Otsuka Yumiko, Nakato Emi, Kanazawa So, Yamaguchi Masami K, Watanabe Shoko, Kakigi Ryusuke
Department of Psychology, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Neuroimage. 2007 Jan 1;34(1):399-406. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.08.013. Epub 2006 Sep 25.
The present study examined infants' brain activity in response to upright and inverted faces using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which can non-invasively record hemodynamic changes of the brain. NIRS is particularly useful for recording in infants, since recordings can be made, even while the infants are awake, without fixing their body and brain. For this objective, we used newly developed sensor probes of NIRS for recording in infants. We measured changes in cerebral oxygenation in 10 5-8-month-olds' left and right lateral areas while they were looking at upright and inverted faces. The results are summarized as follows: (1) the concentration of oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) and total hemoglobin (total-Hb) increased significantly in the right lateral area during the upright face condition, (2) the concentration of total-Hb in the right lateral area differed significantly between the upright and inverted conditions, (3) hemodynamic changes were maximal in the temporal region, probably in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) in both hemispheres, and (4) the right hemisphere seems to be more important for recognizing upright faces. This is the first evidence showing that there is an inter-hemispheric difference on the effect of face inversion in the infant brain using a hemodynamic method.
本研究使用近红外光谱技术（NIRS）检测了婴儿对正立和倒置面孔的大脑活动，该技术能够无创记录大脑的血液动力学变化。NIRS对婴儿记录尤为有用，因为即使婴儿清醒时也能进行记录，无需固定其身体和大脑。为实现这一目标，我们使用了新开发的NIRS传感器探头来记录婴儿的情况。我们测量了10名5至8个月大婴儿在观看正立和倒置面孔时左右侧脑区的脑氧合变化。结果总结如下：（1）在正立面孔条件下，右侧脑区的氧合血红蛋白（oxy-Hb）和总血红蛋白（total-Hb）浓度显著增加；（2）右侧脑区的total-Hb浓度在正立和倒置条件之间存在显著差异；（3）血液动力学变化在颞区最大，可能在两个半球的颞上沟（STS）；（4）右半球似乎对识别正立面孔更为重要。这是首个证据表明，使用血液动力学方法可发现婴儿大脑中面孔倒置效应存在半球间差异。
