The promising fNIRS: Uncovering the function of prefrontal working memory networks based on multi-cognitive tasks

The diversity of cognitive task paradigms using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and the lack of theoretical explanations for these functional imaging atlases have greatly hindered the application of fNIRS in psychiatry. The fNIRS brain imaging based on multiple cognitive tasks could generally reflect the working patterns and neurovascular coupling changes in the prefrontal working memory network. By alternating the stimulation patterns of resting and task states, six typical symptom-related functional brain imaging waveforms related to psychiatric disorders are identified and three joint networks of the prefrontal working memory, namely, the attentional working memory primary coordination network, the perceptual content working memory secondary network, and the emotional-behavioral working memory executive network, are initially represented. This is the first attempt to characterize the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral regulation of the prefrontal working memory network using fNIRS, which may promote the application of fNIRS in clinical settings.