Functional imaging of cognition in an old-old population: A case for portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Abstract

In this study, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record brain activation during cognitive testing in older individuals (88±6yo; N = 19) living in residential care communities. This population, which is often associated with loss of personal independence due to physical or cognitive decline associated with aging, is also often under-represented in neuroscience research because of a limited means to participate in studies which often take place in large urban or university centers. In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility and initial results using a portable 8-source by 4-detector fNIRS system to measure brain activity from participants within residential care community centers. Using fNIRS, brain signals were recorded during a series of computerized cognitive tests, including a Symbol Digit Coding test (SDC), Stroop Test (ST), and Shifting Attention Test (SAT). The SDC and SAT elicited greater activity in the left middle frontal region of interest. Three components of the ST produced increases in the right middle frontal and superior frontal, and left superior frontal regions. An association between advanced age and increased activation in the right middle frontal region was observed during the incongruent ST. Although none of the participants had clinical dementia based on the short portable mental status questionnaire, the group performance was slightly below age-normed values on these cognitive tests. These results demonstrate the capability for obtaining functional neuroimaging measures in residential settings, which ultimately may aid in prognosis and care related to dementia in older adults.

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Study Cerebral Hemodynamics in Older Adults During Cognitive and Motor Tasks: A Review

“…Of the 46 included articles, 13 included a mix of younger and older participants (Heilbronner and Münte, 2013;Ohsugi et al, 2013;Beurskens et al, 2014;Müller et al, 2014;Oboshi et al, 2014;Hernandez et al, 2016;Bierre et al, 2017;Mirelman et al, 2017;Rosso et al, 2017;Hawkins et al, 2018) whereas 29 included only older adults (Doi et al, 2013;Heinzel et al, 2013Heinzel et al, , 2015Niu et al, 2013;Clark et al, 2014;Vermeij et al, 2014;Dupuy et al, 2015;Holtzer et al, 2015Holtzer et al, , 2016Holtzer et al, , 2017aHoltzer et al, ,b, 2018aLaguë-Beauvais et al, 2015;Al-Yahya et al, 2016;Maidan et al, 2016Maidan et al, , 2017Mahoney et al, 2016;Nieuwhof et al, 2016;Osofundiya et al, 2016;Takeuchi et al, 2016;Uemura et al, 2016;Yeung et al, 2016a,b;Chen et al, 2017;Huppert et al, 2017;Verghese et al, 2017;Yap et al, 2017;Halliday et al, 2018;Katzorke et al, 2018;Lucas et al, 2018;Mori et al, 2018;Thumm et al, 2018). Moreover, 26 studies included only cognitively normal participants…”

“…Looking at the older adults subgroups that were included in the studies, there was a wide range of mean ages, from 61 ± 4 (Hernandez et al, 2016) to 88.1 ± 6 (Huppert et al, 2017). The largest sample size was 1052 participants (Heinzel et al, 2015) while a sample of 12 older adults was the smallest (Nieuwhof et al, 2016).…”

“…The largest sample size was 1052 participants (Heinzel et al, 2015) while a sample of 12 older adults was the smallest (Nieuwhof et al, 2016). Most source populations were community-dwelling but two studies included older adults living in nursing home (Osofundiya et al, 2016;Huppert et al, 2017). Ten studies did not describe the participant setting (Niu et al, 2013;Oboshi et al, 2014;Al-Yahya et al, 2016;Uemura et al, 2016;Maidan et al, 2017;Mirelman et al, 2017;Rosso et al, 2017;Katzorke et al, 2018;Mori et al, 2018;Thumm et al, 2018).…”

“…The majority, 29 studies, used O 2 Hb to assess brain activation while nine studies (Heilbronner and Münte, 2013;Beurskens et al, 2014;Müller et al, 2014;Al-Yahya et al, 2016;Hyodo et al, 2016;Nieuwhof et al, 2016;Rosso et al, 2017;Halliday et al, 2018;Katzorke et al, 2018) used both O 2 Hb and HHb and one used only Total Hb (Huppert et al, 2017). Two studies calculated the Total Oxygenation Index (O 2 Hb/Total Hb x 100) in order to assess brain hemodynamics (Clark et al, 2014;Bierre et al, 2017).…”

“…From the twelve remaining studies, eleven used different tests of executive functions (i.e., Stroop, symbol digit coding and shifting attention test, Go/No go inhibition task, Trail Making Test part B, etc.) (Heilbronner and Münte, 2013;Albinet et al, 2014;Müller et al, 2014;Oboshi et al, 2014;Dupuy et al, 2015;Laguë-Beauvais et al, 2015;Hyodo et al, 2016;Bierre et al, 2017;Huppert et al, 2017;Halliday et al, 2017Halliday et al, , 2018 and one used an episodic memory task (Uemura et al, 2016).…”