Sukal-Moulton Theresa, de Campos Ana Carolina, Stanley Christopher J, Damiano Diane L
Functional and Applied Biomechanics Section, Rehabilitation Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health.
Functional and Applied Biomechanics Section, Rehabilitation Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health;
J Vis Exp. 2014 Dec 5(94):52391. doi: 10.3791/52391.
There are several advantages that functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) presents in the study of the neural control of human movement. It is relatively flexible with respect to participant positioning and allows for some head movements during tasks. Additionally, it is inexpensive, light weight, and portable, with very few contraindications to its use. This presents a unique opportunity to study functional brain activity during motor tasks in individuals who are typically developing, as well as those with movement disorders, such as cerebral palsy. An additional consideration when studying movement disorders, however, is the quality of actual movements performed and the potential for additional, unintended movements. Therefore, concurrent monitoring of both blood flow changes in the brain and actual movements of the body during testing is required for appropriate interpretation of fNIRS results. Here, we show a protocol for the combination of fNIRS with muscle and kinematic monitoring during motor tasks. We explore gait, a unilateral multi-joint movement (cycling), and two unilateral single-joint movements (isolated ankle dorsiflexion, and isolated hand squeezing). The techniques presented can be useful in studying both typical and atypical motor control, and can be modified to investigate a broad range of tasks and scientific questions.
功能近红外光谱技术（fNIRS）在人体运动神经控制研究中具有诸多优势。它在参与者定位方面相对灵活，允许在任务过程中头部有一定活动。此外，它价格低廉、重量轻且便于携带，使用时几乎没有禁忌。这为研究正常发育个体以及患有运动障碍（如脑瘫）的个体在运动任务期间的大脑功能活动提供了独特机会。然而，在研究运动障碍时，另一个需要考虑的因素是实际执行运动的质量以及额外出现意外运动的可能性。因此，为了正确解读fNIRS结果，在测试过程中需要同时监测大脑血流变化和身体的实际运动。在此，我们展示了一种在运动任务期间将fNIRS与肌肉和运动学监测相结合的方案。我们研究了步态、一种单侧多关节运动（骑自行车）以及两种单侧单关节运动（孤立的踝关节背屈和孤立的手部挤压）。所介绍的技术在研究典型和非典型运动控制方面可能会有所帮助，并且可以进行修改以研究广泛的任务和科学问题。
