The Contribution of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to the Study of Neurodegenerative Disorders: A Narrative Review

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an innovative neuroimaging method that offers several advantages over other commonly used modalities. This narrative review investigated the potential contribution of this method to the study of neurodegenerative disorders. Thirty-four studies involvi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Diagnostics (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 6; p. 663
Main Authors:	Liampas, Ioannis, Danga, Freideriki, Kyriakoulopoulou, Panagiota, Siokas, Vasileios, Stamati, Polyxeni, Messinis, Lambros, Dardiotis, Efthimios, Nasios, Grigorios
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 01-03-2024 MDPI
Subjects:	Advertising executives Alzheimer's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Brain Brain research Cognitive ability Dementia Disease frontotemporal lobar degeneration Infrared spectroscopy Light Liu, Timothy Medical imaging Medical research Medicine, Experimental Memory mild cognitive impairment Nervous system diseases Neurodegeneration Neuroimaging Parkinson’s disease Pathology Review Spectrum analysis Tomography mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer’s disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Parkinson’s disease frontotemporal lobar degeneration
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Summary:	Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an innovative neuroimaging method that offers several advantages over other commonly used modalities. This narrative review investigated the potential contribution of this method to the study of neurodegenerative disorders. Thirty-four studies involving patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Parkinson's disease (PD), or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and healthy controls were reviewed. Overall, it was revealed that the prefrontal cortex of individuals with MCI may engage compensatory mechanisms to support declining brain functions. A rightward shift was suggested to compensate for the loss of the left prefrontal capacity in the course of cognitive decline. In parallel, some studies reported the failure of compensatory mechanisms in MCI and early AD; this lack of appropriate hemodynamic responses may serve as an early biomarker of neurodegeneration. One article assessing FTD demonstrated a heterogeneous cortical activation pattern compared to AD, indicating that fNIRS may contribute to the challenging distinction of these conditions. Regarding PD, there was evidence that cognitive resources (especially executive function) were recruited to compensate for locomotor impairments. As for ALS, fNIRS data support the involvement of extra-motor networks in ALS, even in the absence of measurable cognitive impairment.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:	2075-4418 2075-4418
DOI:	10.3390/diagnostics14060663