STUDYING CEREBRAL HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSE OF DEPRESSIVE DISORDER USING TIME-DOMAIN FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY

Abstract

A multichannel time-domain fNIRS (TD-fNIRS) system has been implemented to detect the distribution of photon arrival times and estimate tissue optical properties such as absorption and reduced scattering coefficients, which are the critical parameters to explore the hemodynamic response and oxygen metabolism in the microvasculature of the cerebral surface. To provide a snapshot of the capabilities of this TD-fNIRS and allow comparisons of reconstruction algorithms to be made, four protocols were developed to assess its performances in the quantification of optical properties from the liquid phantom and muscular tissue. Moreover, based on the TD-fNIRS data collected from depressed patients and healthy controls during cognitive tests, this study integrated the activation and suppression patterns of oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) for recognizing the physiological features of brain dysfunctions in depression. The preliminary results indicated that this TD-fNIRS was able to distinguish depressed patients with decreased prefrontal HbO responses during the task period.