Functional near-infrared spectroscopy: Systematic mapping of abnormal brain function features in neurological...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering
• Noninvasive brain imaging techniques
• Cerebral hemodynamics and neurovascular coupling

Background:

• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) noninvasively measures cerebral hemodynamic signals, offering ecological validity for studying brain function.
• A lack of valid functional imaging biomarkers for neurological disorders limits mechanistic understanding and treatment evaluation.
• fNIRS provides unique insights into neurovascular coupling, crucial for understanding brain function in health and disease.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the application of fNIRS in neurological disorders over the past decade.
• To synthesize fNIRS's value in revealing neural mechanisms and assessing therapeutic responses.
• To identify technical bottlenecks and future directions for advancing fNIRS technology and application.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of studies utilizing fNIRS for neurological conditions.
• Analysis of fNIRS data for insights into neural mechanisms and treatment efficacy.
• Identification of technical challenges and limitations in current fNIRS research.

Main Results:

• fNIRS shows significant potential for uncovering disease-related neural mechanisms and evaluating treatment-induced brain function changes.
• Wearable fNIRS enables continuous, noninvasive brain monitoring in naturalistic settings, supporting neuroregenerative therapy research.
• Integration with other modalities (EEG, TMS, tDCS) enhances fNIRS's utility for brain-computer interfaces and neuromodulation.

Conclusions:

• fNIRS holds substantial promise for advancing the understanding and treatment of neurological disorders.
• Current limitations include small sample sizes, short follow-ups, and technical heterogeneity, hindering clinical translation.
• Future directions involve AI, big data, and multimodal fusion to overcome limitations and enable precise brain function mapping and assessment.