Deciphering brain activation during wrist movements: comparative fMRI and fNIRS analysis of active, passive, and imagery states

Abstract

Understanding the complex activation patterns of brain regions during motor tasks is crucial. Integrated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers advanced insights into how brain activity fluctuates with motor activities. This study explores neuronal activation patterns in the cerebral cortex during active, passive, and imagined wrist movements using these functional imaging techniques. Data were collected from 10 right-handed volunteers performing a motor task using fMRI and fNIRS. fMRI utilized a 3T scanner and a 20-channel head coil, while fNIRS recorded data with a 48-channel device at 765 nm and 855 nm. Analysis focused on key motor and sensory cortices using NIRS-SPM and SPM12, applying a significance threshold of p < 0.05 and a minimum cluster size of 10 voxels for group analysis. Super-threshold voxels were identified with FWE thresholding in SPM12. For activation map extraction we focused on the primary motor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex, somatosensory association cortex, premotor cortex, and supplementary motor cortex. Both fMRI and fNIRS detected activation in the primary motor cortex (M1). The primary somatosensory cortex was found to influence movement direction coding, with smaller activation sizes for upward movements. Combining fNIRS with fMRI provided clearer differentiation of brain activation patterns for wrist movements in various directions and conditions (p < 0.05). This study highlights variations in left motor cortex activity across different movement states. fNIRS proved effective in detecting brain function and showed strong correlation with fMRI results, suggesting it as a viable alternative for those unable to undergo fMRI.

Keywords: Cortical activation; Multimodal neuroimaging; Wrist movement; fMRI; fNIRS.