Hemodynamic Activity Research Articles

The Microstructural Plasticity of the Arcuate Fasciculus Undergirds Improved Speech in Noise Perception in Musicians.

Musical training is thought to be related to improved language skills, for example, understanding speech in background noise. Although studies have found that musicians and nonmusicians differed in morphology of bilateral arcuate fasciculus (AF), none has associated such white matter features with speech-in-noise (SIN) perception. Here, we tested both SIN and the diffusivity of bilateral AF segments in musicians and nonmusicians using diffusion tensor imaging. Compared with nonmusicians, musicians had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the right direct AF and lower radial diffusivity in the left anterior AF, which correlated with SIN performance. The FA-based laterality index showed stronger right lateralization of the direct AF and stronger left lateralization of the posterior AF in musicians than nonmusicians, with the posterior AF laterality predicting SIN accuracy. Furthermore, hemodynamic activity in right superior temporal gyrus obtained during a SIN task played a full mediation role in explaining the contribution of the right direct AF diffusivity on SIN performance, which therefore links training-related white matter plasticity, brain hemodynamics, and speech perception ability. Our findings provide direct evidence that differential microstructural plasticity of bilateral AF segments may serve as a neural foundation of the cross-domain transfer effect of musical experience to speech perception amid competing noise.

Relationship between hemodynamic alteration and sympathetic nerve activation following a single oral dose of cinnamtannin A2

We previously found that a single dose of B-type procyanidin mixture increase in skeletal muscle blood flow (BF). We compared BF changes following administration of (-)-epicatechin (EC, monomer) and the B-type procyanidins procyanidin B2 (B2, dimer), procyanidin C1 (C1, trimer), and cinnamtannin A2 (A2, tetramer). Each chemical was administered orally to rats, followed by BF measurement in cremaster arteriole for 60 min. About 10 and 100 µg/kg of B2 and C1 elicited BF increase, the effect was potent at 100 µg/kg. BF also increased significantly after administration of 10 µg/kg A2, but not with the administration at 100 µg/kg. EC yielded no BF changes. Co-treatment with the nonselective adrenaline blocker carvedilol attenuated the BF increase seen with 10 µg/kg A2 treatment. This outcome suggested the involvement of sympathetic nerve activation in the BF increase by this dose of A2. Co-treatment of 100 µg/kg A2 with the α2 blocker yohimbine exhibited an increase of BF significantly. The α2 adrenaline receptor in the vasomotor centre is an inhibitory receptor and it regulates hemodynamics. This result suggested that high doses of A2 did not alter BF because of activating the α2 adrenergic receptor. Phosphorylation of aortic endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) increased with 10 µg/kg A2 alone or co-treatment with 100 µg/kg A2 and yohimbine, but not with co-treatment of 10 µg/kg A2 and carvedilol or 100 µg/kg A2 alone. These results imply that A2 does not directly activate eNOS, but that shear stress from the increased BF might be associated with eNOS phosphorylation.

Effects of acute exercise at different intensities on fine motor-cognitive dual-task performance while walking: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Studies on the effects of acute exercises on cognitive functions vary greatly and depend on the duration and intensity of exercise and the type of cognitive tasks. This study aimed to investigate the neural correlates that underpin the acute effects of high-intensity interval (HIIE) versus moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MCE) on fine motor-cognitive performance while walking (dual-task, DT) in healthy young adults. Twenty-nine healthy right-handers (mean age: 25.1years±4.04; 7 female) performed the digital trail-making-test (dTMT) while walking (5km/h) before and after acute exercise. During task performance, the hemodynamic activation of the frontopolar area (FPA), dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC), and motor cortex (M1) was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Both HIIE and MCE resulted in improved dTMT performance, as reflected by an increase in the number of completed circles and a reduction in the time within and between circuits (reflecting improvements in working memory, inhibition, and decision making). Notably, HIIE evoked higher cortical activity on all brain areas measured in the present study than the MCE group. To our knowledge, these results provide the first empirical evidence using a mobile neuroimaging approach that both HIIE and MCE improve executive function during walking, likely mediated by increased activation of the task-related area of the prefrontal cortex and the ability to effectively use, among other things, high fitness levels as neural enrichment resources.

Hemodynamic response to sensory stimulation in mice: Comparison between functional ultrasound and optoacoustic imaging

Intense efforts are underway to develop functional imaging modalities for capturing brain activity at the whole organ scale with high spatial and temporal resolution. Functional optoacoustic (fOA) imaging is emerging as a new tool to monitor multiple hemodynamic parameters across the mouse brain, but its sound validation against other neuroimaging modalities is often lacking. Here we investigate mouse brain responses to peripheral sensory stimulation using both fOA and functional ultrasound (fUS) imaging. The two modalities operate under similar spatio-temporal resolution regime, with a potential to provide synergistic and complementary hemodynamic readouts. Specific contralateral activation was observed with sub-millimeter spatial resolution with both methods. Sensitivity to hemodynamic activity was found to be on comparable levels, with the strongest responses obtained in the oxygenated hemoglobin channel of fOA. While the techniques attained highly correlated hemodynamic responses, the differential fOA readings of oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin provided complementary information to the blood flow contrast of fUS. The multi-modal approach may thus emerge as a powerful tool providing new insights into brain function, complementing our current knowledge generated with well-established neuroimaging methods.

Hemodynamic Signal Changes During Motor Imagery Task Performance Are Associated With the Degree of Motor Task Learning.

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate whether oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) generated during a motor imagery (MI) task is associated with the motor learning level of the task.MethodsWe included 16 right-handed healthy participants who were trained to perform a ball rotation (BR) task. Hemodynamic brain activity was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy to monitor changes in oxy-Hb concentration during the BR MI task. The experimental protocol used a block design, and measurements were performed three times before and after the initial training of the BR task as well as after the final training. The BR count during training was also measured. Furthermore, subjective vividness of MI was evaluated three times after NIRS measurement using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).ResultsThe results showed that the number of BRs increased significantly with training (P < 0.001). VAS scores also improved with training (P < 0.001). Furthermore, oxy-Hb concentration and the region of interest (ROI) showed a main effect (P = 0.001). An interaction was confirmed (P < 0.001), and it was ascertained that the change in oxy-Hb concentrations due to training was different for each ROI. The most significant predictor of subjective MI vividness was supplementary motor area (SMA) oxy-Hb concentration (coefficient = 0.365).DiscussionHemodynamic brain activity during MI tasks may be correlated with task motor learning levels, since significant changes in oxy-Hb concentrations were observed following initial and final training in the SMA. In particular, hemodynamic brain activity in the SMA was suggested to reflect the MI vividness of participants.

Enhancement of prefrontal area excitability induced by a cognitive task: Impact on subsequence visuomotor task performance

Cognitive tasks may have the potential to improve visuomotor task performance; however, the reason for this is unclear. If this can be clarified, it may be possible to develop clinically valuable outcomes, such as promotion of motor learning though cognitive tasks. The present study aimed to investigate whether changes in prefrontal area excitability induced by cognitive tasks, especially within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), influenced the speed of improvement during visuomotor task performance. Twenty young healthy adults were recruited. The serial reaction time task (SRTT) was used to assess visuomotor task performance. Cognitive tasks included an adjusted N-back task, a non-adjusted N-back task, and a control task, which were evaluated on different days. Additionally, we measured cerebral hemodynamic activity using near-infrared spectroscopy while each cognitive task was being performed. We observed that the adjusted N-back task significantly enhanced the speed of improvement during the SRTT performance compared to the control task. However, there was no relationship between the speed of improvement during the SRTT performance and changes in prefrontal area excitability induced by the cognitive tasks. Our findings contribute towards developing an effective method that uses cognitive tasks to promote visuomotor learning.

Monitoring the motor cortex hemodynamic response function in freely moving walking subjects: a time-domain fNIRS pilot study.

.Significance: This study is a preliminary step toward the identification of a noninvasive and reliable tool for monitoring the presence and progress of gaiting dysfunctions.Aim: We present the results of a pilot study for monitoring the motor cortex hemodynamic response function (HRF) in freely walking subjects, with time-domain functional near-infrared spectroscopy (TD fNIRS).Approach: A compact and wearable single-channel TD fNIRS oximeter was employed. The lower limb motor cortex area of three healthy subjects was monitored while performing two different freely moving gaiting tasks: forward and backward walking.Results: The time course of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin was measured during the different walking tasks. Brain motor cortex hemodynamic activations have been analyzed throughout an adaptive HRF fitting procedure, showing a greater involvement of motor area in the backward walking task. By comparison with the HRF obtained in a finger-tapping task performed in a still condition, we excluded any effect of motion artifacts in the gaiting tasks.Conclusions: For the first time to our knowledge, the hemodynamic motor cortex response was measured by TD fNIRS during natural, freely walking exercises. The cortical response during forward and backward walking shows differences, possibly related to the diverse involvement of the motor cortex in the two types of gaiting.

An analysis framework for the integration of broadband NIRS and EEG to assess neurovascular and neurometabolic coupling

With the rapid growth of optical-based neuroimaging to explore human brain functioning, our research group has been developing broadband Near Infrared Spectroscopy (bNIRS) instruments, a technological extension to functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). bNIRS has the unique capacity of monitoring brain haemodynamics/oxygenation (measuring oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin), and metabolism (measuring the changes in the redox state of cytochrome-c-oxidase). When combined with electroencephalography (EEG), bNIRS provides a unique neuromonitoring platform to explore neurovascular coupling mechanisms. In this paper, we present a novel pipeline for the integrated analysis of bNIRS and EEG signals, and demonstrate its use on multi-channel bNIRS data recorded with concurrent EEG on healthy adults during a visual stimulation task. We introduce the use of the Finite Impulse Response functions within the General Linear Model for bNIRS and show its feasibility to statistically localize the haemodynamic and metabolic activity in the occipital cortex. Moreover, our results suggest that the fusion of haemodynamic and metabolic measures unveils additional information on brain functioning over haemodynamic imaging alone. The cross-correlation-based analysis of interrelationships between electrical (EEG) and haemodynamic/metabolic (bNIRS) activity revealed that the bNIRS metabolic signal offers a unique marker of brain activity, being more closely coupled to the neuronal EEG response.

Examination of the Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamic Responses to the Fist-Edge-Palm Task in Naïve Subjects Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

The Fist-Edge-Palm (FEP) task, a manual hand task, has been used to detect frontal dysfunctions in clinical situations: its performance failures are observed in various prefrontal cortex (PFC)-related disorders, including schizophrenia. However, previous imaging studies reported that the performance of the FEP task activated motor-related areas, but not the PFC. Here, we aimed to investigate the relationships between the performance of the FEP task and PFC functions. Hemodynamic activity in the PFC, including the dorsolateral PFC (area 46) and frontal pole (area 10), was recorded. Healthy young subjects performed the FEP task as well as a palm tapping (PT) task (control task) three times. The subjects also completed a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Schizotypal Personality Scale (STA) questionnaire. We found that hemodynamic activity (Oxy-Hb) in the PFC increased in the first trial of the FEP task but decreased considerably in the second and third trials compared to the PT task. The number of performance errors in the FEP task also decreased in the second and third trials. Error reduction (i.e., learning) in the FEP task between the first and second trials was negatively correlated with schizotypal trait and the number of perseveration errors in the WCST. Furthermore, changes in the PFC hemodynamic activity between the first and second trials were positively correlated with error reduction in the FEP task between the first and second trials, and negatively correlated with the number of perseveration errors in the WCST. These results suggest that learning in the FEP task requires PFC activation, which is negatively associated with perseveration errors in the WCST. The results further suggest that the FEP task, in conjunction with near-infrared spectroscopy, may be useful as a diagnostic method for various disorders with PFC dysfunction.

Associations between different white matter properties and reward-based performance modulation.

Humans can be motivated by the prospect of gaining a reward. However, the extent to which we are affected by reward information differs from person to person. A possible mechanism underlying these inter-individual differences may be alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure; however, the relationship between WM properties and reward-based behaviour in healthy participants has not yet been explored. Here, we used a fixel-based approach to investigate potential associations between WM tracts and performance in a reward-cuing task. We found that WM properties in the corpus callosum, right uncinate fasciculus, left ventral cingulum, and accumbofrontal tracts were inversely related to reward-triggered performance benefits (indexed by faster reaction times). Moreover, smaller WM property values in the corpus callosum, uncinate fasciculus, and accumbofrontal tracts were associated with higher scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System scale, reflecting greater sensitivity to potential punishment. Finally, we also observed associations between functional hemodynamic activity in the ventral striatum and WM microstructure. The finding that reward-based behavioural benefits are related to lower measures of WM tracts is in contrast to studies linking higher WM metrics to superior cognitive performance. We interpret the current pattern in terms of higher susceptibility to motivationally relevant stimuli, which is in line with the current and previous studies reporting inverse relationships between WM properties and motivational traits. Taking a broader perspective, such propensities may only be beneficial up to a certain point, at which thesemay become detrimental to performance and even manifest as impulsive and addictive behaviour.

Suppressed prefrontal cortex oscillations associate with clinical pain in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva

BackgroundPain is a highly prevalent symptom experienced by patients across numerous rare musculoskeletal conditions. Much remains unknown regarding the central, neurobiological processes associated with clinical pain in musculoskeletal disease states. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is an inherited condition characterized by substantial physical disability and pain. FOP arises from mutations of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor Activin A receptor type 1 (ACVR1) causing patients to undergo painful flare-ups as well as heterotopic ossification (HO) of skeletal muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia. To date, the neurobiological processes that underlie pain in FOP have rarely been investigated. We examined pain and central pain mechanism in FOP as a model primary musculoskeletal condition. Central nervous system (CNS) functional properties were investigated in FOP patients (N = 17) stratified into low (0–3; 0–10 Scale) and high (≥ 4) pain cohorts using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Associations among clinical pain, mental health, and physical health were also quantified using responses derived from a battery of clinical questionnaires.ResultsResting-state fNIRS revealed suppressed power of hemodynamic activity within the slow-5 frequency sub-band (0.01–0.027 Hz) in the prefrontal cortex in high pain FOP patients, where reduced power of slow-5, prefrontal cortex oscillations exhibited robust negative correlations with pain levels. Higher clinical pain intensities were also associated with higher magnitudes of depressive symptoms.ConclusionsOur findings not only demonstrate a robust coupling among prefrontal cortex functionality and clinical pain in FOP but lays the groundwork for utilizing fNIRS to objectively monitor and central pain mechanisms in FOP and other musculoskeletal disorders.

An iPPG-Based Device for Pervasive Monitoring of Multi-Dimensional Cardiovascular Hemodynamics.

Hemodynamic activities, as an essential measure of physiological and psychological characteristics, can be used for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease detection. Photoplethysmography imaging (iPPG) can be applied for such purposes with non-contact advances, however, most cardiovascular hemodynamics of iPPG systems are developed for laboratory research, which limits the application in pervasive healthcare. In this study, a video-based facial iPPG detecting equipment was devised to provide multi-dimensional spatiotemporal hemodynamic pulsations for applications with high portability and self-monitoring requirements. A series of algorithms have also been developed for physiological indices such as heart rate and breath rate extraction, facial region analysis, and visualization of hemodynamic pulsation distribution. Results showed that the new device can provide a reliable measurement of a rich range of cardiovascular hemodynamics. Combined with the advanced computing techniques, the new non-contact iPPG system provides a promising solution for user-friendly pervasive healthcare.

A studyforrest extension, an annotation of spoken language in the German dubbed movie "Forrest Gump" and its audio-description.

Here we present an annotation of speech in the audio-visual movie "Forrest Gump" and its audio-description for a visually impaired audience, as an addition to a large public functional brain imaging dataset ( studyforrest.org). The annotation provides information about the exact timing of each of the more than 2500 spoken sentences, 16,000 words (including 202 non-speech vocalizations), 66,000 phonemes, and their corresponding speaker. Additionally, for every word, we provide lemmatization, a simple part-of-speech-tagging (15 grammatical categories), a detailed part-of-speech tagging (43 grammatical categories), syntactic dependencies, and a semantic analysis based on word embedding which represents each word in a 300-dimensional semantic space. To validate the dataset's quality, we build a model of hemodynamic brain activity based on information drawn from the annotation. Results suggest that the annotation's content and quality enable independent researchers to create models of brain activity correlating with a variety of linguistic aspects under conditions of near-real-life complexity.

Activation response and functional connectivity change in rat cortex after bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation-An exploratory study.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique implicated as a promising adjunct therapy to improve motor function through the neuromodulation of brain networks. Particularly bilateral tDCS, which affects both hemispheres, may yield stronger effects on motor learning than unilateral stimulation. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory study was to develop an experimental model for simultaneous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and bilateral tDCS in rats, to measure instant and resultant effects of tDCS on network activity and connectivity. Naïve, male Sprague‐Dawley rats were divided into a tDCS (n = 7) and sham stimulation group (n = 6). Functional MRI data were collected during concurrent bilateral tDCS over the sensorimotor cortex, while resting‐state functional MRI and perfusion MRI were acquired directly before and after stimulation. Bilateral tDCS induced a hemodynamic activation response, reflected by a bilateral increase in blood oxygenation level‐dependent signal in different cortical areas, including the sensorimotor regions. Resting‐state functional connectivity within the cortical sensorimotor network decreased after a first stimulation session but increased after a second session, suggesting an interaction between multiple tDCS sessions. Perfusion MRI revealed no significant changes in cerebral blood flow after tDCS. Our exploratory study demonstrates successful application of an MRI‐compatible bilateral tDCS setup in an animal model. Our results indicate that bilateral tDCS can locally modulate neuronal activity and connectivity, which may underlie its therapeutic potential.

A ventral striatal prediction error signal in human fear extinction learning

Animal studies have shown that the prediction error (PE) signal that drives fear extinction learning is encoded by phasic activity of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons. Thus, the extinction PE resembles the appetitive PE that drives reward learning. In humans, fear extinction learning is less well understood. Using computational neuroimaging, a previous study from our group reported hemodynamic activity in the left ventral putamen, a subregion of the ventral striatum (VS), to correlate with a PE function derived from a formal associative learning model. The activity was modulated by genetic variation in a DA-related gene. To conceptually replicate and extend this finding, we here asked whether an extinction PE (EPE) signal in the left ventral putamen can also be observed when genotype information is not taken into account. Using an optimized experimental design for model estimation, we again observed EPE-related activity in the same striatal region, indicating that activation of this region is a feature of human extinction learning. We further observed significant EPE signals across wider parts of the VS as well as in frontal cortical areas. These results may suggest that the prediction errors during extinction learning are available to larger parts of the brain, as has also been observed in human neuroimaging studies of reward PE signaling. Conclusive evidence that the human EPE signal is of DAergic nature is still outstanding.

Mapping the orbitofrontal cortex using temporal fluctuations in cerebral blood flow

IntroductionThe orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is involved in diverse cognitive and behavioral processes including incentive valuation, decision‐making, and reinforcement learning. Anatomic and cytoarchitectonic studies divide the OFC along both medial‐lateral and rostral‐caudal axes. OFC regions diverge in structure and function, assessed in vivo using white matter tractography and blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) MRI, respectively. However, interpretation of T 2*‐weighted BOLD is limited by susceptibility artifacts in the inferior frontal lobes, with the spatial pattern of these artifacts frequently assuming the geometry of OFC organization. Here, we utilize a novel perfusion‐weighted arterial spin labeling (ASL) functional connectivity approach, which is minimally susceptibility‐weighted, to test the hypothesis that OFC topology reflects correlated temporal hemodynamic activity.MethodsIn healthy participants (n = 20; age = 29.5 ± 7.3), 3D ASL scans were acquired (TR/TE = 3,900/13 ms; spatial resolution = 3.8 mm isotropic). To evaluate reproducibility, follow‐up scanning on a separate day was performed on a participant subset (n = 8). ASL‐based connectivity was modeled for gray matter OFC voxels, and k‐means clustering (k = 2–8) applied to correlation statistics.ResultsThese approaches revealed both medial‐lateral and rostral‐caudal OFC divisions, confirming our hypothesis. Longitudinal reproducibility testing revealed 84% voxel clustering agreement between sessions for the k = 2 solution.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this constitutes the first in vivo cortical parcellation based on perfusion fluctuations. Our approach confirms functional OFC subdivisions predicted from anatomy using a less susceptibility‐sensitive method than the conventional approach.

Cerebral hemodynamic response to a therapeutic bed for procedural pain management in preterm infants in the NICU: a randomized controlled trial.

We developed a novel device, Calmer, that mimics key components of skin-to-skin holding to reduce stress in preterm infants. Our feasibility trial showed that Calmer worked 50% better than no treatment and no differently from our standard of care, facilitated tucking (FT), for reducing pain scores during a heel lance in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. We compared the effects of Calmer on regional cerebral hemodynamic activity during a noxious stimulation to FT. During a clinically required heel lance, we measured frontal cortex tissue oxygenation in a subsample of 29 preterm infants (27-33 weeks gestational age) from our larger randomized controlled trial. Infants were randomized to either FT (n = 16) or Calmer treatment (n = 12). The outcome measure, obtained using near-infrared spectroscopy, was a change in the tissue oxygenation index (TSI) across study phases (Baseline, Heel Lance, Recovery; median duration 517 seconds [421-906 seconds]). No statistically significant differences were found between groups in the median TSI during any of the study phases. In response to the heel lance, 7 infants (27.6%) had a TSI that dipped below the 60% threshold (3 in the Calmer group 25% and 4 in the FT group 25%); none below 50%. Infants on Calmer maintained normal regional cerebral oxygen levels (55%-85%) no differently from infants receiving a human touch intervention during blood collection. Parental skin-to-skin holding is one of the most effective strategies to relieve procedural pain in preterm infants. When parents or FT are not available, Calmer shows potential for filling this gap in care.

Exercise to Support Optimal Immune Function

Exercise to Support Optimal Immune Function

Decoding Music-Evoked Emotions in the Auditory and Motor Cortex.

Music can induce strong subjective experience of emotions, but it is debated whether these responses engage the same neural circuits as emotions elicited by biologically significant events. We examined the functional neural basis of music-induced emotions in a large sample (n = 102) of subjects who listened to emotionally engaging (happy, sad, fearful, and tender) pieces of instrumental music while their hemodynamic brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Ratings of the four categorical emotions and liking were used to predict hemodynamic responses in general linear model (GLM) analysis of the fMRI data. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was used to reveal discrete neural signatures of the four categories of music-induced emotions. To map neural circuits governing non-musical emotions, the subjects were scanned while viewing short emotionally evocative film clips. The GLM revealed that most emotions were associated with activity in the auditory, somatosensory, and motor cortices, cingulate gyrus, insula, and precuneus. Fear and liking also engaged the amygdala. In contrast, the film clips strongly activated limbic and cortical regions implicated in emotional processing. MVPA revealed that activity in the auditory cortex and primary motor cortices reliably discriminated the emotion categories. Our results indicate that different music-induced basic emotions have distinct representations in regions supporting auditory processing, motor control, and interoception but do not strongly rely on limbic and medial prefrontal regions critical for emotions with survival value.

Prefrontal cortex activation during working memory task in schizophrenia: A fNIRS study.

Neurocognitive cognitive deficits including working memory (WM) impairment is a key component of schizophrenia (SCZ). Though a prefrontal cortex (PFC) abnormality is recognised to contribute to WM impairment, the exact nature of its neurobiological basis in SCZ is not well established. Functional near infra-red spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an emerging low-cost neuroimaging tool to study neuro-hemodynamics. In this background, we examined the hemodynamic activity during a WM task in schizophrenia using fNIRS. fNIRS was acquired during computerised N-back (zero-, one- & two-back) task in 15 SCZ patients and compared with 22 healthy controls. Performance in N-back test were calculated using signal detection theory alongside the mean reaction times. Concentration and latencies of oxy-, deoxy-, and totalhaemoglobin, and oxygen saturation were computed from 8*8 optodes positioned over bilateral PFC. SCZ performed poorly as measured by most of the WM parameters (p < 0.05). Lesser deoxyhemoglobin concentration (two > zero, at right BA10, p = 0.006) was noted in the right frontopolar cortex in SCZ surviving multiple-comparison correction. In addition, olanzapine equivalent doses correlated negatively with right frontopolar cortex activation (two > zero back, BA10, ρ = 0.70, p = 0.004) and better performance in two back (false alarm rate, ρ = 0.61, p = 0.015). A delayed but compensatory hyperactivation of right frontopolar cortex noted in SCZ may underlie the WM deficit in SCZ. Future studies are recommended to replicate the role of right frontopolar cortex in WM using larger samples and systematically explore the effect of antipsychotics on them.