注意切替課題実施時の前頭前野領域における脳賦活に対して，年齢・課題遂行・課題特性が及ぼす影響 : NIRS による検討

Abstract

This study examined using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) imaging the activation of DorsoLateral PreFrontal Cortex (DLPFC) while accomplishing tasks requiring alternating attention. We used three tasks with different signal salience ; Control Task, Visual Cue Task and Verbal Cue Task. The subjects were twenty-five healthy young age people (average age of 23.5±3.00, 16 female) and twenty healthy middle age people (average age of 53.6±3.62, 11 female) who were right handed. Also, they were labeled high-score subjects and low-score subjects according to the experimental task. The subjects sat on a comfortable chair, and were instructed to write answers with right hand while Counting or Hundred Square Calculations and to move left hand on the cue according to the order. Tasks were employed for NIRS measurement. Just after NIRS measurement, the subjective feeling of task strategies was assessed by the interview. The high-score subjects and young age people showed higher levels of DLPFC activity during Control Task than Verbal Cue Task. There was a difference in task strategies between young age and middle age people in Visual Cue Task. These results suggest that the activation pattern of DLPFC is affected by performance, age and signal salience, and that task strategies vary with age and signal salience.