fNIRS as a biomarker for X-linked neurodevelopmental disorders: leveraging visual processing to assess brain...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomarker Development
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) present significant challenges due to the absence of reliable biomarkers for monitoring.
• Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are functional biomarkers for X-linked NDDs, but non-invasive complementary tools are needed.
• Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers a non-invasive method to assess brain metabolism and function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential of fNIRS in measuring visually evoked hemodynamic responses (vHDR) across age groups.
• To evaluate fNIRS as a biomarker for neurodevelopmental disorders and therapeutic efficacy.
• To highlight the need for further research validating fNIRS in human cohorts with X-linked NDDs.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing fNIRS to measure visually evoked hemodynamic responses (vHDR).
• Assessing cortical activation and brain maturation in various age groups and populations.
• Analyzing vHDR patterns in conditions such as optic neuritis, myopia, glaucoma, migraines, and high-risk infants.

Main Results:

• fNIRS reliably captures task-specific cortical activation and brain maturation.
• Unique vHDR patterns are identified in various visual and neurological conditions, indicating biomarker potential.
• fNIRS effectively detects early neural deficits in high-risk infants, including pre-term newborns.

Conclusions:

• fNIRS shows significant potential as a non-invasive functional biomarker for assessing neurodevelopmental disorders.
• Visual fNIRS can track disease severity and therapeutic responses, particularly in X-linked NDDs.
• Standardized protocols and further research in human cohorts are essential to establish fNIRS as a clinical tool.