Photoneuromodulation makes a difficult cognitive task less arduous

Chan, Agnes S.; Lee, Tsz-lok; Hamblin, Michael R.; Cheung, Mei-chun

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-93228-2

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…Such a decrease in HbO brain activation reflected that the participants paid less effort in terms of HbO in completing such a difficult task (i.e., 3-back task) after tPBM. Similar findings were also reported in previous studies [15], [52], [53]. For example, in a study on 18 older adults with mild cognitive impairment, Chan et al found that those who received active tPBM, compared to sham stimulation, exhibited reduced hemodynamic responses and meantime improved behavioral performance during a visual memory task [53].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…For example, in a study on 18 older adults with mild cognitive impairment, Chan et al found that those who received active tPBM, compared to sham stimulation, exhibited reduced hemodynamic responses and meantime improved behavioral performance during a visual memory task [53]. Furthermore, during a verbal 3-back task, Chan et al investigated frontal brain activity in healthy young adults and found significantly decreased frontal activation after tPBM [52]. As such, these combined studies support that the tPBM treatment could lead to improved neural function that thereby reduces the cognitive effort required to complete difficult tasks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Repeated Photobiomodulation Induced Reduction of Bilateral Cortical Hemodynamic Activation During a Working Memory Task in Healthy Older Adults

et al. 2023

IEEE J. Biomed. Health Inform.

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Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) is an emerging non-invasive light-based neuromodulation technique that shows promising potential for improving working memory (WM) performance in older adults. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms associated with tPBM that underlie the improvement of WM and the persistence of such improvement have not been investigated. Sixty-one healthy older adults were recruited to receive a baseline sham stimulation, followed by one-week active tPBM (12 min daily, 1064-nm laser, 250 mW/cm 2 ) and three-week follow-ups. N-back WM task was conducted on post-stimulation of the baseline, the first (Day 1) and seventh (Day 7) days of the active treatment, and at the follow-ups. During the task, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) imaging was employed to record the cortical hemodynamic changes. Brain activations during the active and follow-up sessions were compared with the baseline to determine how tPBM had changed cortical hemodynamic activity and how long these changes persisted. We found that tPBM stimulation on Day 1 induced significantly decreased activation in the right hemisphere during the 3back. The decreased activation expanded from only the right hemisphere on Day 1 to both hemispheres on Day 7. The decreased activation persisted for one week in the right supramarginal gyrus and the left angular gyrus and two weeks in the left somatosensory association cortex. These activation changes were accompanied by significantly improved task accuracy during the N-back. These findings provide important evidence for understanding neural mechanisms underlying cognitive enhancement after tPBM.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated Photobiomodulation Induced Reduction of Bilateral Cortical Hemodynamic Activation During a Working Memory Task in Healthy Older Adults

et al. 2023

IEEE J. Biomed. Health Inform.

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“…The finding provided neural evidence for improvements in working memory as performing difficult tasks. As such, both a previous brain imaging study 24 and our current behavioral investigation support that tPBM reduces the cognitive efforts needed to complete tasks with high memory loads. Notably, for the 2-back task, the current study did not observe significant changes in the behavioral outcomes after single or seven-day repeated tPBM treatment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Recently, one study from Chan et al. 24 specifically examined the hemodynamic changes during 0- and 3-back working memory tasks in young healthy adults after frontal tPBM stimulation (one duration for 350 s, three sections). The authors observed a significant reduction in frontal hemodynamic activation in the experimental group during the difficult task, i.e., the 3-back condition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated transcranial photobiomodulation improves working memory of healthy older adults: behavioral outcomes of poststimulation including a three-week follow-up

Zhou

et al. 2022

Neurophoton.

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. Significance Decline in cognitive ability is a significant issue associated with healthy aging. Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation technique and has shown promise to overcome this challenge. Aim This study aimed to investigate the effects of seven-day repeated tPBM, compared to those of single tPBM and baseline, on improving -back working memory in healthy older adults and to evaluate the persistent efficacy of repeated tPBM. Approach In a sham-controlled and within-subject design, 61 healthy older adults were recruited to participate in a longitudinal study involving an experimental baseline, seven days of tPBM treatment (12 min daily, 1064-nm laser, ) in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and three weeks of follow-ups. Behavioral performance in the -back ( ) was recorded poststimulation during the baseline, the first and seventh days of the tPBM session, and the three weekly follow-ups. A control group with 25 participants was included in this study to rule out the practice and placebo effects. The accuracy rate and response time were used in the statistical analysis. Results Repeated and single tPBM significantly improved accuracy rate in 1- and 3-back tasks and decreased response time in 3-back compared to the baseline. Moreover, the repeated tPBM resulted in a significantly higher improvement in accuracy rate than the single tPBM. These improvements in accuracy rate and response time lasted at least three weeks following repeated tPBM. In contrast, the control group showed no significant improvement in behavioral performance. Conclusions This study demonstrated that seven-day repeated tPBM improved the working memory of healthy older adults more efficiently, with the beneficial effect lasting at least three weeks. These findings provide fundamental evidence that repeated tPBM may be a potential intervention for older individuals with memory decline.

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“…A series of studies have also investigated whether PBM may improve cognitive function in healthy participants. In this regard, human studies have shown improvements in attention and short-term memory (Barrett & Gonzalez-Lima, 2013;Vargas et al, 2017), executive function (Chan et al, 2021), and rule-based category learning (Blanco et al, 2017). Similarly, it has been shown that PBM may enhance attentional capabilities during a Go/No-Go task (Jahan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

From functional neuroimaging to neurostimulation: fNIRS devices as cognitive enhancers

Waight,

Arias,

Jiménez-García

et al. 2023

Behav Res

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Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) relies on near-infrared (NIR) light for changes in tissue oxygenation. For decades, this technique has been used in neuroscience to measure cortical activity. However, recent research suggests that NIR light directed to neural populations can modulate their activity through “photobiomodulation” (PBM). Yet, fNIRS is being used exclusively as a measurement tool. By adopting cognitive tests sensitive to prefrontal functioning, we show that a ‘classical’ fNIRS device, placed in correspondence of the prefrontal cortices of healthy participants, induces faster RTs and better accuracy in some of the indexes considered. A well-matched control group, wearing the same but inactive device, did not show any improvement. Hence, our findings indicate that the ‘standard’ use of fNIRS devices generates PBM impacting cognition. The neuromodulatory power intrinsic in that technique has been so far completely overlooked, and future studies will need to take this into account.

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Photoneuromodulation makes a difficult cognitive task less arduous

Cited by 12 publications

References 31 publications

Repeated Photobiomodulation Induced Reduction of Bilateral Cortical Hemodynamic Activation During a Working Memory Task in Healthy Older Adults

Repeated Photobiomodulation Induced Reduction of Bilateral Cortical Hemodynamic Activation During a Working Memory Task in Healthy Older Adults

Repeated transcranial photobiomodulation improves working memory of healthy older adults: behavioral outcomes of poststimulation including a three-week follow-up

From functional neuroimaging to neurostimulation: fNIRS devices as cognitive enhancers

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