Open AccessOptical imaging of the prefrontal activity in joint attention experience
Author(s) -
Lina Qiu,
Xiao Zhang,
Jun Li
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.6.003437
Subject(s) - prefrontal cortex , dorsolateral prefrontal cortex , inferior frontal gyrus , neuroscience , psychology , functional imaging , superior temporal gyrus , joint attention , functional magnetic resonance imaging , stimulus (psychology) , functional near infrared spectroscopy , cognitive psychology , audiology , cognition , medicine , developmental psychology , autism
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure the prefrontal activity in joint attention experience. 16 healthy adults participated in the experiment in which 42 optical channels were fixed over the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and a small anterior portion of the superior temporal gyrus (STG). Video stimuli were used to engender joint or non-joint attention experience in observers. Cortical hemodynamic response and functional connectivity were measured and averaged across all subjects for each stimulus condition. Our data showed the activation in joint attention located in the aPFC and DLPFC bilaterally, but dominantly in the left hemisphere. This observation, together with the previous findings on infants and children, provides a clear developmental scenario on the prefrontal activation associated with joint attention process. In the case of non-joint attention condition, only a small region of the right DLPFC was activated. Functional connectivity was observed to be enhanced, but differently in joint and non-joint attention condition.