title: Differences in the Pulsatile Component of the Skin Hemodynamic Response to Verbal Fluency Tasks in the Forehead and the Fingertip.
abstract: Several studies have claimed that hemodynamic signals measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) on the forehead exhibit different patterns during a verbal fluency task (VFT) in various psychiatric disorders, whereas many studies have noted that NIRS signals can reflect task-related changes in skin blood flow. If such a task-related skin hemodynamic response is also observed in the fingertip, a simpler biomarker may be developed. Furthermore, determining the difference in the response pattern may provide physiological insights into the condition. We found that the magnitude of the pulsatile component in skin hemodynamic signals increased on the forehead (p < 0.001 for N = 50, p = 0.073 for N = 8) but decreased on the fingertip (p < 0.001, N = 8) during the VFT, whereas the rate in both areas increased (p < 0.02, N = 8). We also did not find a repetition effect in both the rate and the magnitude on the fingertip, whereas the effect was present in the magnitude (p < 0.02, N = 8) but not in the rate on the forehead. These results suggest that the skin vasomotor system in the forehead could have a different vessel mechanism to psychological tasks compared to the fingertip.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan.|Dynamic Brain Network Laboratory, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.|Department of Brain Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshimitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawagoe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply*; D005546:Forehead; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009928:Organ Specificity; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011674:Pulse; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D055815:Young Adult