Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal.
Centre for Mechanical and Engineering Materials and Processes, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal.
Sensors (Basel). 2020 Jul 14;20(14):3917. doi: 10.3390/s20143917.
This study aimed to compare the dynamics of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), between adult and adolescent chess players, during chess-based problem-solving tasks of increasing level of difficulty, relying on the identification of changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and hemoglobin (HHb) through the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) method. Thirty male federated chess players (mean age: 24.15 ± 12.84 years), divided into adults and adolescents, participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants were asked to solve three chess problems with different difficulties (low, medium, and high) while changes in HbO2 and HHb were measured over the PFC in real-time with an fNIRS system. Results indicated that the left prefrontal cortex (L-PFC) increased its activation with the difficulty of the task in both adolescents and adults. Interestingly, differences in the PFC dynamics but not in the overall performance were found between adults and adolescents. Our findings contributed to a better understanding of the PFC resources mobilized during complex tasks in both adults and adolescents.
这项研究旨在比较成年和青少年棋手在基于国际象棋的解决问题任务中的前额叶皮层（PFC）的动态变化，这些任务的难度逐渐增加，通过功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）方法来识别氧合血红蛋白（HbO2）和血红蛋白（HHb）的变化。 这项横断面研究共有 30 名男性联邦制国际象棋选手（平均年龄：24.15±12.84 岁）参与，分为成年组和青少年组。参与者被要求解决三个不同难度（低、中、高）的国际象棋问题，同时使用 fNIRS 系统实时测量 PFC 中 HbO2 和 HHb 的变化。结果表明，在成年人和青少年中，左前额叶皮层（L-PFC）随着任务难度的增加而增加其激活。有趣的是，在 PFC 动态变化方面存在差异，但在整体表现方面则没有发现成年人和青少年之间的差异。我们的研究结果有助于更好地理解成年人和青少年在复杂任务中调动的 PFC 资源。
