Tando Tomoko, Kaga Yoshimi, Ishii Sayaka, Aoyagi Kakuro, Sano Fumikazu, Kanemura Hideaki, Sugita Kanji, Aihara Masao
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Yamanashi, Japan.
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Yamanashi, Japan.
Brain Dev. 2014 Nov;36(10):844-52. doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2014.01.002. Epub 2014 Feb 7.
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is commonly used to investigate continuous changes of brain activation and has excellent time resolution. Verbal fluency task (VFT) is widely used as a neuropsychological test of frontal lobe function. The aim of this study was to investigate normal developmental change in frontal lobe function during VFT performance using multi-channel NIRS, specifically focusing on oxygenation hemoglobin (oxyHb) changes.
The subjects were 9 adults and 37 childrens who were all healthy right-handed volunteers. Children were divided into four age groups (group A, 6-8 years; group B, 9-11 years; group C, 12-14 years; group D, 15-18 years). The [oxyHb] changes were measured with 22 channels of NIRS during VFT. We defined the frontopolar region as the region of interest for analysis, and calculated the Z-score to compare the data between groups.
The task performance changed with age. There were significant differences between group A and other groups. The Z-score of [oxyHb] also significantly increased with age, when comparing adults to groups A and B. The task performances decreased with time in all groups. In contrast, [oxyHb] only continued to increase in the adult group.
The verbal retrieval functions begin to mature in early adolescence and continue to grow up to adulthood.
近红外光谱技术（NIRS）常用于研究大脑激活的连续变化，具有出色的时间分辨率。言语流畅性任务（VFT）被广泛用作额叶功能的神经心理学测试。本研究的目的是使用多通道近红外光谱技术研究在言语流畅性任务执行过程中额叶功能的正常发育变化，特别关注氧合血红蛋白（oxyHb）的变化。
受试者为9名成年人和37名儿童，均为健康的右利手志愿者。儿童被分为四个年龄组（A组，6 - 8岁；B组，9 - 11岁；C组，12 - 14岁；D组，15 - 18岁）。在言语流畅性任务期间，使用22通道近红外光谱技术测量[oxyHb]的变化。我们将额极区域定义为感兴趣的分析区域，并计算Z分数以比较组间数据。
任务表现随年龄变化。A组与其他组之间存在显著差异。将成年人与A组和B组比较时，[oxyHb]的Z分数也随年龄显著增加。所有组的任务表现均随时间下降。相比之下，只有成年组的[oxyHb]持续增加。
言语检索功能在青春期早期开始成熟，并持续发展至成年期。
