High Oxygen Exchange to Music Indicates Auditory Distractibility in Acquired Brain Injury: An fNIRS Study with a Vector-Based Phase Analysis

Abstract

Attention deficits due to auditory distractibility are pervasive among patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). It remains unclear, however, whether attention deficits following ABI specific to auditory modality are associated with altered haemodynamic responses. Here, we examined cerebral haemodynamic changes using functional near-infrared spectroscopy combined with a topological vector-based analysis method. A total of thirty-seven participants (22 healthy adults, 15 patients with ABI) performed a melodic contour identification task (CIT) that simulates auditory distractibility. Findings demonstrated that the melodic CIT was able to detect auditory distractibility in patients with ABI. The rate-corrected score showed that the ABI group performed significantly worse than the non-ABI group in both CIT1 (target contour identification against environmental sounds) and CIT2 (target contour identification against target-like distraction). Phase-associated response intensity during the CITs was greater in the ABI group than in the non-ABI group. Moreover, there existed a significant interaction effect in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during CIT1 and CIT2. These findings indicated that stronger hemodynamic responses involving oxygen exchange in the left DLPFC can serve as a biomarker for evaluating and monitoring auditory distractibility, which could potentially lead to the discovery of the underlying mechanism that causes auditory attention deficits in patients with ABI.

Lights on music cognition: a systematic and critical review of fNIRS applications and future perspectives

“…Results showed decreased activity in the right dorsolateral PFC in old (versus young) adults, highlighting a possible marker of agerelated cognitive decline. The same task has been successfully used to identify a biomarker of auditory attention deficit in patients with acquired brain injury (Jeong, Ryu, Shin, et al, 2018).…”

Criterion-Related Validation of a Music-Based Attention Assessment for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury

“…Statistical validation showed promising construct validity and reliability, suggesting the elimination of nine problematic items and the partial reconstruction of the measure. In addition, comparisons of neurophysiological responses using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) were investigated in different age groups in typical [ 62 , 63 ] and clinical populations, such as patients with acquired brain injury and clinical liver disease [ 64 , 65 ]. This study investigated the criterion validity of the MAA as correlated with current neuropsychological attention measurements, that is, the Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-IV) digit span test, Conner’s continuous performance test, and the Delis–Kaplan executive functioning scale (D-KEFS) color-word interference test.…”