Open AccessThe minimum resting-state fNIRS imaging duration for accurate and stable mapping of brain connectivity network in children
Author(s) -
Jingyu Wang,
Qi Dong,
Haijing Niu
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-06340-7
Subject(s) - resting state fmri , functional connectivity , neuroimaging , duration (music) , computer science , functional near infrared spectroscopy , graph , graph theory , network topology , neuroscience , functional magnetic resonance imaging , pattern recognition (psychology) , artificial intelligence , psychology , mathematics , cognition , theoretical computer science , physics , combinatorics , prefrontal cortex , acoustics , operating system
Resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a potential technique for the study of brain functional connectivity (FC) and networks in children. However, the necessary fNIRS scanning duration required to map accurate and stable functional brain connectivity and graph theory metrics in the resting-state brain activity remains largely unknown. Here, we acquired resting-state fNIRS imaging data from 53 healthy children to provide the first empirical evidence for the minimum imaging time required to obtain accurate and stable FC and graph theory metrics of brain network activity (e.g., nodal efficiency and network global and local efficiency). Our results showed that FC was accurately and stably achieved after 7.0-min fNIRS imaging duration, whereas the necessary scanning time for accurate and stable network measures was a minimum of 2.5 min at low network thresholds. These quantitative results provide direct evidence for the choice of the resting-state fNIRS imaging time in children in brain FC and network topology study. The current study also demonstrates that these methods are feasible and cost-effective in the application of time-constrained infants and critically ill children.