Frontiers in Neuroscience (Dec 2014)

Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamics and Age: A Pilot Study Using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy in Children

  • Afrouz A Anderson,
  • Afrouz A Anderson,
  • Elizabeth eSmith,
  • Victor eChernomordik,
  • Yasaman eArdeshirpour,
  • Fatima eChowdhry,
  • Audrey eThurm,
  • David eBlack,
  • Dennis eMatthews,
  • Owen eRennert,
  • Amir H Gandjbakhche

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00393
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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Cerebral hemodynamics reflect cognitive processes and underlying physiological processes, both of which are captured by functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Here, we introduce a novel parameter of Oxygenation Variability directly obtained from fNIRS data —the OV Index—and we demonstrate its use in children. fNIRS data were collected from 17 children (ages 4-8 years), while they performed a standard Go/No-Go task. Data were analyzed using two frequency bands—the first attributed to cerebral autoregulation (CA) (<0.1 Hz) and the second to respiration (0.2-0.3 Hz). Results indicate differences in variability of oscillations of oxygen saturation (SO2) between the two different bands. These pilot data reveal a dynamic relationship between chronological age and OV index in CA associated frequency of <0.1 Hz. Specifically, OV index increased with age between 4 to 6 years. In addition, there was much higher variability in frequencies associated with CA than for respiration across subjects. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the utility of the OV index and are the first to describe the relationship between cerebral autoregulation and age in children using fNIRS methodology.

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