About this Research Topic
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an increasingly popular technology for studying brain functions because it is non-invasive, non-irradiating, low-cost, and highly adaptable/portable. It measures the concentration changes of oxygenated, deoxygenated hemoglobin (oxy- deoxy Hb), as well as oxygen saturation associated with neural activity. Furthermore, it allows measurement of hemodynamic activity in environments with greater ecological validity.
In recent years, significant progress has been made in methodologies and applications of this technique. To date, fNIRS has been successfully applied in several domains in both typical and atypical populations, including hyper-scanning for studying social cognition, neurofeedback and brain-computer interfaces, brain activity in both active tasks and resting states. Novel methodologies have been developed, especially in multi-modal imaging (fNIRS/fMRI/EEG/ECG), which further expands the scope of fNIRS applications. However, fNIRS signals are known to contain various noises, especially those from extracerebral physiological oscillations, motion, etc... Recently, many novel de-noising methods have been developed for fNIRS which dramatically improve the accuracy and sensitivity of fNIRS measurements.
The focus of this Research Topic is on the most recent developments in methodologies and applications of fNIRS. This includes but is not limited to:
1. fNIRS-based hyper-scanning in which single or multiple instruments are used for simultaneous measurement of brain activity in two or more people.
2. fNIRS-based neurofeedback or brain-computer interface.
3. Multi-modal brain signaling processing of fNIRS/fMRI/EEG/ECG.
4. Concurrent fNIRS study with transcranial current stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and/or transcranial laser stimulation.
5. Emerging applications of fNIRS for atypical populations.
6. Emerging applications of multi-modal signal processing technology.
Researchers, technicians, and clinicians engaged in this field are welcome to contribute an original article, technical and methodological report, or review article to this Research Topic.
In recent years, significant progress has been made in methodologies and applications of this technique. To date, fNIRS has been successfully applied in several domains in both typical and atypical populations, including hyper-scanning for studying social cognition, neurofeedback and brain-computer interfaces, brain activity in both active tasks and resting states. Novel methodologies have been developed, especially in multi-modal imaging (fNIRS/fMRI/EEG/ECG), which further expands the scope of fNIRS applications. However, fNIRS signals are known to contain various noises, especially those from extracerebral physiological oscillations, motion, etc... Recently, many novel de-noising methods have been developed for fNIRS which dramatically improve the accuracy and sensitivity of fNIRS measurements.
The focus of this Research Topic is on the most recent developments in methodologies and applications of fNIRS. This includes but is not limited to:
1. fNIRS-based hyper-scanning in which single or multiple instruments are used for simultaneous measurement of brain activity in two or more people.
2. fNIRS-based neurofeedback or brain-computer interface.
3. Multi-modal brain signaling processing of fNIRS/fMRI/EEG/ECG.
4. Concurrent fNIRS study with transcranial current stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and/or transcranial laser stimulation.
5. Emerging applications of fNIRS for atypical populations.
6. Emerging applications of multi-modal signal processing technology.
Researchers, technicians, and clinicians engaged in this field are welcome to contribute an original article, technical and methodological report, or review article to this Research Topic.
Keywords: fNIRS, brain imaging methods, fNIRS-based hyperscanning, fNIRS-based neurofeedback
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