Influence of a discrimination task during movement on cerebral blood flow measured by fNIRS

Abstract

In recent years rehabilitation incorporating congnitive tasks has become widespread. The purpose of this study was to verify the brain activation induced by a discrimination task using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We performed measurements of cerebral blood flow in 14 right-handed healthy young adults under two conditions, A and B. In condition A, subjects were required only to pinch-grip containers. In condition B, subjects pinch-gripped 5 containers with a predetermined task of deciding which was the smallest. In condition B, a significant increase (p<0.05) was found in the blood flow of the premotor area and the dorsilateral prefrontal cortex. The results suggest that by including a discrimination task in an active movement, the functions of the premotor area and the dorsilateral prefrontal cortex were mobilized in order to perform comparisons among the processes of retention of short-term memory and movement execution and their information feedback.