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. 2021 Feb 5:15:617626.
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.617626. eCollection 2021.

Examination of the Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamic Responses to the Fist-Edge-Palm Task in Naïve Subjects Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Satoshi Kobayashi  1   2 , Yudai Iwama  1 , Hiroshi Nishimaru  1   3 , Jumpei Matsumoto  1   3 , Tsuyoshi Setogawa  1   3 , Taketoshi Ono  1   3 , Hisao Nishijo  1   3
Affiliations

Examination of the Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamic Responses to the Fist-Edge-Palm Task in Naïve Subjects Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Satoshi Kobayashi et al. Front Hum Neurosci. .

Abstract

The Fist-Edge-Palm (FEP) task, a manual hand task, has been used to detect frontal dysfunctions in clinical situations: its performance failures are observed in various prefrontal cortex (PFC)-related disorders, including schizophrenia. However, previous imaging studies reported that the performance of the FEP task activated motor-related areas, but not the PFC. Here, we aimed to investigate the relationships between the performance of the FEP task and PFC functions. Hemodynamic activity in the PFC, including the dorsolateral PFC (area 46) and frontal pole (area 10), was recorded. Healthy young subjects performed the FEP task as well as a palm tapping (PT) task (control task) three times. The subjects also completed a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Schizotypal Personality Scale (STA) questionnaire. We found that hemodynamic activity (Oxy-Hb) in the PFC increased in the first trial of the FEP task but decreased considerably in the second and third trials compared to the PT task. The number of performance errors in the FEP task also decreased in the second and third trials. Error reduction (i.e., learning) in the FEP task between the first and second trials was negatively correlated with schizotypal trait and the number of perseveration errors in the WCST. Furthermore, changes in the PFC hemodynamic activity between the first and second trials were positively correlated with error reduction in the FEP task between the first and second trials, and negatively correlated with the number of perseveration errors in the WCST. These results suggest that learning in the FEP task requires PFC activation, which is negatively associated with perseveration errors in the WCST. The results further suggest that the FEP task, in conjunction with near-infrared spectroscopy, may be useful as a diagnostic method for various disorders with PFC dysfunction.

Keywords: FEP task; WCST; fNIRS; prefrontal cortex; schizophrenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Photographs indicating the postures of the right hand (A) and both arms (B) in the Fist-Edge-Palm (FEP) task, and postures of both arms in the palm tapping (PT) task (C). (Aa–c) Photographs showing vertical “fist” (a), vertical palm (i.e., “edge”) (b), and horizontal “palm” (c) on a table in the FEP task. (Ba–c) Photographs showing both arms corresponding to (Aa–c). (Ca–c) Palm tapping on a table in the PT task.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Arrangement of the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) source and detector probes (A) and channels (B), and an example of the distribution of NIRS channels in one subject (C). The brain regions surrounded by the red lines indicate the three ROIs: the frontal pole (FP) area, and right (R-dlPFC), and left (L-dlPFC) dlPFC. In panel (C), only three short channels (green circles) are shown. The remaining two short channels are located posteriorly behind the outer edge of the cerebral cortex and are invisible.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Relationships among the psycho-behavioral data in the Fist-Edge-Palm (FEP) task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and Schizotypal Personality Scale (STA) total scores. (A) Number of errors across the three trials in the FEP task. **Significant difference from the second and third trials (p < 0.01). (B) Relationship between the changes in errors between the first and second trials in the FEP task and Milner type perseveration errors in the WCST. Each dot indicates each subject; the total number of dots is 19, but some dots overlap. (C) Relationship between changes in the errors between the first and second trials in the FEP task and total scores in the STA.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Examples of the hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) across the three trials in the Fist-Edge-Palm (FEP; A) and palm tapping (PT; B) tasks. Topographical maps indicate the effect sizes of the hemodynamic (Oxy-Hb) responses during the tasks. FEP1-3, first (Aa), second (Ab), and third (Ac) trials in the FEP task; PT1-3, first (Ba), second (Bb), and third (Bc) trials in the PT task. Yellow dots on the head indicate the whole component channels. ch, NIRS channel number. Insets indicate temporal changes in the hemodynamic activity in ch 48 during the FEP and PT tasks. Red, blue, and green lines in insets indicate Oxy-Hb, Deoxy-Hb, and Total-Hb, respectively.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Comparison of the hemodynamic responses (effect sizes of Oxy-Hb responses) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) between the Fist-Edge-Palm (FEP) and palm tapping (PT) tasks. ****p < 0.0001.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Relationships between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) hemodynamic responses in the Fist-Edge-Palm (FEP) task and psycho-behavioral data. (A) Relationship between the changes in the PFC hemodynamic responses (effect sizes) between the first and second trials and error reduction between the first and second trials in the FEP task. (B) Relationship between the changes in the PFC hemodynamic responses (effect sizes) between the first and second trials of the FEP task and Milner type perseveration errors in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).
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