Measurements of right / left hemisphere activation using functional near-infrared spectroscopy during incongruent Stroop test

Abstract

The human brain automatically processes information at multiple sites when recognizing various types of information at the same time, such as color, shape, etc. Cognitive conflict may occur when conflicting information is recognized at the same time. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is often used to examine the brain activity associated with this phenomenon. To examine activation of the visual system, we measured brain activity in the right / left hemispheres during cognitive conflict in the Stroop test. Consistent with the results reported previously by Ehlis, the brain activity in the near inferior-frontal gyrus of the left hemisphere was increased during the incongruent task. The brain activity also increased in the near inferior-frontal gyrus of the right hemisphere during the incongruent task. These results indicated that fNIRS can be used to detect brain activity in the inferior-frontal gyrus of the right / left hemispheres during the Stroop test.

Hemodynamic Activity and Connectivity of the Prefrontal Cortex by Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy during Color-Word Interference Test in Korean and English Language

“…CKC-1 and CEC-3 respectively. This result is supported by the study of Hiroyasu and colleagues [12] where higher correct responses were also attained in the congruent tasks. Moreover, in the study of Bialystok and colleagues [18], it was concluded that the reason for better performance in the congruent task was due to inadvertent reading were both the reading and color-naming have are similar of having the true response.…”

“…A study among Nepalese medical students showed that it took a long time for the subjects to read incongruent Stroop tasks and 60% of them made mistakes in reading, unlike in the congruent task where none of them committed a mistake [11]. In support of this, another study written by Hiroyasu and colleagues [12] presented that the number of correct responses among healthy young subjects was higher during congruent color-word Stroop task as compared in the incongruent color-word Stroop task. Aside from this, researches in the past focused on the determination of brain activity during the Stroop task.…”

“…Among healthy subjects, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) that is connected with PFC [4,13] has shown activation in fMRI studies during the incongruent task of the Stroop task. Also, greater activation of the inferior frontal region [13] was observed when the subjects underwent the incongruent Stroop task, with more activation noted on the left inferior frontal region than the right inferior frontal region than during congruent task [12]. In the study of Lague-Beauvais and colleagues [15], the bilateral ventral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), particularly the left posterior DLPFC and right anterior DLPFC has also shown activation during interference condition among older adults, as opposed to younger adults showing no significant activation of the prefrontal cortex.…”

“…The entire activated parts of PFC can be seen on the figures in this study using the t-values shown in Table 20. PFC is activated since it is responsible for executive functions [6] and language based on several studies conducted in the past [1,[12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…Aside from this, researches in the past focused on the determination of brain activity during the Stroop task. The specific parts of the brain that were activated are identified and most of them established the role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in attention control in the presence of interference [1,4,[12][13][14][15][16] which is also the focus in this study with the use of the fNIRS device.…”