Oxyhemoglobin changes during cognitive rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury using near infrared spectroscopy

To investigate cerebral reactions to cognitive rehabilitation tasks, oxyhemoglobin changes were compared in 9 patients with cognitive impairments after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 47 healthy controls using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during nine cognitive rehabilitation tasks employed at Nagoya City Rehabilitation Center. Forty-seven measurement channels were placed on the frontal to temporal cortices, and organized into seven channel regions. Oxyhemoglobin changes were normalized based on the mean oxyhemoglobin value at the resting state, and integrated throughout a task. Statistical analyses of the differences between the TBI patients and controls were performed with the two-sided Mann-Whitney U test. Oxyhemoglobin changes were high for both controls and TBI patients in the lateral frontal regions. Oxyhemoglobin changes in TBI patients tended to be higher than controls in the medial frontal regions for most training tasks, and significant differences (p < 0.05) were seen for two tasks in the medial frontal regions. Different regions were activated during the tasks in TBI patients compared to controls. fNIRS measurement is useful in the evaluation of changes of neuronal activities during rehabilitation tasks in TBI patients.