Many neuropsychiatric disorders arise from impairments in complex higher-order cognitive functions. However, current clinical diagnosis and treatment approaches still rely heavily on subjective rating scales, lacking objective, quantifiable, and reproducible assessment tools. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), as a central hub for executive function, attentional control, and emotional regulation, has been closely linked to a range of neuropsychiatric conditions, including depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorder. This positions the PFC as a promising target for early diagnosis, mechanistic studies, and treatment evaluation. In recent years, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has gained rapid traction in psychiatric neuroimaging research due to its non-invasiveness, high temporal resolution, portability, and cost-effectiveness. Empirical studies have demonstrated that fNIRS can detect reduced prefrontal activation in patients with depression, distinguish activation patterns among different disorders, and assist in evaluating the effects of neuromodulatory interventions such as transcranial direct current stimulation, transcranial alternating current stimulation, and neurofeedback training. Moreover, fNIRS-derived hemodynamic indicators often correlate with symptom severity. This review provides a comprehensive summary of recent advances in the application of fNIRS in PFC dysfunction-related neuropsychiatric disorders, focusing on activation characteristics, task paradigms, potential biomarkers, and integration with other imaging modalities. The review also discusses the diagnostic and prognostic potential of fNIRS, its current technical limitations, and future directions, aiming to support its clinical translation in the field of psychiatry.
Wang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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