Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns
Abstract Verbal fluency tests (VFTs) are commonly used tasks for analyzing frontal cortex activation imagined by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Some new VFT versions have been developed to strengthen the test’s executive character. However, these modified tasks were not used to recog...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-12558-7 |
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| author | Paweł Krukow Natalia Kopiś-Posiej Víctor Rodríguez-González Michał Mazur Carlos Gómez Jesús Poza |
| author_facet | Paweł Krukow Natalia Kopiś-Posiej Víctor Rodríguez-González Michał Mazur Carlos Gómez Jesús Poza |
| author_sort | Paweł Krukow |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Verbal fluency tests (VFTs) are commonly used tasks for analyzing frontal cortex activation imagined by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Some new VFT versions have been developed to strengthen the test’s executive character. However, these modified tasks were not used to recognize whether they activate cortical areas significantly differently compared with typical tasks. We introduced a modified VFT version consisting of the necessity to produce words according to one phonemic criterion and exclude others according to another phonemic criterion to establish frontal cortex task-dependent hemodynamic activity for the proposed new task. The analysis was conducted by comparison with a typical initial letter fluency task in a group of 35 students. Behavioral results showed between-tasks differences in productivity during the initial phase of performance. Increased oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration in lateral and frontopolar regions was noted in both analyzed tasks, but oxy-Hb suppression has been observed in the middle/superior frontal cortex only for the new one. Such an arrangement of selective metabolic activation and inactivation suggests that the brain’s adaptation to increased processing demands may consist of restraining the oxygen intake of the neuronal region, which activity is not necessary to perform a task. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5d74a9f2123f4f9fb4e9c21c747ab92f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-5d74a9f2123f4f9fb4e9c21c747ab92f2025-08-20T03:42:38ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111310.1038/s41598-025-12558-7Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patternsPaweł Krukow0Natalia Kopiś-Posiej1Víctor Rodríguez-González2Michał Mazur3Carlos Gómez4Jesús Poza5Department of Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Medical University of LublinDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, The John Paul II, Catholic University of LublinBiomedical Engineering Group, University of ValladolidDepartment of Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Medical University of LublinBiomedical Engineering Group, University of ValladolidBiomedical Engineering Group, University of ValladolidAbstract Verbal fluency tests (VFTs) are commonly used tasks for analyzing frontal cortex activation imagined by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Some new VFT versions have been developed to strengthen the test’s executive character. However, these modified tasks were not used to recognize whether they activate cortical areas significantly differently compared with typical tasks. We introduced a modified VFT version consisting of the necessity to produce words according to one phonemic criterion and exclude others according to another phonemic criterion to establish frontal cortex task-dependent hemodynamic activity for the proposed new task. The analysis was conducted by comparison with a typical initial letter fluency task in a group of 35 students. Behavioral results showed between-tasks differences in productivity during the initial phase of performance. Increased oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration in lateral and frontopolar regions was noted in both analyzed tasks, but oxy-Hb suppression has been observed in the middle/superior frontal cortex only for the new one. Such an arrangement of selective metabolic activation and inactivation suggests that the brain’s adaptation to increased processing demands may consist of restraining the oxygen intake of the neuronal region, which activity is not necessary to perform a task.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-12558-7fNIRSVerbal fluencyPrefrontal cortexTask difficultySelective Inhibition |
| spellingShingle | Paweł Krukow Natalia Kopiś-Posiej Víctor Rodríguez-González Michał Mazur Carlos Gómez Jesús Poza Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns Scientific Reports fNIRS Verbal fluency Prefrontal cortex Task difficulty Selective Inhibition |
| title | Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns |
| title_full | Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns |
| title_fullStr | Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns |
| title_short | Effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns |
| title_sort | effects of the combined letter fluency task on frontal cortex regional and dynamic oxygenation patterns |
| topic | fNIRS Verbal fluency Prefrontal cortex Task difficulty Selective Inhibition |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-12558-7 |
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