Key result
The Kana Stroop task produced a significantly greater Stroop effect and a larger increase in prefrontal oxyhemoglobin concentration compared with the Kanji Stroop task.
Why the study?
Does the Kana Stroop task elicit different prefrontal hemodynamic changes compared to the Kanji Stroop task in healthy Japanese volunteers?
Cross-Sectional (n=100)
No
Does the Kana Stroop task elicit different prefrontal hemodynamic changes compared to the Kanji Stroop task in healthy Japanese volunteers?
The Kana Stroop task elicits greater prefrontal activation than the Kanji Stroop task and is not influenced by baseline psychological characteristics, making it more useful for NIRS studies in psychiatric research.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Kana Stroop task may suit NIRS prefrontal assessment better than Kanji; leaves open validation in psychiatric populations before routine use.
The Stroop task is sometimes used in psychiatric research to elicit prefrontal activity, which presumably reflects cognitive functioning. Although there are two Stroop tasks (Kana script and Kanji script) in Japan, it is unclear whether these tasks elicit the same hemoglobin changes. Moreover, it is unclear whether psychological conditions or characteristics influence hemoglobin changes in the Japanese Stroop task. The aim of this study was to clarify whether hemoglobin changes elicited by the two Japanese Stroop tasks accurately reflected cognitive functioning. Hemoglobin changes were measured with multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in 100 healthy Japanese participants performing two Japanese Stroop tasks. The Beck-Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) were administered to participants to identify psychological conditions or personality characteristics. Compared with the Kanji task, the Kana task produced a greater Stroop effect and a larger increase in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration. Moreover there were no significant correlations between oxy-Hb concentration and BDI, STAI-trait, STAI-state, or MOCI scores. Therefore we found that a participant's psychological conditions or characteristics did not influence the hemodynamic changes during either task. These data suggest the Kana Stroop task is more useful than the Kanji Stroop task for NIRS studies in psychiatric research.
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Watanabe et al. (2015) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy (n=100). Kana Stroop task vs. Kanji Stroop task was evaluated on Increase in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration (Stroop effect) (p=<0.05). The Kana Stroop task produced a significantly greater Stroop effect and a larger increase in prefrontal oxyhemoglobin concentration compared with the Kanji Stroop task.
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