title: Prefrontal cortex hemodynamics and age: a pilot study using functional near infrared spectroscopy in children.
abstract: Cerebral hemodynamics reflect cognitive processes and underlying physiological processes, both of which are captured by functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Here, we introduce a novel parameter of Oxygenation Variability directly obtained from fNIRS data -the OV Index-and we demonstrate its use in children. fNIRS data were collected from 17 children (ages 4-8 years), while they performed a standard Go/No-Go task. Data were analyzed using two frequency bands-the first attributed to cerebral autoregulation (CA) (<0.1 Hz) and the second to respiration (0.2-0.3 Hz). Results indicate differences in variability of oscillations of oxygen saturation (SO2) between the two different bands. These pilot data reveal a dynamic relationship between chronological age and OV index in CA associated frequency of <0.1 Hz. Specifically, OV index increased with age between 4 and 6 years. In addition, there was much higher variability in frequencies associated with CA than for respiration across subjects. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the utility of the OV index and are the first to describe the relationship between cerebral autoregulation and age in children using fNIRS methodology.
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, MD, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Afrouz A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chernomordik
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Yasaman
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ardeshirpour
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chowdhry
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thurm
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Owen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rennert
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Amir H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Gandjbakhche
keywords: autoregulation; functional near infrared spectroscopy; hemodynamic model