Greater Activity in the Frontal Cortex on Left Curves: A Vector-Based fNIRS Study of Left and Right Curve Driving.

Objectives: In the brain, the mechanisms of attention to the left and the right are known to be different. It is possible that brain activity when driving also differs with different horizontal road alignments (left or right curves), but little is known about this. We found driver brain activity to be different when driving on left and right curves, in an experiment using a large-scale driving simulator and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Correlation of prefrontal cortical activation with changing vehicle speeds in actual driving: a vector-based functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Traffic accidents occur more frequently during deceleration than during acceleration. However, little is known about the relationship between brain activation and vehicle acceleration because it has been difficult to measure the brain activation of drivers while they drive. In this study, we measured brain activation during actual driving using vector-based functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Functional brain imaging using near-infrared spectroscopy during actual driving on an expressway.

The prefrontal cortex is considered to have a significant effect on driving behavior, but little is known about prefrontal cortex function in actual road driving. Driving simulation experiments are not the same, because the subject is in a stationary state, and the results may be different. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is advantageous in that it can measure cerebral hemodynamic responses in a person driving an actual vehicle.

Increased oxygen load in the prefrontal cortex from mouth breathing: a vector-based near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Individuals who habitually breathe through the mouth are more likely than nasal breathers to have sleep disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. We hypothesized that brain hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal cortex might be different for mouth and nasal breathing. To test this hypothesis, we measured changes in oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex during mouth breathing and nasal breathing in healthy adults (n=9) using vector-based near-infrared spectroscopy.

Vector-based phase classification of initial dips during word listening using near-infrared spectroscopy.

This study examined the classification of initial dips during passive listening to single words by analysis of vectors of deoxyHb and oxyHb measurements simultaneously derived from near-infrared spectroscopy. The initial dip response during a single-word 1.5-s task in 13 healthy participants was significant only in the language area, which includes the left posterior superior temporal gyrus and angular gyrus.