Proactive cognitive control, mathematical cognition and functional activity in the frontal and parietal cortex in primary school children: An fNIRS study

Embracing neurodiversity in doll play: Investigating neural and language correlates of doll play in a neurodiverse sample

Doll play may provide opportunities for children to rehearse social interactions, even when playing alone. Previous research has found that the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more engaged when children played with dolls alone, compared to playing with tablet games alone. Children's use of internal state language (ISL) about others was also associated with pSTS activity. As differences in social cognition are frequently observed in autistic people, we were interested in the brain and language correlates of doll play in children with varying levels of autistic traits. We investigated children's (N = 57, mean age = 6.72, SD = 1.53) use of ISL and their pSTS brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as they played with dolls and tablet games, both alone and with a social partner. We also investigated whether there were any effects of autistic traits using the parent-report Autism Spectrum Quotient-Children's Version (AQ-Child). We found that the left pSTS was engaged more as children played with dolls or a tablet with a partner, and when playing with dolls alone, compared to when playing with a tablet alone. Relations between language and neural correlates of social processing were distinct based on the degree of autistic traits. For children with fewer autistic traits, greater pSTS activity was associated with using ISL about others. For children with more autistic traits, greater pSTS activity was associated with experimenter talk during solo play. These divergent pathways highlight the importance of embracing neurodiversity in children's play patterns to best support their development through play.

Exploring the dynamics of prefrontal cortex in the interaction between orienteering experience and cognitive performance by fNIRS

Sporting experience plays a pivotal role in shaping exercise habits, with a mutually reinforcing relationship that enhances cognitive performance. The acknowledged plasticity of cognition driven by sports necessitates a comprehensive examination. Hence, this study delves into the dynamic intricacies of the prefrontal cortex, exploring the impact of orienteering experience on cognitive performance. Our findings contribute empirical evidence regarding the functional activation of specific brain regions bridging the nexus between experiential factors and cognitive capabilities. In this cross-sectional study, a cohort of forty-nine athletes was enrolled to meticulously examine behavioral variances and prefrontal cortex dynamics among orienteering athletes of varying experience levels across diverse non-specialized scenarios. These investigations involved the utilization of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to detect alterations in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2). The high-experience expert group exhibited neurological efficiency, demonstrating significantly diminished brain activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal, left ventral lateral prefrontal, and right orbitofrontal regions compared to the low-experience group. Within the low-experience novice group, superior performance in the spatial memory task was observed compared to the mental rotation task, with consistently lower reaction times across all conditions compared to the high-experience group. Notably, cerebral blood oxygenation activation exhibited a significant reduction in the high-experience expert group compared to the low-experience novice group, irrespective of task type. The dorsolateral prefrontal lobe exhibited activation upon task onset, irrespective of experience level. Correct rates in the spatial memory task were consistently higher than those in the mental rotation task, while brain region activation was significantly greater during the mental rotation task than the spatial memory task." This study elucidates disparities in prefrontal cortex dynamics between highly seasoned experts and neophyte novices, showcasing a cognitive edge within the highly experienced cohort and a spatial memory advantage in the inexperienced group. Our findings contribute to the comprehension of the neural mechanisms that underlie the observed cognitive advantage and provide insights into the forebrain resources mobilized by orienteering experience during spatial cognitive tasks."

Effects of mental rotation on map representation in orienteers-behavioral and fNIRS evidence

Objective

Taking orienteering as an example, this study aimed to reveal the effects of mental rotation on orienteers' map representation and their brain processing characteristics.

Methods

Functional near-infrared spectroscopic imaging (fNIRS) was used to explore the behavioral performance and cortical oxyhemoglobin concentration changes of map-represented cognitive processing in orienteering athletes under two task conditions: normal and rotational orientation.

Results

Compared to that in the normal orientation, athletes' task performance in the rotated orientation condition was significantly decreased, as evidenced by a decrease in correct rate and an increase in reaction time; in the normal orientation condition, blood oxygen activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal lobe was significantly greater than that in the ventral prefrontal lobe, which was significantly correlated with the correct rate. With rotating orientation, the brain oxygen average of each region of interest was enhanced, and the brain region specifically processed was the ventral prefrontal lobe, specifically correlating with the correct rate.

Conclusions

Mental rotation constrains the map representation ability of athletes, and map representation in rotational orientation requires more functional brain activity for information processing. Ventral lateral prefrontal lobe activation plays an important role in the map representation task in rotational orientation.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy measures of neural activity in children with and without developmental language disorder during a working memory task

INTRODUCTION

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) exhibit cognitive deficits that interfere with their ability to learn language. Little is known about the functional neuroanatomical differences between children developing typically (TD) and children with DLD.

METHODS

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we recorded oxygenated hemoglobin (O₂ hb) concentration values associated with neural activity in children with and without DLD during an auditory N-back task that included 0-back, 1-back, and 2-back conditions. Analyses focused on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Multilevel models were constructed with accuracy, response time, and O₂ hb as outcome measures, with 0-back outcomes as fixed effects to control for sustained attention.

RESULTS

Children with DLD were significantly less accurate than their TD peers at both the 1-back and 2-back tasks, and they demonstrated slower response times during 2-back. In addition, children in the TD group demonstrated significantly greater sensitivity to increased task difficulty, showing increased O₂ hb to the IPL during 1-back and to the DLPFC during the 2-back, whereas the DLD group did not. A secondary analysis revealed that higher O₂ hb in the DLPFC predicted better task accuracy across groups.

CONCLUSION

When task difficulty increased, children with DLD failed to recruit the DLPFC for monitoring information and the IPL for processing information. Reduced memory capacity and reduced engagement likely contribute to the language learning difficulties of children with DLD.

Atypical brain network development of infants at elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder during the first year of life

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by behavioral features that appear early in life. Although studies have shown that atypical brain functional and structural connectivity are associated with these behavioral traits, the occurrence and initial alterations of brain networks have not been fully investigated. The current study aimed to map early brain network efficiency and information transferring in infants at elevated likelihood (EL) compared to infants at typical likelihood (TL) for ASD in the first year of life. This study used a resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) approach to obtain the length and strength of functional connections in the frontal and temporal areas in 45 5-month-old and 38 10-month-old infants. Modular organization and small-world properties were detected in both EL and TL infants at 5 and 10 months. In 5-month-old EL infants, local and nodal efficiency were significantly greater than age-matched TL infants, indicating overgrown local connections. Furthermore, we used a support vector machine (SVM) model to classify infants with or without EL based on the obtained global properties of the network, achieving an accuracy of 77.6%. These results suggest that infants with EL for ASD exhibit inefficiencies in the organization of brain networks during the first year of life.