Relationship Between Left-Right Dominancy of Prefrontal Cortex Activity and Heart Rate During Rest and Task Periods:
Xianyin Hu1, Yuki Ban2, Yukio Yamada2
1Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. shenyin@s.h.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
|October 16, 2023
Summary
Prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity asymmetry regulates stress responses during stressful tasks, but not at rest. This PFC regulation is observable within 2 seconds during stress.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) links prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity asymmetry to autonomic nervous system stress response regulation.
- It remains unclear if PFC stress regulation functions at rest or its temporal dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the relationship between PFC activity asymmetry and heart rate during rest and stress.
- Determine the temporal responsivity of PFC regulation during a working memory task.
Main Methods:
- Simultaneous fNIRS and electrocardiography (ECG) measurements.
- 29 subjects performed resting and 2-back working memory tasks.
- Analysis of laterality index (LI) and heart rate correlation.
Main Results:
- Weak correlation (r=0.28, p=0.137) between LI and heart rate during the task, no correlation at rest.
- Significant correlation found only during the task across analysis intervals (2s to 1 min).
Conclusions:
- PFC activity asymmetry mediates stress response regulation primarily under stress, not at rest.
- Stress response does not reciprocally affect PFC.
- PFC-mediated stress regulation is detectable with a minimum 2-second analysis interval.
