Use of near-infrared spectroscopy as a measure of cerebrovascular health in aging adults

Abstract

Neuroimaging techniques assessing oxygenation of cerebral blood (such as near-infrared spectroscopy, NIRS) may reflect general cerebrovascular health, a factor not always considered in studies comparing younger and older adults. We examined whether baseline dorsolateral prefrontal cerebral oxygenation (measured by NIRS) was related to cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive test performance in healthy older adults. We found that cardiovascular risk factors are associated with both baseline dorsolateral prefrontal cortex cerebral oxygenation and memory performance. In addition, cardiovascular health factors were associated with memory performance, and the relationship between cerebral oxygenation and memory performance was explained by these cardiovascular health factors, supporting our contention that NIRS can reflect general cerebrovascular health in older adults. Results suggest that studies examining differences in cortical activation in older and younger adults should consider the potential confound of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health when interpreting data from imaging methods based on oxygenated cerebral blood flow.

Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Neuroimaging in Exercise–Cognition Science: A Systematic, Methodology-Focused Review

“…For example, an acute bout of physical activity increases cognitive performance and is accompanied by higher levels of oxygenated hemoglobin in the prefrontal areas of the human brain [6,7,8,9]. A similar relationship was noticed in cross-sectional studies, which found that more hours of weekly physical activity [10] and higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels [11,12,13] are associated with higher cerebral oxygenation levels and superior cognitive performance. However, since physical-activity-induced neurobiological mechanisms (e.g., cerebral oxygen availability), which may contribute to improved cognitive performance are not fully understood yet [14,15,16], it seems helpful to apply state-of-the-art neuroimaging methods in order to foster our understanding of the effects of physical activity on cognition [17,18].…”

Near‐infrared spectroscopy reveals link between chronic physical activity and anterior frontal oxygenated hemoglobin in healthy young women

“…() discovered in a cross‐section of older women (aged 50–90 years) positive links between physical activity levels, cerebrovascular function, and cognitive performance on a battery of executive function tests (even after controlling for age). Similarly, Suhr and Chelberg () reported in a cross‐section of older men and women (aged 54–89 years) positive links between physical activity levels, prefrontal cerebral oxygenation, and memory performance. Conversely, lower CBF has been associated with impaired cognition in clinical populations with disease‐related cerebrovascular impairment, both under normal conditions (e.g., in patients with Alzheimers disease; see den Abeelen, Lagro, van Beek, & Claassen, ; Lange‐Asschenfeldt & Kojda, ) and when CBF was artificially restricted (by ∼ 40% from baseline; R. S. Marshall et al., ).…”

Automaticity of walking: functional significance, mechanisms, measurement and rehabilitation strategies

“…The interpretation of prefrontal activity should take into account the potential confounding effects of underlying physiological factors. For instance, fNIRS activity has been shown to be affected by the volume of underlying gray matter (Maillet and Rajah, 2013 ) and the health of the cerebrovascular and cardiovascular systems (Suhr and Chelberg, 2013 ). These factors are often compromised in older adults, for example.…”