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804-Brain Health (clinical and preclinical)-Cerebral Neurovascular Networks May Serve as Potential Targets for Identifying Disorders of Consciousness: A Synchronous EEG-fNIRS Study
Multimodal EEG-fNIRS enhances differentiation between minimally conscious state (MCS) and unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) in disorders of consciousness. Resting-state data from 13 brain regions revealed significantly higher neurovascular coupling and EEG beta-band power in premotor and frontopolar cortices for MCS than UWS. Combining these features achieved >90% classification accuracy, outperforming single modalities. This noninvasive, portable approach offers robust diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, addressing behavioral scale limitations and enabling longitudinal monitoring. Continue reading
802-Cognitive & social neuroscience-Characterizing Misophonia-Related Brain Activity Using fNIRS ?? A feasibility study
Misophonia is characterized by decreased tolerance to specific sounds that elicit strong negative emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses. While fMRI has explored these mechanisms, loud scanner noise and enclosed environments confound neural measurements and heighten anxiety. We evaluated functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a quiet, portable optical neuroimaging modality, to study misophonia. We recorded fNIRS, Photoplethysmography (PPG), and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) in 10 healthy adults during trigger, unpleasant, and neutral sounds. Unpleasant and trigger sounds elicited greater cortical activation than neutral sounds. Unpleasant sounds also induced heart rate deceleration. This study validated the feasibility of using fNIRS to study misophonia. Continue reading
866-Neurodevelopment-Early Adversity and Cognitive Flexibility: Distinct Behavioral and Neural Patterns Following Abuse and Neglect
Traditional views link early adversity to impaired cognitive flexibility. However, different dimensions of adversity may involve distinct patterns of cognitive adaptation or impairment in preschoolers, across behavioral and neural level. Combining evidence from Study 1 (N = 207; task performance measured across contexts and stimulus types) and Study 2 (N = 79, DLPFC activation measured with fNIRS), results showed that: (1) the high abuse exposure group exhibited poorer flexibility in no-stress conditions but better performance under stress and with emotional faces, accompanied by lower activation. (2) the high neglect exposure group showed no behavioral differences but increased activation. Continue reading
854-Cognitive & social neuroscience-Does Conversation Order Prime Inter-Brain Synchrony? An fNIRS Hyperscanning Study of Social Bond Formation in Stranger Groups
Social bonds between strangers may be facilitated by interpersonal synchrony. Critically, the degree to which shared activities generate synchrony may depend on their order within a session. Building on De Felice et al. (2024), who showed prior conversation enhances fNIRS synchrony during co-viewing, this study examines conversation order effects in small groups of four strangers. Using fNIRS hyperscanning, physiological sensors, and audio-video recording, we compare two counterbalanced orders (Conversation First vs. Last) across three shared activities. Findings will: provide a direct test of conversation order effects; validate our multimodal pipeline; and inform power calculations for subsequent studies. Continue reading
853-Hardware-An Integrated Hair-Displacement Mechanism for Brain-Computer Interface headsets
Hair coverage degrades functional near-infrared spectroscopy??s signal quality, and manual displacement is time-consuming. This study presents an automated hair-displacement mechanism to facilitate headset donning. The proposed mechanism incorporates six compliant prongs that adapt to individual scalp topography. The design was validated through finite element analysis. Using a flexible resin scalp phantom (elastic modulus: 44.58 MPa), an applied load of 1 N resulted in an outward deformation of 4.33 mm at the prongs. The peak stress (3 MPa) remained below the material yield strength (4 MPa), confirming structural safety. This design minimizes preparation time, facilitating user-friendly operation of the brain-computer interface. Continue reading
846-Data analysis-Is Your High-Density DOT Dense Enough
As high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) rapidly advances, it remains unclear how exactly optode density impacts the imaging quality. Using singular values of the forward matrix as a proxy, we show that the spatial information measured by a DOT system eventually saturates as the optode density increases. This observation is further validated in synthetic data, where the reconstruction accuracy also shows no improvement after the singular value analysis indicates information saturation. This research suggests the existence of inherent limits of HD-DOT resolution, and the need for efficient data acquisition strategies. Continue reading
839-Cognitive & social neuroscience-Cognitive Function and Neural Mechanisms in Plateau Athletes Following Training
Hypoxia at high altitude exerts profound adverse effects on cognitive function. This study aimed to develop a method for assessing training-related cognitive declines in high-altitude athletes. We used pre- and post-training multi-object tracking (MOT) tasks, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to monitor prefrontal cortical oxygenation. The result showed significantly more correct MOT responses and shorter reaction times after training (p < 0.05), consistent with fNIRS data. Combining behavioral and neuroimaging measures, we clarified the impacts of high-altitude hypoxia on cognitive function and its neural mechanisms. These findings improve understanding of cognitive limits in high-altitude settings. Continue reading
836-Data analysis-Investigate the Contribution of Brain Tissue Deformation to fNIRS Motion Artifact Signals Using Motion Tracker
Head motion artifacts remain a challenge in fNIRS. Beyond probe displacement, we hypothesized that brain tissue deformation also introduces artifacts. We combined finite element analysis (FEA) and Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS), driven by intentional head movements data. Models revealed that brain tissue deformation alters detected photon counts. Source light intensity and source-detector separation strongly modulated these artifacts, driving signal variations of up to 40% and 15%, respectively. Skin and skull, CSF, and grey matter thickness contributed 2-5%, 2-10%, and 1-6%, respectively. Incorporating this factor in future studies may inform the development of more robust large-motion-artifact correction and removal algorithms. Continue reading
834-Cognitive & social neuroscience-Interpersonal brain coherence in joint attention
Joint attention, the ability to coordinate attention with others toward a shared object or event, is fundamental to social cognition, yet most research relies on controlled paradigms lacking ecological validity. We examined inter-brain coherence (IBC) using fNIRS hyperscanning in 40 neurotypical dyads completing a collaborative puzzle task across three conditions: Single (independent), Equal (collaborative), and Leader/Follower (asymmetric roles). Wavelet coherence was estimated across bilateral TPJ, SPL, dlPFC, and vPMC. Socially engaged conditions showed greater IBC than Single performance. Findings suggest distinct neural mechanisms for collaborative versus directive roles, consistent with mutual prediction frameworks of social interaction Continue reading
832-Neurodevelopment-Grasping the brain: neural correlates of grasping performance in 3 to 9 months old preterm infants measured with fNIRS.
Neural development of reach-to-grasp movements in infants is unknown. This cross-sectional study investigates neural differences in reach-to-grasp movements of term versus preterm born infants between 3 and 9 months old. We included 9 preterm infants and compared them with a group of 9 age-matched term peers and another group of 9 performance-matched peers based on hand assessment for infants (HAI) scores. We found lower activity in preterm infants compared to both age-matched and performance-matched terms and the strongest differences were present in the right hemisphere. These results highlights the impact of prematurity on neural development regardless of skill performances. Continue reading