Looking for “fNIRS Signature” in Autism Spectrum: A Systematic Review Starting From Preschoolers

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) can provide an essential bridge between our current understanding of neural circuit organization and cortical activity in the developing brain. Indeed, fNIRS allows studying brain functions through the measurement of neurovascular coupling that links neural activity to subsequent changes in cerebral blood flow and hemoglobin oxygenation levels. While the literature offers a multitude of fNIRS applications to typical development, only recently this tool has been extended to the study of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). The exponential rise of scientific publications on this topic during the last years reflects the interest to identify a “fNIRS signature” as a biomarker of high translational value to support both early clinical diagnosis and treatment outcome. The purpose of this systematic review is to describe the updating clinical applications of fNIRS in NDDs, with a specific focus on preschool population. Starting from this rationale, a systematic search was conducted for relevant studies in different scientific databases (Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science) resulting in 13 published articles. In these studies, fNIRS was applied in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or infants at high risk of developing ASD. Both functional connectivity in resting-state conditions and task-evoked brain activation using multiple experimental paradigms were used in the selected investigations, suggesting that fNIRS might be considered a promising method for identifying early quantitative biomarkers in the autism field.

Using fNIRS to evaluate ADHD medication effects on neuronal activity: A systematic literature review

“…Despite its relatively recent genesis as a neuroimaging modality, fNIRS has emerged as an important tool for current and future research across a variety of fields, including neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, and education and it has already begun to have an impact on the study of a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders. For example, resting state and task-based paradigms have been used to evaluate activation differences among young children who are and are not high risk for ASD, with the clinical goal of identifying early quantitative biomarkers ( Conti et al, 2022 ). Further, fNIRS has been used to evaluate differences in brain activation during physical movement between children with and without cerebral palsy (CP; Sukal-Moulton et al, 2014 ) and to explore activation changes during treatment with the goal of intervention individualization ( Cao et al, 2015 ; Perpetuini et al, 2022 ).…”

Interdisciplinary views of fNIRS: Current advancements, equity challenges, and an agenda for future needs of a diverse fNIRS research community

“…Cognitive disabilities have also been studied with fNIRS, with much work focused on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopment disorder in which many of the neuromechanisms are yet to be understood (Zhang and Roeyers, 2019). One unique of fNIRS to this population include the ability to study neurodevelopment starting at a young age (Conti et al, 2022) to better understand the neural mechanisms of ASD. fNIRS is also advantageous compared to fMRI in this context as some with ASD can hardly control their hyperkinetic behavior or endure the enclosed space and loud noises (Zhang and Roeyers, 2019).…”

Análise da Viabilidade de Uso do FNIRS em Atividades Educacionais com Crianças e Jovens com Deficiência Intelectual e Autismo

“…A revisão sistemática de uso de fNIRS com populações com DI e/ou TEA mostrou que a produção científica da área parece estar centrada na avaliação diagnóstica, com o objetivo de identificar padrões cerebrais que podem auxiliar na compreensão da organização do circuito neural e da atividade cortical cerebral no público infantil (Conti et al, 2022), assim como na identificação de biomarcadores quantitativos com adultos com autismo (Mazzoni et al, 2019).…”