Neurovascular coupling during functional activation with fNIRS and EEG multimodal approach

• Grant number: 17/03186-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: March 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Rickson Coelho Mesquita
• Grantee: Giovanni Hering Scavariello
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07559-3 - BRAINN - The Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Brain activation triggers a chain of cellular, metabolic and vascular processes. Neuronal activity increases energy consumption thus changing local concentrations of glucose and oxygen. The metabolic demand is supplied by cerebral blood flow (CBF) that brings glucose and oxygen to tissue via blood vessels. This relationship between neuronal activation and subsequent changes in metabolism and in CBF is known as neurovascular coupling, and it is the basis for several neuroimaging techniques such as the blood oxygen level dependent signal (BOLD-fMRI) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). However, the exact mechanisms underlying neurovascular coupling are still unknown - which limits the physiological interpretations of neuroimaging signals. In this study we plan to employ a multimodal approach, based on simultaneous measurements of electroencephalography (EEG) and NIRS, to study neurovascular coupling during functional activation with biophysical modeling. (AU)