title: Hemodynamic responses to visual stimuli in cortex of adults and 3- to 4-year-old children.
abstract: In this study we used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure relative changes in cortical hemodynamics from 19 adult and 19 preschool children (aged 3-4 years old), while they watched epochs of static and motion pictures extracted from TV programs. The spatio-temporal characteristics of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin volumes (oxy- and deoxy-Hb) of both subject groups were described and compared where appropriate for five regions of interest (ROIs). These were striate, left and right middle temporal, and left and right temporo-parietal areas. Over these areas, deoxy-Hb volumes did not differ between both groups. Preschool data showed significant increases in oxy-Hb over striate, middle temporal and temporo-parietal areas in response to visual motion stimuli. Static stimuli caused a significant oxy-Hb increase over striate and left middle temporal areas. Surprisingly, changes in adult oxy-Hb were not profound and did not show a significant oxy-Hb increase in striate and middle temporal areas in response to the motion stimuli, warranting further research. In spite of oxy-Hb volume differences, oxy-Hb recovery to baseline followed a similar pattern in both groups in response to both static and motion stimuli. Together, the results suggest that near-infrared spectroscopy is a viable method to investigate cortical development of preschool children by monitoring their hemodynamic response patterns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan. remijn@design.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Gerard B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Remijn
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shitamichi
authors.forename: Sanae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Kikuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagao
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Munesue
authors.forename: Haruyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Minabe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D055815:Young Adult