title: Review of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in neurorehabilitation.
abstract: We provide a brief overview of the research and clinical applications of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the neurorehabilitation field. NIRS has several potential advantages and shortcomings as a neuroimaging tool and is suitable for research application in the rehabilitation field. As one of the main applications of NIRS, we discuss its application as a monitoring tool, including investigating the neural mechanism of functional recovery after brain damage and investigating the neural mechanisms for controlling bipedal locomotion and postural balance in humans. In addition to being a monitoring tool, advances in signal processing techniques allow us to use NIRS as a therapeutic tool in this field. With a brief summary of recent studies investigating the clinical application of NIRS using motor imagery task, we discuss the possible clinical usage of NIRS in brain-computer interface and neurofeedback.
authors.affiliation: Osaka University, Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Osaka University, Global Center for Medical Engineering and Informatics, Division of Clinical Neuroengineering, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mihara
authors.affiliation: Morinomiya Hospital , Neurorehabilitation Research Institute, 2-1-88 Morinomiya, Jyoto-ku, Osaka, Osaka 536-0025, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miyai
keywords: functional recovery; near-infrared spectroscopy; neurofeedback; rehabilitation; stroke