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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Cerebral oxygenation changes in the prefrontal cortex: effects of age and gender
M J Herrmann1, A Walter, A-C Ehlis
1Laboratory for Psychophysiology and Functional Imaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Würzburg, Fuechsleinstrasse 15, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. Herrmann_M@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Abstract:
Multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an optical method, which allows non-invasive in vivo measurements of changes in the concentration of oxygenated (O(2)Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin in living brain tissue, simultaneously from multiple measurement points. In the present study, 44 young and 42 elderly subjects were investigated by means of multi-channel NIRS (optical topography) during performance of the verbal fluency task (VFT). The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of the subjects' age and gender on functional brain activation during this cognitive task. In summary, the results clearly show that the VFT activated the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (increases in O(2)Hb and more localized decreases in HHb), with an obvious left-hemispheric dominance. The elderly subjects generally exhibited less activation and no left hemispheric lateralization effect. In contrast to a previous study, we did not find a clear influence of the subjects' gender on the brain activation pattern.
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