Cerebral hemodynamic responses and brain network during rehabilitative performance revealed by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) with high resolution cap

The functional near infrared spectroscopy （NIRS) can non-invasively measure the hemodynamic responses based on local neuronal activities of the cerebral cortex without physical restraint. In the present study, we developed a new head cap equipped with high resolution channels. We measured hemodynamic responses while healthy subjects performed rehabilitative task. The increment rate of the hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal areas significantly correlated with the improvement rate of task performance across the repeated trials. Furthermore, hemodynamic responses in the frontal pole significantly and positively correlated with that in the left and right premotor region and left motor region. These data suggest that the improvement of rehabilitative task performance might be attributed to neuronal activation of prefrontal cortex including the frontal pole.