Abstract
Characterization of cortical activation patterns during movement of the upper extremity in healthy adults is helpful in understanding recovery mechanisms following neurological disorders. This study explores cortical activation patterns associated with movements of the shoulder and fingers in healthy adults using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Twelve healthy right-handed participants were recruited. Two motor tasks (shoulder abduction and finger extension) with two different trial lengths (10 s and 20 s) were performed in a sitting position at a rate of 0.5 Hz. The hemodynamic response, as indicated by oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR), over both hemispheres was acquired using a 54-channel fNIRS system. We found a generalized bilateral cortical activation during both motor tasks with greater activation in the contralateral compared to the ipsilateral primary motor cortex. Particularly in the more medial part of the contralateral hemisphere, significant higher activation was found during the shoulder compared to finger movements. Furthermore, cortical activation patterns are affected not only by motor tasks but also by trial lengths. HbO is more sensitive to detect cortical activation during finger movements in longer trials, while HbR is a better surrogate to capture active areas during shoulder movement in shorter trials. Based on these findings, reporting both HbO and HbR is strongly recommended for future fNIRS studies, and trial lengths should be taken into account when designing experiments and explaining results. Our findings demonstrating distinct cortical activation patterns associated with shoulder and finger movements in healthy adults provide a foundation for future research to study recovery mechanisms following neurological disorders.
Highlights
Hand and arm motor tasks are commonly used to assess impaired motor function and to predict recovery in individuals with neurological disorders such as stroke
Our study showed the cortical activation patterns associated with shoulder abduction and finger extension captured by Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in healthy adults
As the ability to perform such movements has been shown to predict upper extremity functional recovery following stroke, the findings are relevant for the predictive evaluation of upper extremity motor recovery in individuals with stroke or other neurological disorders
Summary
Hand and arm motor tasks are commonly used to assess impaired motor function and to predict recovery in individuals with neurological disorders such as stroke. Characterization of brain activation patterns during the execution of such movements (i.e., shoulder abduction and finger extension) in healthy individuals can be useful to study recovery mechanisms following neurological disorders, develop new strategies for upper extremity rehabilitation, and better predict functional recovery. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a neuroimaging technique that has several advantages including being portable and non-invasive. It has a wide application in the field of rehabilitation (e.g., gait rehabilitation, cognitive assessment, brain-machine interface, a combined modality with electroencephalography, and influence of external stimulation assessment) and in different populations Studies have demonstrated that fNIRS is reliable and valid to examine functional brain activity in various cortical regions during motor tasks in healthy and disease populations (Herold et al, 2017)
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