Prefrontal cerebral activity during a simple “rock, paper, scissors” task measured by the noninvasive near-infrared spectroscopy method

Kikuchi, Senichiro; Iwata, Kazuhiko; Onishi, Yasunori; Kubota, Fumio; Nisijima, Koichi; Tamai, Hideaki; Koizumi, Yuiko; Watanabe, Eiju; Kato, Satoshi

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.01.002

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 156, Issue 3 , Pages 199-208, 15 December 2007

Prefrontal cerebral activity during a simple “rock, paper, scissors” task measured by the noninvasive near-infrared spectroscopy method

Senichiro Kikuchi
- Department of Psychiatry, Jichi Medical University, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 285587364; fax: +81 285446198.
Kazuhiko Iwata
- Department of Psychiatry, Jichi Medical University, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan
Yasunori Onishi
- Department of Psychiatry, Jichi Medical University, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan
Fumio Kubota
- Health and Medical Center, Gunma University School of Medicine, Aramaki-Machi, Maebashi City, Gunma pref., 371–0044, Japan
Koichi Nisijima
- Department of Psychiatry, Jichi Medical University, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan
Hideaki Tamai
- Department of Anesthesiology, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan
Yuiko Koizumi
- Department of Neurosurgery, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan
Eiju Watanabe
- Department of Neurosurgery, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan
Satoshi Kato
- Department of Psychiatry, Jichi Medical University, 3311–1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi pref., 329–0498, Japan

Received 19 June 2006; received in revised form 30 December 2006; accepted 14 January 2007.

Abstract

We conducted a noninvasive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) study using the game of rock, paper, scissors (RPS) as a simple neurocognitive task for the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in 15 healthy volunteers. We employed an opposite “to lose” RPS task coupled with a normal “to win” RPS task, since the former requires inhibition of behavior, one of the most important functions of the prefrontal cortex. During the NIRS examination, subjects had to present one of the three RPS hands in response to hands displayed randomly on a computer screen every 1.5 s, and were required to show hands that lose to the computer, or that beat the computer. We measured the relative concentrations of oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) using the prefrontal probes of the NIRS system during the tasks. The increases in oxy-Hb during the “to win” RPS task were small, but were quite large and laterally dominant during the “to lose” RPS task. The difference between the two tasks might have been due to the participants’ cognitive conflict with losing on the RPS. We conclude that losing is better than winning on the RPS as a sensitive indicator in the NIRS examination of PFC.

Keywords: Optical topography, Clinical availability, Conflict condition