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Updated: Jul 3, 2026
Qualitative and Comparative Cortical Activity Data Analyses from a Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Experiment Applying Block Design
Published on: December 3, 2020
Quantitative mapping of prefrontal oxygenation dysfunction and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with systemic
Gengyi Chen1, Chenxin Yu2, Yifan Yang1
1Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
Objective:
Neuropsychiatric complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) lack relevant biological indicators that can be dynamically monitored. This study aims to break the technical barriers of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in the detection of SLE brain function through methodological innovation and to provide data for establishing relevant biological indicators of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with SLE.
Method:
In this study, the dynamic data of oxyhaemoglobin (HbO) and deoxyhaemoglobin concentrations were obtained by using the spatiotemporal optimisation fNIRS paradigm (verbal fluency task, 60 s task period/10 s dynamic baseline correction) by integrating the verbal fluency task adapted to education and 37-channel fNIRS technology, and the activation effect of each channel in the prefrontal lobe was statistically analysed.
Result:
The concentration of HbO in the SLE group was significantly lower than that in the healthy controls (HCs) group (p<0.05) on 12 channels (CH13-15, 18, 21-25, 27, 28, 35). Compared with HCs, both the SLE with depression and SLE without depression subgroups showed significantly altered HbO concentrations across 14 channels (CH6, 9, 10, 13-15, 18, 24-28, 34, 36); however, no significant difference was detected between the two SLE subgroups. Compared with the HCs group and SLE without anxiety group, the SLE with anxiety group showed a more severe decrease in HbO concentration (p<0.05) on eight channels (CH6, 10, 13, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26), which were spatially concentrated in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral frontal pole region.
Conclusion:
Prefrontal HbO oscillation disorder is associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms in SLE patients, and its spatial gradient quantitatively maps the severity of these emotional symptoms during cognitive task engagement, providing a neuroimaging assessment tool that can be implemented at the bedside for neuropsychiatric SLE.
