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Updated: Aug 27, 2026
Correlating Behavioral Responses to fMRI Signals from Human Prefrontal Cortex: Examining Cognitive Processes Using Task Analysis
Published on: June 20, 2012
Parallel electrophysiological and prefrontal hemodynamic alterations during stroop task performance in major
Yang Li1, Yan Zhang2, Yu Jiang3
1Security Department, Chengdu Aeronautic Polytechnic University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Introduction:
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with executive-control deficits, yet the simultaneous electrophysiological and hemodynamic correlates of Stroop-task performance remain incompletely characterized. This study investigated parallel neural and prefrontal hemodynamic alterations during cognitive conflict processing using simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
Methods:
Twenty-two patients with MDD and twenty-one healthy controls completed a color-word Stroop task while EEG and fNIRS were recorded simultaneously. Behavioral performance, stimulus-locked event-related potential (ERP) components, oscillatory activity, and prefrontal region-of-interest (ROI) hemoglobin responses were analyzed using group × condition mixed-design analysis of variance.
Results:
Compared with healthy controls, patients with MDD showed impaired behavioral performance together with altered ERP components, oscillatory activity, and prefrontal hemoglobin responses during Stroop-task performance, indicating concurrent electrophysiological and hemodynamic abnormalities associated with executive-control dysfunction.
Discussion:
These findings support the presence of parallel task-related electrophysiological and prefrontal hemodynamic alterations in MDD during cognitive conflict processing. Larger prospective studies incorporating trial-level reliability metrics, channel-wise fNIRS analyses, and clinical covariates are warranted to further validate these observations.
