http://www.iss.com/resources/pdf/publications/fnirs-history.pdf

A brief review on the history of human functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) development and fields of application.

https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/pdf/S0166-2236(97)01132-6.pdf

Non-invasive optical spectroscopy and imaging of human brain function

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a noninvasive neuroimaging tool for studying evoked hemodynamic changes within the brain. By this technique, changes in the optical absorption of light are recorded over time and are used to estimate the functionally evoked changes in cerebral oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations that result from local cerebral vascular and oxygen metabolic effects during brain activity. Over the past three decades this technology has continued to grow, and today NIRS studies have found many niche applications in the fields of psychology, physiology, and cerebral pathology. The growing popularity of this technique is in part associated with a lower cost and increased portability of NIRS equipment when compared with other imaging modalities, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. With this increasing number of applications, new techniques for the processing, analysis, and interpretation of NIRS data are continually being developed. We review some of the time-series and functional analysis techniques that are currently used in NIRS studies, we describe the practical implementation of various signal processing techniques for removing physiological, instrumental, and motion-artifact noise from optical data, and we discuss the unique aspects of NIRS analysis in comparison with other brain imaging modalities. These methods are described within the context of the MATLAB-based graphical user interface program, HomER, which we have developed and distributed to facilitate the processing of optical functional brain data.

/pdf/homer-a-review-of-time-series-analysis-methods-for-near-4ln9n7d315.pdf

HomER: a review of time-series analysis methods for near-infrared spectroscopy of the brain.

This review describes the diffusion model for light transport in tissues and the medical applications of diffuse light. Diffuse optics is particularly useful for measurement of tissue hemodynamics, wherein quantitative assessment of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations and blood flow are desired. The theoretical basis for near-infrared or diffuse optical spectroscopy is developed, and the basic elements of diffuse optical tomography are outlined. We also discuss diffuse correlation spectroscopy, a technique whereby temporal correlation functions of diffusing light are transported through tissue and are used to measure blood flow. Essential instrumentation is described, and representative brain and breast functional imaging and monitoring results illustrate the workings of these new tissue diagnostics.

/pdf/diffuse-optics-for-tissue-monitoring-and-tomography-curjv2s4p6.pdf

Diffuse optics for tissue monitoring and tomography

https://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/optics/PDF/Strangman_BiolPsychiatry_52_679_2002.pdf

Non-invasive neuroimaging using near-infrared light

Plasma cyclic AMP responses to adrenaline administration in normal volunteers, patients with spinocerebellar degeneration, bronchial asthma, pulmonary emphysema, and diabetes mellitus were studied. Intramuscular administration of low doses (0.1--0.4 mg/person) of adrenaline caused a dose-dependent increase in plasma cyclic AMP. The increase in cyclic AMP was completely prevented by propranolol, while it was not affected by phentolamine or atropine. In patients with spinocerebellar degeneration, the concentrations of plasma cyclic AMP both before and after adrenaline administration were lower than in normal subjects. In asthmatic patients, the plasma cyclic AMP increase after adrenaline administration was smaller than that of the healthy controls. The plasma concentration of cyclic AMP in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes reached the peak level more slowly than in diabetic patients with dietary control alone. Examining changes in the plasma cyclic AMP level after adrenaline administration appears to be a useful means for assessing the degree of beta-adrenergic dysfunction.

Plasma cyclic AMP responses to adrenaline administration in patients with spinocerebellar degeneration, bronchial asthma, and diabetes mellitus--a preliminary report of a clinical test for detecting beta-adrenergic dysfunctions.

Contradirect effects on neuronal activity in treating depression

Sirs: Before acute pandysautonomia (APD) was initially described as a clinical entity by Young and colleagues [7] in 1969, several similar cases had been reported. This report aims to clarify the historical meaning of APD. Three cases of postural hypotension, originally repor ted as a new clinical entity by Bradbury and Eggleston [2] in 1925, are considered to contain different types of autonomic deficiencies; one of these patients appears, f rom the point of view of modern neurology, to have suffered f rom an illness similar to APD. Their first patient was young, aged 39 years, and showed a slight improvement of postural hypotension. This might be a case of dysautonomia with recovery. Their third patient was older, aged 67 years, and showed hyperactivity of knee jerks and the Babinski reflex in each foot. The diagnosis might be a Shy-Drager syndrome or multiple system atrophy. The second report of postural hypotension by Christ and Brown [3] in 1928 described two patients who showed symptoms of dysautonomia with recovery. Since then, a large number of cases of postural hypotension have been reported. However , it has been difficult to discern which, if any, of these patients suffered f rom pandysautonomia. In 1957, Wagner [6] described a patient (case L. S.) who showed almost the same symptoms as those of APD. There were defects involving the parasympathet ic as well as sympathetic nervous system (pan-dysautonomia) without other clinical or neurological abnormalities (pure dysautonomia). The cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, genitourinary and thermoregula tory systems were affected. Twenty-seven months after the onset of symptoms, the patient was able to return to an almost normal life despite some residual symptoms (partiaI recovery). Barnet t and Wagner [1] in 1958 described more precisely a patient who showed typical symptoms of APD. However , their main intention was to describe the response to sympathet icomimetic drugs, not the proposal of a new clinical entity. The onset of the symptoms in this young man occurred suddenly with an acute illness. Instillation of drugs caused supersensitive constriction of the pupils with methacholine and supersensitive dilatation with epinephrine. These results indicate that the lesion was in both the postganglionic sympathetic and parasympathet ic fibres. A remarkable feature was ext reme sensitivity of the cardiovascular system to norepinephrine and lack of response to ephedrine. These findings also indicate a peripheral lesion, being an example of Cannon 's law of the hypersensitivity of a denervated organ to the neurotransmit ter . While the features of A P D had already been presented before the report of Young and colleagues, it is certain that they defined A P D as a new clinical entity. Thereaf ter , a number of similar cases have been reported worldwide, including the United States, Europe and Asia [5]. Autonomic deficits varied f rom partial cholinergic deficit (cholinergic dysautonomia) to widespread sympathetic and parasympathet ic denervat ion (pandysautonomia) [5]. Some cases have displayed a loss of autonomic function together with other impairments of nervous function such as acute autonomic and sensory neuropathy (AASN) [4]. In other cases, A P D was followed by some clinical illness such as amyloidosis, infectious mononucleosis etc. [5]. The causes of A P D or A A S N are unknown, but an immunological disorder similar to the Guillain-Barré syndrome has been suggested. Further investigation is necessary to elucidate the genesis of these syndromes.

Fumihiko Okada

Papers

Plasma cyclic AMP responses to adrenaline administration in patients with spinocerebellar degeneration, bronchial asthma, and diabetes mellitus--a preliminary report of a clinical test for detecting beta-adrenergic dysfunctions.

Contradirect effects on neuronal activity in treating depression

Acute pandysautonomia: past and present.

Difficulty in development of new anxiolytics in Japan