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Brain activation during neurocognitive testing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in patients following concussion compared to healthy controls

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Abstract

There is no accepted clinical imaging modality for concussion, and current imaging modalities including fMRI, DTI, and PET are expensive and inaccessible to most clinics/patients. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive, portable, and low-cost imaging modality that can measure brain activity. The purpose of this study was to compare brain activity as measured by fNIRS in concussed and age-matched controls during the performance of cognitive tasks from a computerized neurocognitive test battery. Participants included nine currently symptomatic patients aged 18–45 years with a recent (15–45 days) sport-related concussion and five age-matched healthy controls. The participants completed a computerized neurocognitive test battery while wearing the fNIRS unit. Our results demonstrated reduced brain activation in the concussed subject group during word memory, (spatial) design memory, digit-symbol substitution (symbol match), and working memory (X’s and O’s) tasks. Behavioral performance (percent-correct and reaction time respectively) was lower for concussed participants on the word memory, design memory, and symbol match tasks than controls. The results of this preliminary study suggest that fNIRS could be a useful, portable assessment tool to assess reduced brain activation and augment current approaches to assessment and management of patients following concussion.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by the University of Pittsburgh Department of Radiology.

Informed consent statement

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Conflicts of interest statement

A. P. Kontos, T. J. Huppert, N. H. Beluk, R. J. Elbin, L. C. Henry, J. French, S. M. Dakan & M. W. Collins declare that they have no conflict of interest. Dr. Collins is a shareholder in ImPACT Applications, Inc. Dr. Collins involvement in the current manuscript involved interpretation of data. He did not have direct access to the raw data or participate in the analysis of the data

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program/Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    A. P. Kontos, R. J. Elbin, L. C. Henry, J. French, S. M. Dakan & M. W. Collins

  2. Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    T. J. Huppert & N. H. Beluk

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    T. J. Huppert

  4. UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, 3200 South Water Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15203, USA

    A. P. Kontos

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  1. A. P. Kontos
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Correspondence to A. P. Kontos.

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Kontos, A.P., Huppert, T.J., Beluk, N.H. et al. Brain activation during neurocognitive testing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in patients following concussion compared to healthy controls. Brain Imaging and Behavior 8, 621–634 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-014-9289-9

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