Non-invasive neuroimaging: Generalized Linear Models for interpreting functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy signals

Cognitive activity is related to important changes in the local blood flow level and in the oxygenation of the blood. These two effects lead to a modification of the optical properties of the cerebral cortex. With the aid of the functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technique it is possible, through optical measures, to achieve information about the hemodynamic features of the brain activation. The aim of this study was to find a method to identify and to map the cerebral areas activated during a sustained attention task (Conner's continuous performance test - CPT) in a group of healthy subjects. This information will be of fundamental interest for a following study on a group of patients that will be administered the same examination. We propose a new analysis method based on the theory of generalized linear model (GLM) in order to obtain intuitive cerebral activation maps during the performing of cognitive tasks