An fNIRS Study of Brain Lateralization During Observation and Execution of a Fine Motor Task

Abstract

Brain activity in the action observation network (AON) is lateralized during action execution, with greater activation in the contralateral hemisphere to the side of the body used to perform the task. However, it is unknown whether the AON is also lateralized when watching another person perform an action. In this study, we use fNIRS to measure brain activity over the left and right cortex while participants completed actions with their left and right hands and watched an actor complete action with their left and right hands. We show that while activation is lateralized when the participants themselves are moving, brain lateralization is not affected by the side of the body when the participant is observing another person’s action. In addition, we demonstrate that individual differences in hand preference and dexterity between the right and left hands are related to brain lateralization patterns.

Laterality Index Calculations in a Control Study of Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy

“…Paired t-tests were conducted between the average beta values of each region of interest in the left hemisphere and region of interest in the right hemisphere. This statistical approach has also been used by other researchers to determine brain lateralization (Khaksari, Smith et al 2021). If the difference between two regions of interest is statistically signi cant (p < 0.05), then the larger beta value indicates hemispheric dominance (i.e., if the left beta value is higher, then brain laterality indicates left hemispheric dominance).…”

“…Although communication is constant between hemispheres, differences between the left and right hemispheres have been reported in numerous functional neuroimaging studies (Nirkko, Ozdoba et al 2001, Gunturkun, Strockens et al 2020). The emergence and evolution of noninvasive functional techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (Seghier 2008) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) (Khaksari, Smith et al 2021, Zuniga, Pierce et al 2021, are now providing an additional characterization of cortical lateralization. This lateral dominance has been observed in a variety of species and is very likely tied to increased survival (Whitehead and Banihani 2014).…”

A Comparison of Immersive vs. Non-Immersive Virtual Reality Exercises for the Upper Limb: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Pilot Study with Healthy Participants

“…Movements in the wrist joint in certain directions can also elicit bilateral hemispheric responses; in addition, wrist joint movements in left and right directions cause increases in HbO 2 in more brain regions than upward and downward movements [ 32 ]. In addition, the VR paradigm might have led to the activation of the observation network of the brain, which differs from the pure movement network [ 34 ].…”

Cortical activation of neuromuscular electrical stimulation synchronized mirror neuron rehabilitation strategies: an fNIRS study

“…In future studies, we can use fNIRS systems with more probes to cover more brain regions, which allows for more ROIs and even the whole brain to be detected. This can also lead to the observation of bilateral changes and lateralization, as well as the interaction between MNS and related brain regions and brain functional networks (85). Second, due to limitations in its technical characteristics, the fNIRS technique can only explore cortical activation and thus, the detection of subcortical activation is impossible.…”