[P3-4] A Shift From Diffuse To Focal Cortical Activity With Development In School Aged Children, Using fNIRS Study
[Objective] Current neuro-imaging studies have suggested that developmental changes may parallel aspects of adult learning in cortical activation becoming less diffuse and more focal over time. However, it is often difficult to assess neuroactivation patterns during locomotor tasks with fMRI-based neuroimaging, and this can often cause problems in the neuro-functional assessment of school-aged children. Conversely, fNIRS is suitable for clinical diagnosis of children. fNIRS can offer robust advantages such as its compactness, tolerance to body motion and accessibility, which has allowed it to be applied for clinical assessment of children. Currently, we used fNIRS in children to test directly for shifts in cortical activity during inhibition performance task. [Methods] Twenty four right-handed typically developed children (mean age: 9.1 yr., range: 6-14 yr.) with IQ＞70 underwent an inhibition task, and their cortical hemodynamics were assessed using fNIRS. We explored cortical activation to distinguish 6 to 9 years old and 10 to 14 years old TD children. Written consent was obtained from all subjects. The study was authorized by the applicable ethics committees. [Results] The neuroactivations were diffusely located on the border of right prefrontal and parietal activation in younger aged children. On the other hand, the older aged children showed attenuated activation in dorsolateral prefrontal cortical areas, paralleled by increased focal activation in ventral prefrontal regions related to inhibition task performance. [Discussion]The fNIRS-based measurements could detect the developmental changes of child learning in cortical activation becoming less diffuse and more focal in the right prefrontal area over time.