Regulation of cerebral blood flow during stimulus-induced brain activation: Instructions for the correct interpretation of fNIRS signals

• Main Authors: Shota Hori, Akitoshi Seiyama
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japanese Society of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine 2014-03-01
• Series: Journal of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine
• Subjects: cerebral blood flow; fnirs; artifact; fmri; bold signal
• Online Access: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpfsm/3/1/3_91/_pdf/-char/en

This review summarizes the regulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) during stimulus-induced brain activation, mainly in functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies. fNIRS is less restrictive than other techniques for measuring brain activation, as it requires only a light burden to participants during measurements. Hence, fNIRS is used in multiple fields. On the other hand, fNIRS results are questionable due to the influence of various artifacts. Thus, we report the influence and countermeasures for important artifacts. Furthermore, we discuss about CBF regulation based on mechanisms at the cellular level, hemodynamic models suggested by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and previous studies using simultaneous measurement with fNIRS and fMRI.