Feasibility of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to Investigate the Mirror Neuron System: An Experimental Study in a Real-Life Situation

Sun, Peipei; Tan, Fu-Lun; Zong, Zhang; Jiang, Yihan; Zhao, Yang; Zhu, Chaozhe

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00086

Cited by 64 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…We focused on the four dominant brain regions of the MNS, namely the IFG (BA44/45), PMC (BA6), SPL (BA7), and rostral IPL (BA40), and were able to detect changes in the activity of all four regions when using ROI-based group analysis. These results proved that it is feasible to use fNIRS to investigate MNS activity, a finding corroborated by a previous study (Sun et al., 2018). Sun et al.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…This eliminates the confounding factor of delay between the variable being studied and brain imaging to assess activation. Sun and the colleagues established fNIRS as a non-invasive technique to detect the activation of MNS brain regions during action execution and observation (Sun et al., 2018). Accordingly, fNIRS has become an ideal tool to explore the MNS.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Positive Effect of Moderate-Intensity Exercise on the Mirror Neuron System: An fNIRS Study

Wang

et al. 2019

Front. Psychol.

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A growing number of studies have reported the beneficial effect of exercise on human social behavior. The mirror neuron system (MNS) plays a critical role in a variety of social behaviors from imitation to empathy. However, neuroimaging investigations into the effects of exercise on the MNS remain unexplored. To address this question, our study determined the effect of moderate-intensity exercise on the MNS using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Specifically, 23 right-handed young individuals were asked to perform a table-setting task that included action execution and action observation before and after a 25-min exercise session on a cycle ergometer at moderate intensity (65% VO 2peak ). The control condition was the same task performed without exercise. Cortical hemodynamic changes in the four primary brain regions of the MNS were monitored with fNIRS, using a modified probe configuration that covered all four MNS regions in the left hemisphere. We used a region of interest (ROI)-based group analysis to determine which regions were activated during action execution and action observation. Following a session of moderate-intensity exercise, we found a significant increase in activation in all four MNS regions, namely the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), premotor cortex (PMC), superior parietal lobule (SPL), and rostral inferior parietal lobule (IPL). This result indicated a positive effect of exercise on the MNS, specifically that moderate-intensity exercise could activate the MNS.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Positive Effect of Moderate-Intensity Exercise on the Mirror Neuron System: An fNIRS Study

Wang

et al. 2019

Front. Psychol.

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“…fNIRS data were processed by using open source software HOMER2 (Huppert et al, 2009 ) which is implemented in MATLAB (Mathworks, Natick, MA, USA). While some studies focused on channels that cover predetermined regions of interest (Mehnert et al, 2013 ; Yeo et al, 2013 ; Sun et al, 2018 ), we decided to utilize all channels to show cortical activation maps to serve a guide for the selection of regions of interest for future studies. First, the channels that are lower than 0.0005 V or higher than 1 V and had a signal to noise ratio less than 3 were excluded (Jahani et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trial lengths during upper extremity motor tasks in fNIRS studies have ranged from 10 s to 20 s in prior publications (Mehnert et al, 2013 ; Batula et al, 2017 ; Dravida et al, 2017 ; Lee et al, 2018 ; Sun et al, 2018 ; Wu et al, 2018 ). Long trial lengths result in participant burden especially in individuals with stroke who fatigue easily (Nadarajah and Goh, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical Activation During Shoulder and Finger Movements in Healthy Adults: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study

Yang

Lim

Peters

et al. 2020

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Characterization of cortical activation patterns during movement of the upper extremity in healthy adults is helpful in understanding recovery mechanisms following neurological disorders. This study explores cortical activation patterns associated with movements of the shoulder and fingers in healthy adults using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Twelve healthy right-handed participants were recruited. Two motor tasks (shoulder abduction and finger extension) with two different trial lengths (10 s and 20 s) were performed in a sitting position at a rate of 0.5 Hz. The hemodynamic response, as indicated by oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR), over both hemispheres was acquired using a 54-channel fNIRS system. We found a generalized bilateral cortical activation during both motor tasks with greater activation in the contralateral compared to the ipsilateral primary motor cortex. Particularly in the more medial part of the contralateral hemisphere, significant higher activation was found during the shoulder compared to finger movements. Furthermore, cortical activation patterns are affected not only by motor tasks but also by trial lengths. HbO is more sensitive to detect cortical activation during finger movements in longer trials, while HbR is a better surrogate to capture active areas during shoulder movement in shorter trials. Based on these findings, reporting both HbO and HbR is strongly recommended for future fNIRS studies, and trial lengths should be taken into account when designing experiments and explaining results. Our findings demonstrating distinct cortical activation patterns associated with shoulder and finger movements in healthy adults provide a foundation for future research to study recovery mechanisms following neurological disorders.

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“…Mirror neuron system (MNS) was activated when an individual performed action, and observed the same action performed by others (Sun et al, 2018). The first discovery of MNS was in the ventral premotor cortex (area F5) of the macaque brain; it fired when grasping food as well as when the macaque observed the experimenter grasping food.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effect of Acute Moderate-Intensity Exercise on the Mirror Neuron System: Role of Cardiovascular Fitness Level

Wang

et al. 2020

Front. Psychol.

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Objectives: The aims of this study were to use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to determine whether cardiovascular fitness levels modulate the activation of the mirror neuron system (MNS) under table-setting tasks in non-exercise situation, to replicate the study that positive effect of acute moderate-intensity exercise on the MNS and investigate whether cardiovascular fitness levels modulates the effect of exercise on the activation of the MNS. Methods: Thirty-six healthy college-aged participants completed a maximal graded exercise test (GXT) and were categorized as high, moderate, or low cardiovascular fitness. Participants then performed table-setting tasks including an action execution task (EXEC) and action observation task (OBS) prior to (PRE) and after (POST) either a rest condition (CTRL) or a cycling exercise condition (EXP). The EXP condition consisted of a 5-min warm-up, 15-min moderate-intensity exercise (65% VO 2max), and 5-min cool-down. Results: No significant differences were observed for Oxy-Hb and Deoxy-Hb between different cardiovascular fitness levels in the EXEC or OBS tasks in the non-exercise session. But there were significant improvements of oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and pre-motor area (PMC) regions under the OBS task following the acute moderate exercise. Particularly, the improvements (Post-Pre) of Oxy-Hb were mainly observed in high and low fitness individuals. There was also a significant improvement of deoxygenated hemoglobin (Deoxy-Hb) in the IPL region under the OBS task. The following analysis indicated that exercise improved Deoxy-Hb in high fitness individuals. Conclusion: This study indicated that the activation of MNS was not modulated by the cardiovascular fitness levels in the non-exercise situation. We replicated the previous study that moderate exercise improved activation of MNS; we also provided the first empirical evidence that moderate-intensity exercise positively affects the MNS activation in college students of high and low cardiovascular fitness levels.

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Feasibility of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to Investigate the Mirror Neuron System: An Experimental Study in a Real-Life Situation

Cited by 64 publications

References 66 publications

The Positive Effect of Moderate-Intensity Exercise on the Mirror Neuron System: An fNIRS Study

The Positive Effect of Moderate-Intensity Exercise on the Mirror Neuron System: An fNIRS Study

Cortical Activation During Shoulder and Finger Movements in Healthy Adults: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study

Effect of Acute Moderate-Intensity Exercise on the Mirror Neuron System: Role of Cardiovascular Fitness Level

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