Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that measures changes in blood oxygenation in the brain. It capitalizes on the close physiological relationship between neural activity and local blood flow. When neurons in the brain become more active, they require additional oxygen to support their metabolic demands. In response to this heightened neural activity, local blood vessels dilate to deliver more oxygen-rich blood to the active brain regions. This process is known as neurovascular coupling.

fNIRS leverages the principle that hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying molecule in blood, absorbs and scatters near-infrared light differently depending on its oxygenation state. By emitting near-infrared light into the brain tissue and measuring the reflected light, fNIRS can detect changes in the concentration of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin. These changes in hemoglobin concentration serve as an indirect marker of neural activity, allowing researchers to infer which areas of the brain are engaged during specific cognitive tasks or the processing of certain stimuli.

This real-time monitoring of neural activity and its close link to blood flow regulation make fNIRS a powerful tool for studying cognitive processes, such as attention, action-control, and decision-making. Its non-invasive nature, portability, and suitability for various populations, including infants and individuals with mobility limitations, have positioned fNIRS as a valuable technology in neuroscience research, neurorehabilitation, and the development of brain-computer interfaces. fNIRS can give us unique insights into neural processing in life-like situations and can add to our understanding of processes observed in the laboratory because it can easily be combined with other neural measurement methods.

Cognitive Psychology

portable NIRSport^TM NIRS system (NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH) with time-multiplexed double-wavelength LED control
- 8 sources and 8 detectors
- Flexible optode layout on a standard 10-05-EEG cap
- Easy to combine with other methods like EEG or HD-tDCS
- NIRStar recording software

Neuropsychology & Biological Psychology

Gowerlab LUMO 54
- 54 sources and 162 Detectors
- Full-head coverage
- Built for High-density Diffusion Optical Tomography (HD-DOT)
- Light-wight and fast setup, even with infants and todlers