Sains Malaysiana 51(3)(2022): 823-834

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2022-5103-16

 

Simple Coordination and Cognitive Stimulation Activities for Cognitive Function Assessments using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

(Aktiviti Koordinasi Mudah dan Rangsangan Kognitif bagi Penilaian Fungsi Kognitif menggunakan Spektroskopi Inframerah Dekat Berfungsi)

 

NORSHAM JULIANA1, IZUDDIN FAHMY ABU2,*, MOHAMAD HAIQAL NIZAR MOHAMAD2, MUHAMMAD FATTAH FAZEL2, NURUL ATHIRAH RANI2, NUR ZAFIRAH FARHANA ZAFREEN2, NOR AZILA NOH1, ZALHAN MD YUSUF3, MUHAMMAD HAFIZ LAILI3 & SRIJIT DAS4

 

1Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Persiaran Ilmu, Putra Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

2Institute of Medical Science Technology, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia

  3MIMOS Berhad, Technology Park Malaysia, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia

  4Human & Clinical Anatomy Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman

 

Received: 28 February 2021/Accepted: 11 August 2021

 

Abstract

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive and high-density imaging device used for the evaluation of cognitive functions by measuring the oxygenated haemoglobin (HbO) and deoxygenated haemoglobin (HHb) levels in the prefrontal cortex. The present study determined the utilisation of fNIRS in detecting cerebral haemoglobin oxygenation level during coordination and simple cognitive stimulation activities in healthy young volunteers. Thirty subjects comprising equally of both genders were recruited. Subjects were tasked with coordination tests (plate tapping and block transfer tests) and cognitive stimulation activities (ruler drop test and MRAVLT) while the fNIRS system was attached to their prefrontal cortex area. The HbO and HHb levels were recorded and analysed using Repeated Measures ANOVA. The HbO levels during coordination tests differ significantly from resting state (p<0.05) in all but channel 2. All coordination tests elevated HbO levels compared to resting state except during block transfer test in channel 1. No significant difference was observed in HHb levels between coordination tests and resting state in all channels (p>0.05), except channel 3. All cognitive stimulation activities increased HbO levels compared to resting state; this change was significant in channels 3 and 4 (p<0.05). In contrast, HHb levels during all cognitive tests were lower compared to the resting state and was found to be significant in channels 2 and 3 (p<0.05). These findings suggested that coordination and cognitive stimulation activities activate prefrontal cortex in healthy young adults and could be potentially utilised as a valid screening tool for cognitive function assessments via fNIRS.

 

Keywords: Brain monitoring; cognitive stimulation; coordination test; fNIRS; functional near-infrared spectroscopy

 

Abstrak

Spektroskopi Inframerah Dekat Berfungsi (fNIRS) ialah peranti pengimejan berketumpatan tinggi yang tidak invasif dan mampu menilai fungsi kognitif berdasarkan tahap pengoksigenan (HbO) dan dioksigen (HHb) hemoglobin pada bahagian korteks prefrontal otak. Kajian ini menganalisis penggunaan fNIRS untuk mengesan tahap oksigenasi hemoglobin otak serebral semasa ujian koordinasi dan aktiviti stimulasi kognitif ringkas dalam kalangan sukarelawan yang muda dan sihat. 30 subjek (15 lelaki dan 15 perempuan) dipilih menyertai kajian. Subjek perlu melakukan ujian koordinasi (ujian mengetuk plat dan pemindahan blok) dan aktiviti stimulasi kognitif (ujian jatuhan pembaris dan MRAVLT) dengan sistem fNIRS terpasang pada dahi subjek. Tahap HbO dan HHb direkod dan dianalisis menggunakan ANOVA Pengukuran Berulang. Tahap HbO semasa aktiviti koordinasi berbeza secara signifikan berbanding sewaktu rehat bagi kesemua saluran (p<0.05) kecuali saluran 2. Semua ujian koordinasi meningkatkan tahap HbO berbanding rehat kecuali semasa ujian pemindahan blok di saluran 1. Tiada perbezaan signifikan bagi tahap HHb sewaktu aktiviti koordinasi berbanding rehatpada semua saluran (p>0.05) kecuali saluran 3. Semua aktiviti stimulasi kognitif meningkatkan tahap HbO berbanding rehat, dengan peningkatan signifikan diperhatikan di saluran 3 dan 4 (p<0.05). Manakala, tahap HHb menurun semasa aktiviti stimulasi kognitif berbanding rehat, dengan penurunan signifikan direkodkan di saluran 2 dan 3 (p<0.05). Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa aktiviti koordinasi dan stimulasi kognitif mengaktifkan bahagian korteks prefrontal dalam kalangan subjek yang sihat dan berpotensi digunakan sebagai alat penilaian fungsi kognitif melalui aplikasi fNIRS.

 

Kata kunci: fNIRS; pemantauan otak; pengimejan neuro; stimulasi kognitif; ujian koordinasi

 

REFERENCES

Arenth, P.M., Ricker, J.H. & Schultheis, M.T. 2007. Applications of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to neurorehabilitation of cognitive disabilities. The Clinical Neuropsychologist 21(1): 38-57.

Balthazar, M.L.F., Yasuda, L.Y., Cendes, F. & Damasceno, B.P. 2010. Learning, retrieval, and recognition are compromised in AMCI and mild AD: Are distinct episodic memory processes mediated by the same anatomical structures? Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 16(1): 205-209.

Batez, M., Milošević, Z., Mikulić, I., Sporiš, G., Mačak, D. & Trajković, N. 2021. Relationship between motor competence, physical fitness, and academic achievement in young school-aged children. BioMed. Research International 2021: 6631365.

Bediz, C.S., Oniz, A., Guducu, C., Demirci, E.U., Ogut, H., Gunay, E., Cetinkaya, C. & Ozgoren, M. 2016. Acute supramaximal exercise increases the brain oxygenation in relation to cognitive workload. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 10: 174.

Berisha, M. & Cilli, M. 2017. Comparison of eurofit test results of 11-17-year-old male and female students in Kosovo. European Scientific Journal 31: 138.

Bracken, B.K., Festa, E., Sun, H.M., Leather, C. & Strangman, G. 2019. Validation of the fNIRS Pioneer™, a portable, durable, rugged functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device. In Proceedings of the 12th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC Special Session on Real-world Assessment of Individuals during Everyday Routines). pp. 521-531.

Buxton, R.B., Uludağ, K., Dubowitz, D.J. & Liu, T.T. 2004. Modelling the hemodynamic response to brain activation. Neuroimage 23: S220-S233.

Carlén, M. 2017. What constitutes the prefrontal cortex? Science 358(6362): 478-482.

Chance, B., Zhuang, Z., UnAh, C., Alter, C. & Lipton, L. 1993. Cognition-activated low-frequency modulation of light absorption in human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 90(8): 3770-3774.

Chaudhary, U., Hall, M., Gonzales, J., Elbaum, L., Bloye, M. & Godavarty, A. 2014. Motor response investigation in individuals with cerebral palsy using near infrared spectroscopy: Pilot study. Applied Optics 53(3): 503.

Chincarini, M., Emanuela, D.C., Qiu, L., Lorenzo, S., Cannas, S., Palestrini, C., Canali, E., Minero, M., Cozzi, B., Ferri, N., Ancora, D., De Pasquale, F., Vignola, G. & Torricelli, A. 2020. Reliability of fNIRS for noninvasive monitoring of brain function and emotion in sheep. Scientific Reports 10(1): 14726.

Daly, J.J. & Wolpaw, J.R. 2008. Brain-computer interfaces in neurological rehabilitation. The Lancet Neurology 7(11): 1032-1043.

de Klerk, C.C.J.M., Hamilton, A.D.D.C. & Southgate, V. 2018. Eye contact modulates facial mimicry in 4-month-old infants: An EMG and fNIRS study. Cortex 106: 93-103.

Del Rossi, G., Malaguti, A. & Del Rossi, S. 2014. Practice effects associated with repeated assessment of a clinical test of reaction time. Journal of Athletic Training 49(3): 356-359. 

Dobkin, B.H. 2007. Brain-computer interface technology as a tool to augment plasticity and outcomes for neurological rehabilitation. The Journal of Physiology 579(3): 637-642.

Estévez-González, A., Kulisevky, J., Boltes, A., Otermin, P. & Garcia-Sanchez, C. 2003. Rey verbal learning test is a useful tool for differential diagnosis in the preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease: Comparison with mild cognitive impairment and normal aging. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 18(11): 1021-1028.

Ferrari, M. & Quaresima, V. 2012. A brief review on the history of human functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) development and fields of application. Neuroimage 63(2): 921-935.

Ferreira, S., Raimundo, A., Pozo Cruz, J.D. & Marmeleira, J. 2021. Psychometric properties of a computerized and hand-reaction time tests in older adults using long-term facilities with and without mild cognitive impairment. Experimental Gerontology 147: 111271.

Gefen, D., Ayaz, H. & Onaral, B. 2014. Applying functional near infrared (fNIR) spectroscopy to enhance MIS research. AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction 6(3): 55-73.

Hoshi, Y. & Tamura, M. 1993. Dynamic multichannel near-infrared optical imaging of human brain activity. Journal of Applied Physiology 75(4): 1842-1846.

Huang, Y., Liu, X., Krueger, R., Santander, T., Hu, X., Leach, K. & Wermer, W. 2019. Distilling neural representations of data structure manipulation using fMRI and fNIRS. In 2019 IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE). pp. 396-407.

Jamaluddin, R., Othman, Z., Musa, K.I. & Alwi, M.N.M. 2009. Validation of the Malay version of auditory verbal learning test (MVAVLT) among schizophrenia patients in hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Malaysia.  ASEAN Journal Psychiatry 10: 54-74.

 Joshi, S., Weedon, B.D., Esser, P., Liu, Y., Springett, D.N., Meaney, A., Delextrat, A., Kemp, S., Ward, T., Ayaz, H. & Dawes, H. 2018. Revealing cortical activation patterns of novel task performance in children with low Coordination via fNIRS. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. p. 12.

Julien, M., D'Amours, J., Leduc, M., Côté, A., Rodier, R.O., Demers, L. & Desrosiers, J. 2017. Responsiveness of the box and block test with older adults in rehabilitation. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics 3-4: 109-118.

Kato, T., Kamei, A., Takashima, S. & Ozaki, T. 1993. Human visual cortical function during photic stimulation monitoring by means of near-infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism 13(3): 516-520.

Lamb, R., Hand, B. & Yoon, S.Y. 2019. An exploratory neuroimaging study of argumentative and summary writing. In Theorizing the Future of Science Education Research. Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education. Vol. 49, edited by Prain, V. & Hand, B. Springer, Cham. pp. 63-82. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24013-4_5

Lange, F. & Tachtsidis, I. 2019. Clinical brain monitoring with time domain NIRS: A review and future perspectives. Applied Science 9(8): 1612.

Lee, T.K.M., Lim, J.G., Leo, K.H. & Sanei, S. 2018. Indications of neural disorder through automated assessment of the box and block test. In 2018 IEEE 23rd International Conference on Digital Signal Processing (DSP). Shanghai. China. pp. 1-5.

Li, K., Lin, L., Chan, A.T., Chen, C.H., Chang, W. & Cho, Y. 2020. Population based norms for the box and blocks test in healthy right-handed Taiwanese adults. Biomedical Journal 43(6): 484-489.

Lloyd-Fox, S., Blasi, A. & Elwell, C.E. 2010. Illuminating the developing brain: The past, present and future of functional near infrared spectroscopy. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 34(3): 269-284.

Mihara, M. & Miyai, I. 2016. Review of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in neurorehabilitation. Neurophotonics 3(3): 031414.

Milic, M., Nedeljkovic, A., Cuk, I., Mudric, M. & García-Ramos, A. 2020. Comparison of reaction time between beginners and experienced fencers during quasi-realistic fencing situations. European Journal of Sport Science 20(7): 896-905.

Ortolano, G., Finn, J. & Ortolano, L. 2017. How quickly do they react? The Science Teacher 84(7): 53.

Pieron, P.H. 1928. Technique de laboratoire et apparereils. L’Annee Psychologie 37: 234-241.

Power, J.D., Plitt, M., Laumann, T.O. & Martin, A. 2017. Sources and implications of whole-brain fMRI signals in humans. Neuroimage 146: 609-625.

Rieke, J.D., Matarasso, A.K., Yusufali, M.M., Ravindran, A., Alcantara, J., White, K.D. & Daly, J.J. 2020. Development of a combined, sequential real-time fMRI and fNIRS neurofeedback system to enhance motor learning after stroke. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 341: 108719.

Rowe, J., Friston, K., Frackowiak, R. & Passingham, R. 2002. Attention to action: Specific modulation of corticocortical interactions in humans. Neuroimage 17(2): 988-998.

Scarapicchia, V., Brown, C., Mayo, C. & Gawryluk, J.R. 2017. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and functional near-infrared spectroscopy: Insights from combined recording studies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 11: 419.

Schoenberg, M.R., Dawson, K.A., Duff, K., Patton, D., Scott, J.G. & Adams, R.L. 2006. Test performance and classification statistics for the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test in selected clinical samples. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21(7): 693-703.

Silva, V.A.H. & Seabra, P.R.C. 2020. Cognitive stimulation in people with mental disorders in the community: An integrative review. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem 73(1): e20180192.

 Tai, S.K. & Lin, Y.K. 2018. The influence of different kinds of music on brainwave signals. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing (IEEE ICAM 2018). pp. 223-226.

Urakawa, S., Takamoto, K., Ishikawa, A., Ono, T. & Nishijo, H. 2015. Selective medial prefrontal cortex responses during live mutual gaze interactions in human infants: An fNIRS study. Brain Topography 28(5): 691-701.

Villringer, A., Plank, J., Hock, C., Schleikofer, L. & Dirnagl, U. 1993. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS): A new tool to study hemodynamic changes during activation of brain function in human adults. Neuroscience Letters 154: 101-104.

Watanabe, H., Shitara, Y., Aoki, Y., Inoue, T., Tsuchida, S., Takahashi, N. & Taga, G. 2017. Hemoglobin phase of oxygenation and deoxygenation in early brain development measured using fNIRSProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(9): E1737-E1744.

Wilcox, T. & Biondi, M. 2015. fNIRS in the developmental sciences. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 6(3): 263-283.

Woodworth, R.S. & Schlosberg, H. 1954.  Experimental Psychology. New York: Holt.

Xu, S.Y., Lu, F.M., Wang, M.Y., Hu, Z.S., Zhang, J., Chen, Z.Y., Armada-da-Silva, P.A. & Yuan, Z. 2020. Altered functional connectivity in the motor and prefrontal cortex for children with Down's syndrome: An fNIRS study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 14: 6.

Xu, C., Bray, S., Bryant, D.M., Glover, G.H. & Reiss, A.L. 2011. A quantitative comparison of NIRS and fMRI across multiple cognitive tasks. Neuroimage 54(4): 2808-2821.

Yücel, M.A., Selb, J.J., Huppert, T.J., Franceschini, M.A. & Boas, D.A. 2017. Functional near infrared spectroscopy: Enabling routine functional brain imaging. Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering 4: 78-86.

 

*Corresponding author; email: izuddin@unikl.edu.my

 

 

previous