Changes in cortical blood oxygenation responding to arithmetical tasks and measured by near-infrared spectroscopy

Abstract

Performing mathematical process in cognitive tasks has been widely investigated. With brain imaging techniques, the functions of the brain during the performance of tasks can be examined. In this study, we investigated the hemodynamic concentration changes in oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) and deoxyhemoglobin (HHb) in cortical regions by multi - channel Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). The whole sample consisted of 10 young and healthy students of International University. The subjects calculated numeric formulas and digit number embedded in the text by addition task and subtraction task. Moreover, our experiments were conducted at three levels: easy, moderate and difficult. We found that the changes in oxygenated in calculation task appeared in parietal region. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.