Changes of cerebral oxygenation as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy in healthy adults: A comparison of the activities of the dominant and non-dominant hands

Abstract

[Purpose] We examined and compared cerebral oxygenation in the frontal lobe when healthy adult subjects used their dominant and non-dominant hands. [Subjects and Method] The subjects were 12 healthy right-handed persons (9 males and 3 females, average age 20.3±0.5 years). They were asked to draw a coil, like a mosquito coil and of the same diameter, in 10 s. They were then asked to draw as quickly as possible a line within the coil without touching the walls of the coil. During performance of these tasks, we measured changes in oxy-hemoglobin (HbO2) using NIRS and task times for both the dominant and non-dominant hands. [Results] A significant difference was found between HbO2 during task performance by the dominant hand and the non-dominant hand, and HbO2 was significantly higher when the non-dominant hand performed the task. [Conclusion] The results suggest that cerebral oxygenation in the frontal lobe increases more when the non-dominant hand is used rather than the dominant hand.