Functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based prefrontal cortex oxygenation during working memory tasks in sickle cell disease

John Sunwoo; Payal Shah; Wanwara Thuptimdang; Maha Khaleel; Patjanaporn Chalacheva; Roberta M. Kato; Thomas D. Coates; Michael C. K. Khoo

doi:10.1117/1.NPh.10.4.045004

17 October 2023 Functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based prefrontal cortex oxygenation during working memory tasks in sickle cell disease

John Sunwoo, Payal Shah, Wanwara Thuptimdang, Maha Khaleel, Patjanaporn Chalacheva, Roberta M. Kato, Thomas D. Coates, Michael C. K. Khoo

Author Affiliations +

Neurophotonics, Vol. 10, Issue 4, 045004 (October 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.10.4.045004

Abstract

Significance

Sickle cell disease (SCD), characterized by painful vaso-occlusive crises, is associated with cognitive decline. However, objective quantification of cognitive decline in SCD remains a challenge, and the associated hemodynamics are unknown.

Aim

To address this, we utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure prefrontal cortex (PFC) oxygenation responses to N-back working memory tasks in SCD patients and compared them with healthy controls.

Approach

We quantified the PFC oxygenation rate as an index of cognitive activity in each group and compared them. In half of the participants, a Stroop test was administered before they started N-back to elevate their baseline stress level.

Results

In SCD compared to healthy controls, we found that (1) under a high baseline stress level, there were significantly greater oxygenation responses during the 2-back task, further elevated with histories of stroke; (2) there was a marginally slower N-back response time, and it was even slower with a history of stroke; and (3) the task accuracy was not different.

Conclusions

Additional requirements for processing time, PFC resources, and PFC oxygenation in SCD patients offer an important basis for understanding their cognitive decline and highlight the potential of fNIRS for evaluating cognitive functions.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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John Sunwoo, Payal Shah, Wanwara Thuptimdang, Maha Khaleel, Patjanaporn Chalacheva, Roberta M. Kato, Thomas D. Coates, and Michael C. K. Khoo "Functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based prefrontal cortex oxygenation during working memory tasks in sickle cell disease," Neurophotonics 10(4), 045004 (17 October 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.10.4.045004

Received: 28 June 2023; Accepted: 2 October 2023; Published: 17 October 2023

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KEYWORDS

Oxygenation

Single crystal X-ray diffraction

Control systems

Near infrared spectroscopy

Prefrontal cortex

Tunable filters

Spectroscopy

Significance

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