A scoping review of utilization of the verbal fluency task in Chinese and Japanese clinical settings with near-infrared spectroscopy.

This review targets the application of the Verbal Fluency Task (VFT) in conjunction with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) for diagnosing psychiatric disorders, specifically in the contexts of China and Japan. These two countries are at the forefront of integrating fNIRS with VFT in clinical psychiatry, often employing this combination as a complementary tool alongside traditional psychiatric examinations. Our study aims to synthesize research findings on the hemodynamic responses elicited by VFT task in clinical settings of the two countries, analyzing variations in task design (phonological versus semantic), stimulus modality (auditory versus visual), and the impact of language typology. The focus on China and Japan is crucial, as it provides insights into the unique applications and adaptations of VFT in these linguistically and culturally distinct environments. By exploring these specific cases, our review underscores the importance of tailoring VFT to fit the linguistic and cultural context, thereby enhancing its validity and utility in cross-cultural psychiatric assessments.

Transcriptional patterns of the cortical Morphometric Inverse Divergence in first-episode, treatment-naïve early-onset schizophrenia.

Early-onset Schizophrenia (EOS) is a profoundly progressive psychiatric disorder characterized by both positive and negative symptoms, whose pathogenesis is influenced by genes, environment and brain structure development. In this study, the MIND (Morphometric Inverse Divergence) network was employed to explore the relationship between morphological similarity and specific transcriptional expression patterns in EOS patients. This study involved a cohort of 187 participants aged between 7 and 17 years, consisting of 97 EOS patients and 90 healthy controls (HC). Multiple morphological features were used to construct the MIND network for all participants. Furthermore, we explored the associations between MIND network and brain-wide gene expression in EOS patients through partial least squares (PLS) regression, shared genetic predispositions with other psychiatric disorders, functional enrichment of PLS weighted genes, as well as transcriptional signature assessment of cell types, cortical layers, and developmental stages. The MIND showed similarity differences in the orbitofrontal cortex, pericalcarine cortex, lingual gyrus, and multiple networks in EOS patients compared to HC. Moreover, our exploration revealed a significant overlap of PLS2 weighted genes linking to EOS-related MIND differences and the dysregulated genes reported in other psychiatric diseases. Interestingly, genes correlated with MIND changes (PLS2-) exhibited a significant enrichment not only in metabolism-related pathways, but also in specific astrocytes, cortical layers (specifically layer I and III), and posterior developmental stages (late infancy to young adulthood stages). However, PLS2+ genes were primarily enriched in synapses signaling-related pathways and early developmental stages (from early-mid fetal to neonatal early infancy) but not in special cell types or layers. These findings provide a novel perspective on the intricate relationship between macroscopic morphometric structural abnormalities and microscopic transcriptional patterns during the onset and progression of EOS.

Cortical structural changes of morphometric similarity network in early-onset schizophrenia correlate with specific transcriptional expression patterns.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the neuroanatomical subtypes among early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) patients by exploring the association between structural alterations and molecular mechanisms using a combined analysis of morphometric similarity network (MSN) changes and specific transcriptional expression patterns. METHODS: We recruited 206 subjects aged 7 to 17 years, including 100 EOS patients and 106 healthy controls (HC). Heterogeneity through discriminant analysis (HYDRA) was used to identify the EOS subtypes within the MSN strength. The differences in morphometric similarity between each EOS subtype and HC were compared. Furthermore, we examined the link between morphometric changes and brain-wide gene expression in different EOS subtypes using partial least squares regression (PLS) weight mapping, evaluated genetic commonalities with psychiatric disorders, identified functional enrichments of PLS-weighted genes, and assessed cellular transcriptional signatures. RESULTS: Two distinct MSN-based EOS subtypes were identified, each exhibiting different abnormal MSN strength and cognitive functions compared to HC. The PLS1 score mapping demonstrated anterior-posterior gradients of gene expression in EOS1, whereas inverse distributions were observed in EOS2 cohorts. Genetic commonalities were identified in autistic disorder and adult schizophrenia with EOS1 and inflammatory bowel diseases with EOS2 cohorts. The EOS1 PLS1- genes (Z < -5) were significantly enriched in synaptic signaling-related functions, whereas EOS2 demonstrated enrichments in virtual infection-related pathways. Furthermore, the majority of observed associations with EOS1-specific MSN strength differences contributed to specific transcriptional changes in astrocytes and neurons. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provide a comprehensive analysis of neuroanatomical subtypes in EOS, shedding light on the intricate relationships between macrostructural and molecular aspects of the EOS disease.

Vascular-related biomarkers in psychosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: While the molecular underpinnings of vascular dysfunction in psychosis are under active investigation, their implications remain unclear due to inconsistent and sometimes sparse observations. We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis to critically assess the alterations of vascular-related molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood of patients with psychotic disorders compared with healthy individuals. Methods: Databases were searched from inception to February 23, 2023. Meta-analyses were performed using a random-effects model. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were conducted to assess the effects of clinical correlates. Results: We identified 93 eligible studies with 30 biomarkers investigated in the CSF and/or blood. Among the biomarkers examined, psychotic disorders were associated with elevated CSF-to-serum albumin ratio (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35-1.02); blood S100B (SMD, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.59-1.17), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9; SMD, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.46-0.86), and zonulin (SMD, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.04-2.30). The blood levels of S100B, MMP-9, nerve growth factor (NGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and vascular adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) were altered in patient subgroups differing in demographic and clinical characteristics. Blood S100B level was positively correlated with age and duration of illness. Substantial between-study heterogeneity was observed in most molecules. Conclusion: The alterations in certain vascular-related fluid markers in psychotic disorders suggest disturbances in normal vascular structures and functions. However, not all molecules examined displayed clear evidence of changes. While potential impacts of clinical factors, including the administered treatment, were identified, the exploration remained limited. Further studies are needed to investigate the diverse patterns of expression, and understand how these abnormalities reflect the pathophysiology of psychosis and the impact of clinical factors.

Abnormal Prefrontal Brain Activation During a Verbal Fluency Task in Treatment-Resistant Depression Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

OBJECTIVE: The study investigated cognitive performance and brain function between treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and non- TRD patients to find potential neurobiological markers associated with refractoriness in depression patients. METHODS: Fourteen TRD patients, 26 non-TRD patients and 23 healthy controls (HC) were included in the present study. The neural function of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and cognitive performance among the three group were examined using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during verbal fluency task (VFT). RESULTS: Both TRD and non-TRD groups exhibited significantly worse VFT performance and lower activation of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) changes in the bilateral dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) compared to the HC group. Within the TRD and non-TRD groups, VFT performance was no significant difference, but activation of oxy-Hb changes in dorsomedial PFC (DMPFC) in TRD patients was significantly lower than non-TRD patients. In addition, activation of oxy-Hb changes in right DLPFC were negatively correlated with the severity of depressive symptoms in depression patients. CONCLUSION: Both TRD patients and non-TRD patients exhibited lower oxy-Hb activation in DLPFC. TRD patients exhibit lower oxy- Hb activation in DMPFC than non-TRD patients. fNIRS maybe a useful tool for predict depressive patients with or without treatment resistant.

The promising fNIRS: Uncovering the function of prefrontal working memory networks based on multi-cognitive tasks.

The diversity of cognitive task paradigms using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and the lack of theoretical explanations for these functional imaging atlases have greatly hindered the application of fNIRS in psychiatry. The fNIRS brain imaging based on multiple cognitive tasks could generally reflect the working patterns and neurovascular coupling changes in the prefrontal working memory network. By alternating the stimulation patterns of resting and task states, six typical symptom-related functional brain imaging waveforms related to psychiatric disorders are identified and three joint networks of the prefrontal working memory, namely, the attentional working memory primary coordination network, the perceptual content working memory secondary network, and the emotional-behavioral working memory executive network, are initially represented. This is the first attempt to characterize the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral regulation of the prefrontal working memory network using fNIRS, which may promote the application of fNIRS in clinical settings.

Characteristics of psychomotor retardation distinguishes patients with depression using multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy and finger tapping task.

BACKGROUND: Psychomotor retardation (PMR) is frequently noted as a characteristic feature of major depressive disorder (MDD). In patients with depression, it is characterized by retardation of speech, emotion, thinking, and cognition. This study explored the activation pattern of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during the finger-tapping task (FTT) in subjects with MDD, aiming to provide additional understanding on the connection between PMR and PFC activation pattern in depression through the use of near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). We hypothesized that, through use of NIRS during the FTT, motor retardation in depression would generate a distinct PFC activation pattern, allowing for differentiation between patients with MDD and healthy controls (HCs). METHODS: Thirty-five patients with MDD and thirty-nine HCs underwent NIRS evaluation during performance of the FTT. The FTT included both left-finger tapping and right-finger tapping performed by a computer screen. Each participant was assessed using a 45-channel NIRS and various clinical scales. FINDINGS: During the left-FTT, the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) showed higher oxy-hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) activation in the MDD group when compared to the HCs. During the right-FTT, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) demonstrated lower Oxy-Hb activation, and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) showed higher Oxy-Hb activation in the MDD group versus the HC group. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated different activation patterns of the PFC between the MDD and HC groups, using FTT as a motor performance task. In particular, the OFC, the DLPFC and the DMPFC areas hold promise as new useful sites for such differentiation in future investigations.

Characteristics of prefrontal activity during emotional and cognitive processing in patients with bipolar disorder: A multi-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a recurrent chronic mental disorder with a broad profile of functional deficits including disturbed emotional processing and cognitive impairments. The goal of the current study was to further explore the underlying neural mechanism of dysfunction in patients with BD from a comprehensive perspective of both cognition and emotion. Forty-six clinical patients with BD and forty-five healthy controls performed emotion induction task and verbal fluency task (VFT), with frontal activity measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Our results show distinct hemodynamic activity in the prefrontal region during emotional and cognitive processing between patients with BD and healthy controls. Patients with BD exhibit valence-dependent prefrontal cortex (PFC) hemodynamic response to emotional stimuli, with bilateral frontal hypoactivity indicating decreased positive reactivity and left frontal hyperactivity indicating increased negative reactivity. On the other hand, patients with BD showed impaired performance with bilateral frontal hypoactivity during VFT. Taken together, frontal dysfunction of cognition and emotionality in patients with BD probed by fNIRS would be a potential biomarker in clinical assessment.

Improving Depressive Symptoms of Post-stroke Depression Using the Shugan Jieyu Capsule: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) were used to detect the neuroimaging mechanism of Shugan Jieyu Capsule (SG) in ameliorating depression of post-stroke depression (PSD) patients. Fifteen PSD patients took SG for 8 weeks, completed the 24-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) assessment at the baseline and 8 weeks later, and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Twenty-one healthy controls (HCs) underwent these assessments at the baseline. We found that SG improved depression of PSD patients, in which ReHo values decreased in the left calcarine sulcus (CAL.L) and increased in the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG.L) of PSD patients at the baseline. The fALFF values of the left inferior parietal cortex (IPL.L) decreased in PSD patients at the baseline. Abnormal functional activities in the brain regions were reversed to normal levels after the administration of SG for 8 weeks. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis found that the changes in three altered brain regions could be used to differentiate PSD patients at the baseline and HCs. Average signal values of altered regions were related to depression in all subjects at the baseline. Our results suggest that SG may ameliorate depression of PSD patients by affecting brain region activity and local synchronization.

"I thought that I had to be alive to repay my parents": Filial piety as a risk and protective factor for suicidal behavior in a qualitative study of Chinese women.

Filial piety involves the Confucian view that children always have a duty to be obedient and to provide care for their parents. Filial piety has been described as both a risk and a protective factor in depression and suicide. This qualitative study aimed to explore the role of filial piety in the suicidal behavior of Chinese women. Qualitative interviews were conducted with Chinese women with a history of suicidal behavior living in the Beijing area (n = 29). Filial piety data were extracted and analyzed in accordance with constructivist grounded theory. The women described five specific family and filial piety factors and how they influenced their ability to fulfill family role obligations, which was described as a nexus connecting these factors to depression, suicidal behavior, and recovery. The five factors were: 1) rigidity of parental filial expectations, 2) perception of family relationships as positive/supportive or negative/harsh, 3) whether filial piety is of high or low personal value in the woman's life, 4) any experiences of rebellion leading to punitive consequences, and 5) how much filial piety she receives from her children. These factors could inform suicide risk assessments in this population. They can be harnessed as part of recovery and protect against future suicidal behavior.

Abnormal Cortical Activation Patterns Among Chinese-Speaking Schizophrenia Patients During Category and Letter Verbal Fluency Tasks Revealed by Multi-Channel Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Background: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has many advantages over other neuroimaging modalities for routine measurement of task-dependent cortical activation, but most fNIRS studies of schizophrenia have used letter fluency tasks (LFTs). Further, performances on category fluency tasks (CFTs) and LFTs may be distinct in Chinese patients due to the unique semantic features of Chinese written characters. To identify unique disease biomarkers measurable by fNIRS in Chinese schizophrenia patients, this study compared cortical oxygenated hemoglobin changes ([oxy-Hb]) during a Chinese LFT and CFT between patients and healthy controls. Methods: Inpatients of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University were recruited from Match 2020 to July 2021. The Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate psychiatric symptoms. Dynamic changes in [oxy-Hb], an indicator of neural activity, were measured during CFT and LFT performance by 52-channel fNIRS. Results: Forty-seven schizophrenia inpatients and 29 healthy controls completed all tests. Schizophrenia patients showed significant cortical activation at 15 channels covering the left hemisphere and 17 channels over the right hemisphere during the CFT. During the LFT, activity was significantly increased at only six channels, all over the left hemisphere (FDR P < 0.05). In healthy controls, significant [oxy-Hb] increases were found at 24 channels over the left hemisphere and 19 channels over the right hemisphere during CFT. While during the LFT, the significant increases were found at 7 channels all over the left hemisphere (FDR P < 0.05). When years of education was included as a covariate, the schizophrenia group demonstrated no significant hypoactivation relative to healthy controls at any channel after FDR correction (FDR P < 0.05) during CFT while demonstrated significant hypoactivation at channel 11 during LFT (FDR P < 0.05). There were no significant associations between PANSS scores and [oxy-Hb] changes after FDR correction (FDR P < 0.05). Conclusions: Left lateralization during CFT was reduced among schizophrenia patients and may be related to the semantic deficit. The Chinese-CFT could be a more sensitive indicator of frontal-temporal dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Prefrontal cortex alterations in major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and their comorbidity during a verbal fluency task assessed by multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are frequently comorbid with each other, and both associated with substantial cognitive impairments; however, it is still unclear whether their impairments are neurobiologically similar or distinct. This study aims to investigate the cognitive functions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in patients with MDD and GAD during the verbal fluency task (VFT) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Fifty-two patients with MDD, fifty-one patients with GAD, fifty-two patients with the comorbidity of MDD and GAD (CMG), and forty-seven healthy controls (HC) participated in the study. Significant hypoactivation in the left ventrolateral and the left dorsolateral PFC was common in all patient groups when compared to HCs, suggesting a shared etiology. Furthermore,  MDD patients showed significant hypoactivation at the right frontal pole cortex (FPoC) when compared to HCs and significant hypoactivation at the middle FPoC when compared to the CMG patients. Our work is the first fNIRS study to reveal the shared and unique neurobiological profiles of MDD, GAD and their comorbidity under the same standard experimentation condition, suggesting fNIRS holds promise as an adjutant to assist clinical diagnosis.

Brain activation during verbal fluency task in type II bipolar disorder patients: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that BD patients exhibited impairment when performing a verbal fluency task (VFT) and abnormal prefrontal cortex activation during this task. However, no study has specifically examined whether patients with type II BD demonstrate difficulty in performing VFT and impairments in relevant neural correlates or whether these are related to psychotic symptoms, the present study aimed to examine these issues. METHODS: Forty-nine patients with type II BD (21 patients with psychotic symptoms [BDIIp] and 28 patients without psychotic symptoms [BDIIn]) and 45 matched healthy controls (HCs) participated the study and completed the VFTs, while their brain activity was recorded with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). RESULTS: Both BDIIp and BDIIn patients showed poorer performance on VFTs than HCs. In addition, BDII patients showed lower brain activation than HCs in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right frontal pole, these results were mainly driven by BDIIn patients. Moreover, subjective psychotic symptoms were positively significantly correlated with left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation in BDII patients. CONCLUSIONS: Type II BD patients showed significant impairment when performing VFTs and reduced activation in the prefrontal cortex, and subjective psychotic symptoms were associated with brain activation in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in BDII patients.

Differentiating between bipolar and unipolar depression using prefrontal activation patterns: Promising results from functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) findings.

BACKGROUND: Bipolar depression (BD) is a unique, severe and prevalent mental illness that shares many similarities in symptoms with unipolar depression (UD). Improving precision of their diagnoses would enhance treatment outcome and prognosis for both conditions. This study aims to provide evidence from functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a potential tool to differentiate UD and BD based on their differences in hemodynamic change in the prefrontal cortex during verbal fluency tasks (VFT). METHODS: We enrolled 179 participants with clinically confirmed diagnoses, including 69 UD patients, 68 BD patients and 42 healthy controls(HC). Every participant was assessed using a 45-channel fNIRS and various clinical scales. FINDINGS: Compared with HC, region-specific fNIR leads show UD patients had significant lower hemodynamic activation in 4 particular pre-frontal regions: 1) the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), 2) orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), 3) bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and 4) left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In contrast, BD vs. HC comparisons showed only significant lower hemodynamic activation in the LIFG area. Furthermore, compared to BD patients, UD patients showed decreased hemodynamic activation changes in the VLPFC region. CONCLUSION: Our results show significant frontal lobe activation pattern differences between UD and BD groups. fNIRS can be a potential tool to increase diagnostic precision for these conditions. In particular, the VLPFC area holds promise to be a useful site for such differentiation for further investigations.

Lessons from a Canada-China cross-national qualitative suicide research collaboration.

A cross-national qualitative suicide study was conducted by Tsinghua University and the University of Toronto with two samples of Chinese women in Beijing and Toronto. The aim of this article is to reflect on lessons learned from this collaborative study. A literature review guided the analysis. A focus group was conducted with members of both research teams. A semi-structured interview guide was developed to explore the researchers' experiences of participating in the cross-national study. Focus group transcript data and observations from authors informed the analysis, situated in the existing literature on cross-national qualitative health research and guided by Baistow's cross-national research frame. Our study highlights how cross-national research involves conceptual and practical challenges that require negotiation. Such research also holds many opportunities, including (1) using a different cultural lens to understand differences and clarify similarities cross-culturally; (2) co-constructing knowledge through collaboration; (3) deconstructing one's own assumptions; and (4) engaging in an inspiring and empowering experience in collaboration.

Personality profile of the primary blepharospasm (BSP): An investigation using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether patients with blepharospasm (BSP) have abnormal personality traits by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) questionnaire. METHOD: The personality profiles of patients with BSP and its relationship with clinical characteristics were assessed in this research. 46 patients with BSP and 33 age-and-gender matched healthy controls were assessed using the MMPI questionnaire. The scores of three validity scales and ten clinical scales were calculated and compared. Then the relationship between those scales and clinical characteristics of patients with BSP was analyzed in the BSP group. RESULTS: It was found that patients with BSP scored significantly higher than healthy controls on the D, Hy, Pt clinical scales. The peak values of profiles were Hy, D, Hs scale scores. However, there was no statistical relationship between the clinical scales of MMPI and the clinical characteristics of BSP after Bonferroni Correction. CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that MMPI could be a useful psychometric tool to characterize a specific pattern of the personality of BSP patients and BSP patients may have avoidant and somatization personality characteristics.

Effects of music therapy on major depressive disorder: A study of prefrontal hemodynamic functions using fNIRS.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a recurrent, chronic mental illness. While music therapy has been established as an effective treatment for MDD patients, the effects of this therapy on brain function remain unclear. This research employed near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to explore the effects of music therapy on brain activity in mild or moderate MDD patients and to illustrate the potential mechanism of music therapy. Methods: Fifteen MDD patients and fifteen healthy controls (HC) underwent neuropsychological evaluations and NIRS measurements. All participants were treated with continuous music therapy for 10 days. Subsequently, all individuals were evaluated with neuropsychological assessments and NIRS measurements again. Results: The verbal fluency task (VFT) performances of the participants yielded significantly higher scores after music therapy in terms of vegetables, four-footed animals and fruit blocks. After the music treatment, the NIRS data showed that the mean active oxy-Hb values of channels 21, 23, 19, and 41 were significantly increased in both the MDD and HC groups. The MDD group showed significant activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) after music therapy. The results indicate that music therapy could improve the brain function of MDD patients.

Abnormal prefrontal brain activation during a verbal fluency task in bipolar disorder patients with psychotic symptoms using multichannel NIRS.

PURPOSE: Bipolar disorder (BD) patients with psychotic symptoms (BDp) worsens prognosis and decreases rates of recovery. The study investigated cognitive performance and brain function between BD patients in depressive episode with and without psychotic symptoms to find potential neurobiological markers associated with psychotic features of BD patients in depressive episode. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-one patients without psychotic symptoms and 29 patients with psychotic symptoms diagnosed with bipolar I disorder with a current depressive episode were included in the present study. The neural function of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and cognitive performance among BDp, BD patients without psychotic symptoms, and 23 healthy controls (HC) were examined using near-infrared spectroscopy during verbal fluency task (VFT). RESULTS: 1) Both the BD groups exhibited significantly worse performance of VFT and lower activation of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) changes in the bilateral ventrolateral PFC compared with the HC group. 2) Within the BD group, VFT performance was not significantly different. 3) The prefrontal activation of oxy-Hb changes in the BDp patients was significantly lower than that in the BD patients without psychotic symptoms in the right dorsolateral PFC. 4) Activation of oxy-Hb changes in right dorsolateral PFC was negatively correlated with the severity of psychotic symptoms in BDp patients. CONCLUSION: The prefrontal function differs between BD patients in depressive episode with or without psychotic symptoms measured with near-infrared spectroscopy.

Reduced prefrontal activation during verbal fluency task in chronic insomnia disorder: a multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy study.

PURPOSE: Daytime complaints such as memory and attention deficits and failure to accomplish daily tasks are common in insomnia patients. However, objective psychological tests to detect cognitive impairment are equivocal. Neural function associated with cognitive performance may explain the discrepancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the hemodynamic response patterns of patients with chronic insomnia disorder (CID) using the noninvasive and low-cost functional neuroimaging technique of multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in order to identify changes of neural function associated with cognitive performance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-four CID patients and twenty-five healthy controls matched for age, right-hand dominance, educational level, and gender were examined during verbal fluency tasks (VFT) using NIRS. A covariance analysis was conducted to analyze differences of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC) between the two groups and reduce the influence of the severity of depression. Pearson correlation coeffcients were calculated to examine the relationship between the oxy-Hb changes, with the severity of insomnia and depressive symptoms assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD). RESULTS: The number of words generated during the VFT in CID groups showed no statistical differences with healthy controls. CID patients showed hypoactivation in the PFC during the cognitive task. In addition, we found that the function of left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during the VFT was significantly negatively correlated with the PSQI scores and the function of right dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) was significantly negatively correlated with the HAMD scores. CONCLUSION: The present study detected dysfunctions in PFC in spite of intact performance which indicates the role of PFC in the neurophysiological underpinnings. Left OFC function is associated with insomnia symptoms and right DLPFC function is associated with depressive symptoms.

Decreased prefrontal brain activation during verbal fluency task in patients with somatoform pain disorder: An exploratory multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy study.

BACKGROUND: Pain is a common phenomenon. Patients with somatoform pain disorder (SPD) suffer from lasting chronic pain which may cause cognitive impairment. The dysfunction of prefrontal cortex (PFC) may be involved in pain-induced cognition impairment, which is the most important part in regulating of cognitive function. Multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a noninvasive and low-cost functional neuroimaging technique being used to detect the prefrontal cortex activation during cognitive tasks to demonstrate the relationship between PFC dysfunction and cognition impairment in SPD patients. METHODS: 24 patients with SPD and 24 age-, gender- and education level-matched healthy controls were examined by NIRS of the relative concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in PFC during verbal fluency task (VFT). All data analysis procedures were accomplished under MATLAB, SPM and SPM-fNIRS which is an SPM12-based software for fNIRS analysis. RESULTS: 1. The number of words generated during the VFT tasks in SPD patients were fewer than healthy controls. 2. The activated areas in SPD patients were smaller than healthy controls. 3. The average activation strength of [oxy-Hb] in SPD patients was much lower than healthy controls. 4. The difference of activation areas between left and right lobe were particularly obvious in SPD patients. CONCLUSION: There are evidences suggested that the markedly dysfunction in PFC especially bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) areas may be involved in the cognitive deficiency in patients with SPD.