure cognitive effort during listening in this population. PFC
oxygenation was weakly and nonsignificantly correlated with self-reported
listening effort and reaction time, respectively, suggesting that PFC
oxygenation assesses a dimension of listening effort that differs from these
other measures. Furthermore, the extent to which hearing aids reduced PFC
oxygenation in the left lateral PFC was positively correlated with age and
pure-tone average thresholds. The implications of these findings as well as
future directions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Rovetti
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Huiwen Goy
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Frank A Russo
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, ON, Canada
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Anderson AA, Gropman A, Le Mons C, Stratakis CA, Gandjbakhche AH. Hemodynamics of Prefrontal Cortex in Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency: A Twin Case Study. Front Neurol 2020; 11:809. [PMID: 32922350 PMCID: PMC7456944 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) is the most common form of urea cycle disorder characterized by the presence of hyperammonemia (HA). In patients with OTCD, HA is known to cause impairments in domains of executive function and working memory. Monitoring OTCD progression and investigating neurocognitive biomarkers can, therefore, become critical in understanding the underlying brain function in a population with OTCD. We used functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine the hemodynamics of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in a fraternal twin with and without OTCD. fNIRS is a non-invasive and wearable optical technology that can be used to assess cortical hemodynamics in a realistic clinical setting. We quantified the hemodynamic variations in total-hemoglobin as assessed by fNIRS while subjects performed the N-back working memory (WM) task. Our preliminary results showed that the sibling with OTCD had higher variation in a very low frequency band (<0.03 Hz, related to mechanism of cerebral autoregulation) compared to the control sibling. The difference between these variations was not as prominent in the higher frequency band, indicating the possible role of impaired autoregulation and cognitive function due to presence of HA. We further examined the functional connectivity in PFC, where the OTCD sibling showed lower interhemispheric functional connectivity as the task load increased. Our pilot results are the first to show the utility of fNIRS in monitoring OTCD cortical hemodynamics, indicating the possibility of inefficient neurocognitive function. This study provides a novel insight into the monitoring of OTCD focusing on the contribution of physiological process and neurocognitive function in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Afrouz A. Anderson
- National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Andrea Gropman
- Children's National Medical Center, Division of Neurogenetics and Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Cynthia Le Mons
- National Urea Cycle Disorders Foundation, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - Constantine A. Stratakis
- National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Amir H. Gandjbakhche
- National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, United States
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Anderson A, Gropman A, Le Mons C, Stratakis C, Gandjbakhche A. Evaluation of neurocognitive function of prefrontal cortex in ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. Mol Genet Metab 2020; 129:207-212. [PMID: 31952925 PMCID: PMC7416502 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2019.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2019] [Revised: 12/30/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Hyperammonia due to ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) can cause a range of deficiencies in domains of executive function and working memory. Only a few fMRI studies have focused on neuroimaging data in a population with OTCD. Yet, there is a need for monitoring the disease progression and neurocognitive function in this population. In this study, we used a non-invasive neuroimaging technique, functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), to examine the hemodynamics of prefrontal cortex (PFC) based on neural activation in an OTCD population. Using fNIRS, we measured the activation in PFC of the participants while performing the Stroop task. Behavioral assessment such as reaction time and correct response were recorded. We investigated the difference in behavioral measures as well as brain activation in left and right PFC in patients with OTCD and controls. Results revealed a distinction in left PFC activation between controls and patients with OTCD, where control subjects showed higher task related activation increase. Subjects with OTCD also exhibited bilateral increase in PFC activation. There was no significant difference in response time or correct response between the two groups. Our findings suggest the alterations in neurocognitive function of PFC in OTCD compared to the controls despite the behavioral profiles exhibiting no such differences. This is a first study using fNIRS to examine a neurocognitive function in OTCD population and can provide a novel insight into the screening of OTCD progression and examining neurocognitive changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Afrouz Anderson
- NIH, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States of America
| | - Andrea Gropman
- Children's National Medical Center, Division of Neurogenetics and Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics, Washington, DC 20010, United States of America
| | - Cynthia Le Mons
- National Urea Cycle Disorders Foundation, Pasadena, California 91105
| | - Constantine Stratakis
- NIH, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States of America
| | - Amir Gandjbakhche
- NIH, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States of America.
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Effects of Performance and Task Duration on Mental Workload during Working Memory Task. PHOTONICS 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/photonics6030094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
N-back is a working memory (WM) task to study mental workload on the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We assume that the subject’s performance and changes in mental workload over time depends on the length of the experiment. The performance of the participant can change positively due to the participant’s learning process or negatively because of objective mental fatigue and/or sleepiness. In this pilot study, we examined the PFC activation of 23 healthy subjects while they performed an N-back task with two different levels of task difficulty (2-, and 3-back). The hemodynamic responses were analyzed along with the behavioral data (correct answers). A comparison was done between the hemodynamic activation and behavioral data between the two different task levels and between the beginning and end of the 3-back task. Our results show that there is a significant difference between the two task levels, which is due to the difference in task complication. In addition, a significant difference was seen between the beginning and end of the 3-back task in both behavioral data and hemodynamics due to the subject’s learning process throughout the experiment.
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Dashtestani H, Zaragoza R, Pirsiavash H, Knutson KM, Kermanian R, Cui J, Harrison JD, Halem M, Gandjbakhche A. Canonical correlation analysis of brain prefrontal activity measured by functional near infra-red spectroscopy (fNIRS) during a moral judgment task. Behav Brain Res 2018; 359:73-80. [PMID: 30343055 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.10.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Revised: 10/04/2018] [Accepted: 10/16/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Individuals differ in the extent to which they make decisions in different moral dilemmas. In this study, we investigated the relationship between functional brain activities during moral decision making and psychopathic personality traits in a healthy population. We measured the hemodynamic activities of the brain by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). FNIRS is an evolving non-invasive neuroimaging modality which is relatively inexpensive, patient friendly and robust to subject movement. Psychopathic traits were evaluated through a self-report questionnaire called the Psychopathic Personality Inventory Revised (PPI-R). We recorded functional brain activities of 30 healthy subjects while they performed a moral judgment (MJ) task. Regularized canonical correlation analysis (R-CCA) was applied to find the relationships between activation in different regions of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the core psychopathic traits. Our results showed a significant canonical correlation between PFC activation and PPI-R content scale (PPI-R-CS). Specifically, coldheartedness and carefree non-planfulness were the only PPI-R-CS factors that were highly correlated with PFC activation during personal (emotionally salient) MJ, while Machiavellian egocentricity, rebellious nonconformity, coldheartedness, and carefree non-planfulness were the core traits that exhibited the same dynamics as PFC activation during impersonal (more logical) MJ. Furthermore, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and left lateral PFC were the most positively correlated regions with PPI-R-CS traits during personal MJ, and the right vmPFC and right lateral PFC in impersonal MJ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadis Dashtestani
- Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rachel Zaragoza
- Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Hamed Pirsiavash
- Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kristine M Knutson
- Brain Neurology Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Riley Kermanian
- Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Joy Cui
- Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - J Douglas Harrison
- Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Milton Halem
- Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Amir Gandjbakhche
- Section on Analytical and Functional Biophotonics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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