#fnirs — Public Fediverse posts

DATE: July 26, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Newborn brains respond more strongly to crying than to speech, study finds

URL: https://www.psypost.org/newborn-brains-respond-more-strongly-to-crying-than-to-speech-study-finds/

A new study published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience indicates that newborn babies show stronger brain responses to the sound of infant cries than to spoken sentences. The findings suggest that an infant’s biological ability to produce a specific sound may shape how their brain processes auditory information from the moment they are born. This discovery provides evidence that the biological link between vocal production and speech perception begins much earlier in human development than scientists previously assumed.

In adult human communication, listening to speech and producing vocal sounds are deeply interconnected processes. When adults hear language, the regions of the brain responsible for moving the mouth, tongue, and throat tend to activate alongside the regions that process hearing. Scientists refer to this interaction as the perception-production link, which allows individuals to compare the sounds they hear with the physical movements needed to recreate them.

Human infants enter the world with sophisticated listening abilities despite their inability to speak words. Expectant mothers pass speech sounds through the uterine wall, allowing fetuses to hear language starting around the twentieth to twenty-fourth week of pregnancy. Because of this early exposure, newborns show a strong preference for listening to human speech over many other environmental noises.

Spoken language represents an acoustically complex signal that infants have heard for months before birth. Infant crying, on the other hand, is a simpler sound that babies only begin hearing after they enter the world. However, crying is unique because it is the only communicative sound that newborn babies are physically capable of generating on their own.

To explore how early physical capabilities influence auditory development, researchers evaluated whether newborns process cries in a manner similar to speech. Judit Gervain, a professor of developmental psychology at the University of Padua and a senior research scientist at the Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center in Paris, detailed the rationale behind the study. She noted that an expanding body of research indicates that even before babies can speak, they remain sensitive to the movements of their mouth and tongue, which can shape how they process sounds.

“In other words, their growing abilities to produce speech go hand in hand with their abilities to perceive speech,” Gervain explained. “We wanted to test how early this production-perception link begins, and since the earliest communicative sounds babies can make are cries, indeed, the very first sounds a newborn infant makes immediately at birth are cries, we decided to test how babies perceive cries and whether it is similar to how they perceive speech.”

To test this idea, researchers examined twenty-five healthy full-term newborn infants who had been exposed to the French language during pregnancy. The group included fifteen females and ten males, with an average age of approximately two days old, ranging from one to four days. The infants had an average gestational age of thirty-nine weeks and six days, with a mean birth weight of 3,320 grams and strong health scores at birth.

An additional forty-five infants participated in the experiment but were excluded from the final analysis due to movement, crying, or technical issues. A major reason for this high exclusion rate involves a natural reaction known as emotional contagion, which occurs when newborns become distressed and start crying upon hearing the sound of other infants crying. The researchers also tested twenty-seven adult native Italian speakers who had no prior knowledge of the French language.

The research team measured brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, a non-invasive imaging technology often abbreviated as fNIRS. This technique uses caps fitted with special lights and sensors to measure changes in blood oxygen levels through the skull. When specific brain regions become active, they consume more oxygen, allowing sensors to track neural responses across the frontal, temporal, and parietal areas of the brain.

The auditory stimuli consisted of cry recordings from ten French newborns and spoken French sentences recorded by ten adult French women. Each cry sound was paired with a spoken sentence of equal length, averaging roughly 1.09 seconds per item. The volume of all recordings was normalized to ensure consistency, though the infant cries had a higher average pitch of 430 hertz compared to 233 hertz for adult speech.

During the experiment, participants listened to twenty blocks of auditory stimuli, with ten blocks containing crying sounds and ten blocks containing spoken sentences. Each block lasted approximately twenty seconds and contained ten different audio samples presented in a randomized order. Silent rest periods lasting between twenty-five and thirty seconds were placed between the blocks to give the brain time to reset.

When comparing the neural activity triggered by both sound types, the authors observed that newborns showed greater activity in response to crying than to speech within the right temporal region of the brain. The temporal regions are primarily involved in processing sound and acoustic patterns. When listening to spoken language alone, the infants exhibited heightened activity in the left temporal and right temporo-parietal areas compared to silent baseline periods.

When listening to crying sounds, the newborns demonstrated increased activity in left fronto-temporo-parietal regions as well as right temporal regions. The activation in the frontal cortex is notable because this area contains the motor regions that control physical movement. Spoken language did not trigger this motor region activity in the newborns, suggesting that brain areas tied to movement respond specifically to sounds the infants can produce.

These results contradicted the research team’s initial expectations regarding early language processing. “Since language is so important and babies learn it so fast, in just a few years, we originally expected to see stronger brain responses to speech than to cries,” Gervain told PsyPost. “We were actually surprised to see that newborns respond to cries more strongly, suggesting that what they can produce is important for them.”

The adult participants exhibited a different pattern of neural responses compared to the infants. In adults, spoken language generated significantly greater brain activity than infant crying across the left temporo-parietal and right temporal regions. Because the adult participants spoke Italian and did not understand French, their temporal lobes processed the unfamiliar speech sounds based on their acoustic structures rather than their word meanings.

The adults showed activation within frontal motor regions when listening to both spoken sentences and newborn crying, reflecting their physical capability to produce both sound types. Gervain emphasized the primary takeaway from how newborn brains handle these signals. “Our findings show that the brains of newborn babies, just after a day or two after birth, respond more strongly to cries, so to the communicative sounds they themselves can produce, than to speech,” Gervain observed. “This suggests that producing sounds may play a stronger role in perception than we previously believed.”

She added that self-produced vocalizations serve a practical purpose in early human development. “The sounds babies themselves can produce are very important for them and can help them learn more about the sounds themselves and about communication more generally,” Gervain stated.

The emotional intensity of crying represents one potential factor that requires thoughtful consideration when interpreting these findings. Crying naturally conveys distress, which tends to heighten emotional arousal in listeners and could potentially increase brain activity independently of vocal production. Emotional arousal alone does not fully account for why motor regions of the brain were activated exclusively by crying in newborns and by both sounds in adults.

Future research could build upon these findings by evaluating how infants respond to cries produced by newborns from different language backgrounds or by testing whether babies display unique brain patterns when hearing recordings of their own cries. Gervain and her colleagues are currently extending this line of research to older infants to see how brain responses evolve alongside developing vocal abilities.

“Continuing this line, we are now looking at somewhat older infants, 6-to-10-month-olds, and seeing how they respond to babbling,” Gervain said. “Following the logic of the current study, 6-to-10-month-olds just begin to produce speech, and their production, that is babbling, is not yet like adult speech, but this is what they themselves can produce, so babbling may be particularly important for them.”

She noted that her team is currently recording brain activity to track these changes across development. “So we are now testing how babies’ brains react to babbling as compared to speech between 6 and 10 months, and whether this changes with their increasing ability to babble or speak,” Gervain explained.

The study, “Do babies perceive cries as speech?,” was authored by Gaia Lucarini, Irene de la Cruz-Pavía, Jessica Gemignani, Caroline Nallet, Alexandre Lapillonne, and Judit Gervain.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/newborn-brains-respond-more-strongly-to-crying-than-to-speech-study-finds/

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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #newborneysbrains #criesvsspeech #productionperceptionlink #earlylanguagedevelopment #infanthearing #cryofthebrain #fNIRS #neuroscienceofspeech #babiesbabble #languageacquisition

DATE: July 26, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Newborn brains respond more strongly to crying than to speech, study finds

URL: https://www.psypost.org/newborn-brains-respond-more-strongly-to-crying-than-to-speech-study-finds/

A new study published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience indicates that newborn babies show stronger brain responses to the sound of infant cries than to spoken sentences. The findings suggest that an infant’s biological ability to produce a specific sound may shape how their brain processes auditory information from the moment they are born. This discovery provides evidence that the biological link between vocal production and speech perception begins much earlier in human development than scientists previously assumed.

In adult human communication, listening to speech and producing vocal sounds are deeply interconnected processes. When adults hear language, the regions of the brain responsible for moving the mouth, tongue, and throat tend to activate alongside the regions that process hearing. Scientists refer to this interaction as the perception-production link, which allows individuals to compare the sounds they hear with the physical movements needed to recreate them.

Human infants enter the world with sophisticated listening abilities despite their inability to speak words. Expectant mothers pass speech sounds through the uterine wall, allowing fetuses to hear language starting around the twentieth to twenty-fourth week of pregnancy. Because of this early exposure, newborns show a strong preference for listening to human speech over many other environmental noises.

Spoken language represents an acoustically complex signal that infants have heard for months before birth. Infant crying, on the other hand, is a simpler sound that babies only begin hearing after they enter the world. However, crying is unique because it is the only communicative sound that newborn babies are physically capable of generating on their own.

To explore how early physical capabilities influence auditory development, researchers evaluated whether newborns process cries in a manner similar to speech. Judit Gervain, a professor of developmental psychology at the University of Padua and a senior research scientist at the Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center in Paris, detailed the rationale behind the study. She noted that an expanding body of research indicates that even before babies can speak, they remain sensitive to the movements of their mouth and tongue, which can shape how they process sounds.

“In other words, their growing abilities to produce speech go hand in hand with their abilities to perceive speech,” Gervain explained. “We wanted to test how early this production-perception link begins, and since the earliest communicative sounds babies can make are cries, indeed, the very first sounds a newborn infant makes immediately at birth are cries, we decided to test how babies perceive cries and whether it is similar to how they perceive speech.”

To test this idea, researchers examined twenty-five healthy full-term newborn infants who had been exposed to the French language during pregnancy. The group included fifteen females and ten males, with an average age of approximately two days old, ranging from one to four days. The infants had an average gestational age of thirty-nine weeks and six days, with a mean birth weight of 3,320 grams and strong health scores at birth.

An additional forty-five infants participated in the experiment but were excluded from the final analysis due to movement, crying, or technical issues. A major reason for this high exclusion rate involves a natural reaction known as emotional contagion, which occurs when newborns become distressed and start crying upon hearing the sound of other infants crying. The researchers also tested twenty-seven adult native Italian speakers who had no prior knowledge of the French language.

The research team measured brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, a non-invasive imaging technology often abbreviated as fNIRS. This technique uses caps fitted with special lights and sensors to measure changes in blood oxygen levels through the skull. When specific brain regions become active, they consume more oxygen, allowing sensors to track neural responses across the frontal, temporal, and parietal areas of the brain.

The auditory stimuli consisted of cry recordings from ten French newborns and spoken French sentences recorded by ten adult French women. Each cry sound was paired with a spoken sentence of equal length, averaging roughly 1.09 seconds per item. The volume of all recordings was normalized to ensure consistency, though the infant cries had a higher average pitch of 430 hertz compared to 233 hertz for adult speech.

During the experiment, participants listened to twenty blocks of auditory stimuli, with ten blocks containing crying sounds and ten blocks containing spoken sentences. Each block lasted approximately twenty seconds and contained ten different audio samples presented in a randomized order. Silent rest periods lasting between twenty-five and thirty seconds were placed between the blocks to give the brain time to reset.

When comparing the neural activity triggered by both sound types, the authors observed that newborns showed greater activity in response to crying than to speech within the right temporal region of the brain. The temporal regions are primarily involved in processing sound and acoustic patterns. When listening to spoken language alone, the infants exhibited heightened activity in the left temporal and right temporo-parietal areas compared to silent baseline periods.

When listening to crying sounds, the newborns demonstrated increased activity in left fronto-temporo-parietal regions as well as right temporal regions. The activation in the frontal cortex is notable because this area contains the motor regions that control physical movement. Spoken language did not trigger this motor region activity in the newborns, suggesting that brain areas tied to movement respond specifically to sounds the infants can produce.

These results contradicted the research team’s initial expectations regarding early language processing. “Since language is so important and babies learn it so fast, in just a few years, we originally expected to see stronger brain responses to speech than to cries,” Gervain told PsyPost. “We were actually surprised to see that newborns respond to cries more strongly, suggesting that what they can produce is important for them.”

The adult participants exhibited a different pattern of neural responses compared to the infants. In adults, spoken language generated significantly greater brain activity than infant crying across the left temporo-parietal and right temporal regions. Because the adult participants spoke Italian and did not understand French, their temporal lobes processed the unfamiliar speech sounds based on their acoustic structures rather than their word meanings.

The adults showed activation within frontal motor regions when listening to both spoken sentences and newborn crying, reflecting their physical capability to produce both sound types. Gervain emphasized the primary takeaway from how newborn brains handle these signals. “Our findings show that the brains of newborn babies, just after a day or two after birth, respond more strongly to cries, so to the communicative sounds they themselves can produce, than to speech,” Gervain observed. “This suggests that producing sounds may play a stronger role in perception than we previously believed.”

She added that self-produced vocalizations serve a practical purpose in early human development. “The sounds babies themselves can produce are very important for them and can help them learn more about the sounds themselves and about communication more generally,” Gervain stated.

The emotional intensity of crying represents one potential factor that requires thoughtful consideration when interpreting these findings. Crying naturally conveys distress, which tends to heighten emotional arousal in listeners and could potentially increase brain activity independently of vocal production. Emotional arousal alone does not fully account for why motor regions of the brain were activated exclusively by crying in newborns and by both sounds in adults.

Future research could build upon these findings by evaluating how infants respond to cries produced by newborns from different language backgrounds or by testing whether babies display unique brain patterns when hearing recordings of their own cries. Gervain and her colleagues are currently extending this line of research to older infants to see how brain responses evolve alongside developing vocal abilities.

“Continuing this line, we are now looking at somewhat older infants, 6-to-10-month-olds, and seeing how they respond to babbling,” Gervain said. “Following the logic of the current study, 6-to-10-month-olds just begin to produce speech, and their production, that is babbling, is not yet like adult speech, but this is what they themselves can produce, so babbling may be particularly important for them.”

She noted that her team is currently recording brain activity to track these changes across development. “So we are now testing how babies’ brains react to babbling as compared to speech between 6 and 10 months, and whether this changes with their increasing ability to babble or speak,” Gervain explained.

The study, “Do babies perceive cries as speech?,” was authored by Gaia Lucarini, Irene de la Cruz-Pavía, Jessica Gemignani, Caroline Nallet, Alexandre Lapillonne, and Judit Gervain.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/newborn-brains-respond-more-strongly-to-crying-than-to-speech-study-finds/

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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #newborneysbrains #criesvsspeech #productionperceptionlink #earlylanguagedevelopment #infanthearing #cryofthebrain #fNIRS #neuroscienceofspeech #babiesbabble #languageacquisition

What a great few days at the International Society for Exercise Neuroscience #ISENS Conference & Workshop! A big thank you to all the bright-minded participants for the inspiring discussions and shared enthusiasm for advancing exercise neuroscience and wearable neuroimaging. And special kudos to Chiara Bulgarelli (@cbulgarelli01 ) for delivering an excellent presentation! We look forward to seeing you all again at future #fNIRS events🌟

#ExerciseNeuroscience #Neuroscience

What a great few days at the International Society for Exercise Neuroscience #ISENS Conference & Workshop! A big thank you to all the bright-minded participants for the inspiring discussions and shared enthusiasm for advancing exercise neuroscience and wearable neuroimaging. And special kudos to Chiara Bulgarelli (@cbulgarelli01 ) for delivering an excellent presentation! We look forward to seeing you all again at future #fNIRS events🌟

#ExerciseNeuroscience #Neuroscience

DATE: July 18, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: How the brain shifts gears to appreciate the beauty of poetry

URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-the-brain-shifts-gears-to-appreciate-the-beauty-of-poetry/

When people read a poem strictly for its beauty, their brains undergo a distinct three-step process that separates emotional resonance from basic reading comprehension. Researchers mapping brain activity found that readers temporarily quiet down the language-processing centers of their brains to fully immerse themselves in the imagery and emotion of the text. The findings were published in the journal NeuroImage.

In education and literature, scholars often divide reading into two distinct categories. The first is efferent reading, which happens when someone reads to extract facts, analyze writing techniques, or gather objective information. The second is aesthetic reading, which involves connecting with a text on a personal, emotional, or imaginative level.

When a student reads a biology textbook, they are likely practicing efferent reading. When that same student reads a moving novel and feels a sense of empathy for the characters, they have transitioned into an aesthetic reading stance. Educational theories suggest that genuine aesthetic reading requires the reader to go beyond the literal meaning of the words.

The aesthetic process starts with understanding the external language of the text. Eventually, the reader must move inward, using their own memories and emotional responses to appreciate the work. The exact biological mechanisms behind this transition from literal understanding to deep emotional resonance have remained a mystery.

Researchers Huishu Liu from South China Normal University and Xiaomeng Xu from Tsinghua University led a small study to observe this transition physically inside the brain. Along with colleagues Wanyan Sun, Dan Zhang, and Yu Zhang, they wanted to track the exact moments when a reader shifts from merely decoding text to experiencing internal resonance.

To do this, the research team used a technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy, commonly referred to as fNIRS. This device looks like a swimming cap studded with small sensors and wires, and participants securely wear it on their heads during the experiment. The sensors beam harmless near-infrared light through the skull to measure changes in blood flow on the surface of the brain. The technology tracks light absorption to calculate chemical concentrations in real time.

When a specific part of the brain is working hard, it requires more oxygen. The fNIRS cap measures oxygenated hemoglobin, the molecule that carries oxygen in the blood, to show which brain regions are currently active. While this tool does not scan deep into the brain, it allows participants to sit comfortably at a computer and undergo natural reading tasks.

The research team recruited 35 university students in Beijing to participate in the experiment. Because this sample size is less than 50, it is considered a small study. The participants represented a balanced mix of academic fields, including engineering, the sciences, and the humanities.

For the reading material, the team selected twenty classical Chinese poems. Specifically, they chose five-character regulated verses from the Tang Dynasty. These poems are well known for evoking strong imagery, and each contains exactly forty written characters. Native readers can typically skim a poem of this length in five to eight seconds.

During the experiment, the participants sat in front of a computer screen while wearing the fNIRS equipment. For some poems, the researchers instructed the students to engage in efferent reading. They were told to focus on the structure of the poem, the historical facts, and the literary techniques.

For other poems, the instructions prompted the students to read aesthetically. The prompt asked them to allow themselves to feel the emotion of the piece and imagine the scenery described. Each poem remained on the screen for fifty seconds. After every reading round, the students answered questions about their mental stance, how familiar they were with the poem, and how much they liked it.

The brain scans revealed a unique timeline of activity during the aesthetic reading tasks. The researchers observed a distinct three-phase pattern that did not occur when participants were reading just for facts. To calculate these brain changes, the software compared the blood flow during the reading task to a baseline resting state. The early seconds of the process were nearly identical across both reading conditions.

In the first ten seconds of reading, blood flow increased in several sections of the left temporal lobe, an area situated near the ear. These brain sections, which include the left superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyri, manage word processing and basic language comprehension. The left primary somatosensory cortex, which helps process sensory information, also showed heightened oxygen levels. At this early stage, the participants were simply taking in the words and figuring out what the poem literally said.

The second phase occurred from the ten-second mark up to the thirty-second mark. During this window, readers in the aesthetic group exhibited a surprising drop in oxygenated blood flow within those same temporal lobe regions. The researchers labeled this phenomenon semantic inhibition.

Essentially, the brain appeared to mute its own language-processing centers. The readers momentarily stopped analyzing the literal meaning of the vocabulary. In contrast, the students who were reading for cold facts maintained high levels of activity in these language centers throughout the entire window.

The third phase unfolded during the final twenty seconds of the reading task. The temporal lobe regions became highly active again in the aesthetic readers. At the exact same time, a new area near the top-front of the head flooded with oxygen-rich blood.

This frontal area is known as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroscientists associate this specific brain region with pulling up personal memories, generating mental images, and feeling empathy. The late surge of activity suggests that the participants were actively connecting the meaning of the poem to their own internal feelings and life experiences.

The researchers also noted a relationship between the magnitude of these blood flow changes and the subjective experiences of the readers. Students who experienced the largest dip in language processing followed by the sharpest rebound were the ones who reported the highest levels of aesthetic appreciation.

The study authors pointed out that this progression mirrors ancient philosophical ideas about art and truth. In Taoism, classical thinkers often described language as a temporary ladder or pathway. Once a person grasps the deeper truth of a concept, they are supposed to discard the words used to convey it.

A similar dynamic seems to unfold on a biological level during poetry reading. The brain relies on language centers to decode the initial text. Once the basic meaning is firmly established, the brain suppresses that literal analysis, making room for imagination and emotional resonance to take over.

The findings also reflect ideas proposed by philosopher Friedrich Schiller, who argued that humanity is caught between cold rationality and boundless emotion. Schiller believed that true aesthetic appreciation acts as a bridge, bringing reason and sensation into harmony. This three-stage brain response physically demonstrates that harmony, balancing the rational processing of vocabulary with the emotional experience of the arts.

While these brain activity maps are highly detailed, the authors noted a few caveats. The technology used in the experiment measures blood flow only on the surface of the cortex, meaning deeper brain structures involved in emotion and memory were not visible as part of this process.

Additionally, an apparent drop in oxygenated blood flow does not unconditionally prove that the brain is actively suppressing a function. The participants might have simply shifted their attention away from the text for a few seconds. The differences in activation might not be statistically significant enough across larger populations to establish an absolute biological rule.

Future research with wider demographic groups and higher-resolution brain scanners might clarify the exact nature of this middle phase. Scientists could also apply these scanning methods to different forms of art, such as listening to music or examining a painting.

Educational practices often prioritize syntax, vocabulary testing, and strict textual analysis over emotional engagement. The authors hope these early insights will encourage educators to give students the mental space to step away from literal definitions. By momentarily letting go of the words, readers might discover the deeper beauty of literature.

The study, “Neural Dynamics of Aesthetic Appreciation: fNIRS Evidence from Poetry Reading,” was authored by Huishu Liu, Xiaomeng Xu, Wanyan Sun, Dan Zhang, and Yu Zhang.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-the-brain-shifts-gears-to-appreciate-the-beauty-of-poetry/

-------------------------------------------------

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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AestheticReading #PoetryScience #NeuroImage #fNIRS #BrainOfPoetry #LiteraryAppreciation #SemanticInhibition #LeftTemporalLobe #DorsolateralPFC #ArtAndTruth

DATE: July 18, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: How the brain shifts gears to appreciate the beauty of poetry

URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-the-brain-shifts-gears-to-appreciate-the-beauty-of-poetry/

When people read a poem strictly for its beauty, their brains undergo a distinct three-step process that separates emotional resonance from basic reading comprehension. Researchers mapping brain activity found that readers temporarily quiet down the language-processing centers of their brains to fully immerse themselves in the imagery and emotion of the text. The findings were published in the journal NeuroImage.

In education and literature, scholars often divide reading into two distinct categories. The first is efferent reading, which happens when someone reads to extract facts, analyze writing techniques, or gather objective information. The second is aesthetic reading, which involves connecting with a text on a personal, emotional, or imaginative level.

When a student reads a biology textbook, they are likely practicing efferent reading. When that same student reads a moving novel and feels a sense of empathy for the characters, they have transitioned into an aesthetic reading stance. Educational theories suggest that genuine aesthetic reading requires the reader to go beyond the literal meaning of the words.

The aesthetic process starts with understanding the external language of the text. Eventually, the reader must move inward, using their own memories and emotional responses to appreciate the work. The exact biological mechanisms behind this transition from literal understanding to deep emotional resonance have remained a mystery.

Researchers Huishu Liu from South China Normal University and Xiaomeng Xu from Tsinghua University led a small study to observe this transition physically inside the brain. Along with colleagues Wanyan Sun, Dan Zhang, and Yu Zhang, they wanted to track the exact moments when a reader shifts from merely decoding text to experiencing internal resonance.

To do this, the research team used a technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy, commonly referred to as fNIRS. This device looks like a swimming cap studded with small sensors and wires, and participants securely wear it on their heads during the experiment. The sensors beam harmless near-infrared light through the skull to measure changes in blood flow on the surface of the brain. The technology tracks light absorption to calculate chemical concentrations in real time.

When a specific part of the brain is working hard, it requires more oxygen. The fNIRS cap measures oxygenated hemoglobin, the molecule that carries oxygen in the blood, to show which brain regions are currently active. While this tool does not scan deep into the brain, it allows participants to sit comfortably at a computer and undergo natural reading tasks.

The research team recruited 35 university students in Beijing to participate in the experiment. Because this sample size is less than 50, it is considered a small study. The participants represented a balanced mix of academic fields, including engineering, the sciences, and the humanities.

For the reading material, the team selected twenty classical Chinese poems. Specifically, they chose five-character regulated verses from the Tang Dynasty. These poems are well known for evoking strong imagery, and each contains exactly forty written characters. Native readers can typically skim a poem of this length in five to eight seconds.

During the experiment, the participants sat in front of a computer screen while wearing the fNIRS equipment. For some poems, the researchers instructed the students to engage in efferent reading. They were told to focus on the structure of the poem, the historical facts, and the literary techniques.

For other poems, the instructions prompted the students to read aesthetically. The prompt asked them to allow themselves to feel the emotion of the piece and imagine the scenery described. Each poem remained on the screen for fifty seconds. After every reading round, the students answered questions about their mental stance, how familiar they were with the poem, and how much they liked it.

The brain scans revealed a unique timeline of activity during the aesthetic reading tasks. The researchers observed a distinct three-phase pattern that did not occur when participants were reading just for facts. To calculate these brain changes, the software compared the blood flow during the reading task to a baseline resting state. The early seconds of the process were nearly identical across both reading conditions.

In the first ten seconds of reading, blood flow increased in several sections of the left temporal lobe, an area situated near the ear. These brain sections, which include the left superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyri, manage word processing and basic language comprehension. The left primary somatosensory cortex, which helps process sensory information, also showed heightened oxygen levels. At this early stage, the participants were simply taking in the words and figuring out what the poem literally said.

The second phase occurred from the ten-second mark up to the thirty-second mark. During this window, readers in the aesthetic group exhibited a surprising drop in oxygenated blood flow within those same temporal lobe regions. The researchers labeled this phenomenon semantic inhibition.

Essentially, the brain appeared to mute its own language-processing centers. The readers momentarily stopped analyzing the literal meaning of the vocabulary. In contrast, the students who were reading for cold facts maintained high levels of activity in these language centers throughout the entire window.

The third phase unfolded during the final twenty seconds of the reading task. The temporal lobe regions became highly active again in the aesthetic readers. At the exact same time, a new area near the top-front of the head flooded with oxygen-rich blood.

This frontal area is known as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroscientists associate this specific brain region with pulling up personal memories, generating mental images, and feeling empathy. The late surge of activity suggests that the participants were actively connecting the meaning of the poem to their own internal feelings and life experiences.

The researchers also noted a relationship between the magnitude of these blood flow changes and the subjective experiences of the readers. Students who experienced the largest dip in language processing followed by the sharpest rebound were the ones who reported the highest levels of aesthetic appreciation.

The study authors pointed out that this progression mirrors ancient philosophical ideas about art and truth. In Taoism, classical thinkers often described language as a temporary ladder or pathway. Once a person grasps the deeper truth of a concept, they are supposed to discard the words used to convey it.

A similar dynamic seems to unfold on a biological level during poetry reading. The brain relies on language centers to decode the initial text. Once the basic meaning is firmly established, the brain suppresses that literal analysis, making room for imagination and emotional resonance to take over.

The findings also reflect ideas proposed by philosopher Friedrich Schiller, who argued that humanity is caught between cold rationality and boundless emotion. Schiller believed that true aesthetic appreciation acts as a bridge, bringing reason and sensation into harmony. This three-stage brain response physically demonstrates that harmony, balancing the rational processing of vocabulary with the emotional experience of the arts.

While these brain activity maps are highly detailed, the authors noted a few caveats. The technology used in the experiment measures blood flow only on the surface of the cortex, meaning deeper brain structures involved in emotion and memory were not visible as part of this process.

Additionally, an apparent drop in oxygenated blood flow does not unconditionally prove that the brain is actively suppressing a function. The participants might have simply shifted their attention away from the text for a few seconds. The differences in activation might not be statistically significant enough across larger populations to establish an absolute biological rule.

Future research with wider demographic groups and higher-resolution brain scanners might clarify the exact nature of this middle phase. Scientists could also apply these scanning methods to different forms of art, such as listening to music or examining a painting.

Educational practices often prioritize syntax, vocabulary testing, and strict textual analysis over emotional engagement. The authors hope these early insights will encourage educators to give students the mental space to step away from literal definitions. By momentarily letting go of the words, readers might discover the deeper beauty of literature.

The study, “Neural Dynamics of Aesthetic Appreciation: fNIRS Evidence from Poetry Reading,” was authored by Huishu Liu, Xiaomeng Xu, Wanyan Sun, Dan Zhang, and Yu Zhang.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-the-brain-shifts-gears-to-appreciate-the-beauty-of-poetry/

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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AestheticReading #PoetryScience #NeuroImage #fNIRS #BrainOfPoetry #LiteraryAppreciation #SemanticInhibition #LeftTemporalLobe #DorsolateralPFC #ArtAndTruth

DATE: June 28, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Brain scans reveal how uneven intelligence scores relate to attention deficits in children

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-how-uneven-intelligence-scores-relate-to-attention-deficits-i/

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who possess a distinct split between their verbal and nonverbal intelligence face greater challenges with self-control and focus. These mental gaps line up with lower blood flow in the front of the brain during tasks that require impulse management. The results were published in the journal NeuroImage.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions in school-age children. Its primary traits include an inability to maintain focus, physical restlessness, or impulsive behavior. These symptoms often stem from weaknesses in executive function. Executive function acts as the brain’s management system, organizing thoughts, regulating emotions, and guiding planned behavior.

Psychologists frequently evaluate cognitive abilities using comprehensive assessments that divide intelligence into two main categories. Verbal intelligence involves language-based problem-solving, vocabulary, and accumulated factual knowledge. Performance intelligence deals with visual processing, spatial reasoning, and hands-on tasks like arranging blocks or recognizing patterns.

In typical development, a child’s scores in these verbal and performance categories are usually somewhat balanced. However, some children exhibit a wide split between the two scores, a condition described as an intelligence quotient discrepancy. Previous research has indicated that large splits between verbal and performance skills are unusually common among children who have attention issues.

Some theorists propose that verbal scores measure academic achievement and acquired information, while performance scores measure the raw ability to process new variables simultaneously. A gap between the two might reflect an underlying disruption in how different regions of the brain communicate. Xin Chen, a researcher at Fujian Children’s Hospital in China, and colleagues designed an experiment to see how this intelligence gap impacts day-to-day behavior.

The research team recruited 114 children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. All participants were between the ages of six and twelve and had general intelligence test scores of 70 or higher. None of the children were currently taking medication for their attention symptoms.

Examiners administered a standard cognitive test to measure each child’s verbal and performance abilities. Based on the results, the investigators divided the children into two roughly matched groups. One group possessed a large gap between their verbal and performance scores. The other group had relatively balanced profiles without an intelligence gap.

To measure real-world skills, the research team asked the children’s parents to complete a standardized behavioral survey. The questionnaire asked caregivers to rate how often their child struggled with daily tasks. It covered specific categories like emotional control, physical organization, working memory, and task initiation.

The children also completed a computerized test to gauge their ability to process sights and sounds. The software required participants to click a mouse when they saw or heard the number one. They were instructed to hold back completely when they encountered the number two. This allowed the researchers to measure both raw reaction times and the ability to suppress an incorrect response.

To understand the biological mechanisms behind these behaviors, the scientists selected a random subset of 46 children. This smaller group underwent brain imaging while performing a second computerized assessment. The researchers utilized a noninvasive imaging technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy uses a specialized cap fitted with small light sensors. These sensors project harmless beams of near-infrared light through the scalp and skull. By measuring how the light scatters and bounces back, the system can detect changes in the concentration of oxygenated blood. Active brain tissue requires more oxygen, so tracking blood flow allows researchers to map out which brain areas are working the hardest.

While wearing the sensor cap, the subset of children played a game meant to trigger their impulse control. The screen displayed images of different animals in quick succession. The children were told to press a button as fast as possible when they saw a cat or a dog.

At random intervals, the game switched its rules. When an image of a chicken appeared, the children had to press the button. When an image of a duck appeared, they had to entirely stop themselves from reacting.

The overall results revealed a distinct pattern among the children who possessed an intelligence gap. On the parent surveys, this group scored worse on overall executive function compared to the children with balanced intelligence. Caregivers reported that children with an intelligence gap struggled the most with starting new tasks and shifting smoothly between different activities.

Similar outcomes appeared during the computerized visual and auditory tests. The group with an intelligence gap recorded slower overall reaction times. They had particular difficulty with the visual portions of the test, committing more errors when trying to hold back a mouse click.

When researchers looked back at the original intelligence tests, they noticed the biggest difference between the two groups came down to arithmetic scores. Arithmetic requires a child to hold numbers in their working memory and manipulate them mentally. The scientists suggest that this specific weakness heavily influences how severe a child’s attention symptoms might appear.

The brain imaging data provided a biological reflection of these behavioral struggles. During the animal game, the children with an intelligence gap showed reduced blood flow to the right medial prefrontal cortex. This brain area is heavily involved in regulating emotions, maintaining motivation, and making decisions.

The researchers found a direct relationship between the severity of a child’s attention deficits and the lack of blood flow in that specific frontal region. Children whose parents reported the highest levels of daily distractibility showed the lowest levels of oxygenated blood in the medial prefrontal cortex. Conversely, the results were not statistically significant when the researchers looked at the left prefrontal cortex or the temporal lobes.

Through statistical modeling, the team also identified a behavioral trait known as monitoring as a primary indicator for hyperactivity and scattered attention. Monitoring is the mental ability to supervise one’s own work to ensure a goal is met. Children who lack this supervisory skill are highly prone to careless errors in school and social settings.

The study authors listed several caveats to their findings. The project relied on older, revised editions of standard intelligence and behavioral assessments. Relying on these older formats might make it difficult to compare the current data against research conducted with newly updated testing standards.

Additionally, the participant pool was limited exclusively to Chinese children. Behaviors and test outcomes can be influenced by cultural or educational environments, meaning the results might not automatically apply to other populations. The study design also grouped all types of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder together, rather than separating children who are mostly hyperactive from those who just struggle to focus.

The investigators also did not include a control group of typically developing children. Having a baseline comparison would help isolate whether the blood flow patterns are unique to the intelligence gap or a broader feature of attention deficits. Future projects will need to incorporate larger sample sizes and different types of cognitive tasks.

Brain imaging technology also has inherent limitations. The light sensors can pick up noise from superficial blood flow in the scalp, which can sometimes blur the deeper brain signals. The authors suggest that subsequent experiments should use advanced equipment channels to filter out surface-level interference.

The study, “Effect of Intelligence Quotient Discrepancy on Attention and Executive Function in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An fNIRS Study,” was authored by Xin Chen, Liang-liang Chen, Jing-rong Wang, Ying-ying Cai, and Xiao-dan Yu.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-how-uneven-intelligence-scores-relate-to-attention-deficits-i/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #IQDiscrepancy #ADHDinChildren #AttentionDeficitHyperactivityDisorder #ExecutiveFunction #VerbalVsPerformanceIQ #fNIRS #BrainImaging #PrefrontalCortex #ChildCognition #NeuroImageResearch

DATE: June 28, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Brain scans reveal how uneven intelligence scores relate to attention deficits in children

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-how-uneven-intelligence-scores-relate-to-attention-deficits-i/

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who possess a distinct split between their verbal and nonverbal intelligence face greater challenges with self-control and focus. These mental gaps line up with lower blood flow in the front of the brain during tasks that require impulse management. The results were published in the journal NeuroImage.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions in school-age children. Its primary traits include an inability to maintain focus, physical restlessness, or impulsive behavior. These symptoms often stem from weaknesses in executive function. Executive function acts as the brain’s management system, organizing thoughts, regulating emotions, and guiding planned behavior.

Psychologists frequently evaluate cognitive abilities using comprehensive assessments that divide intelligence into two main categories. Verbal intelligence involves language-based problem-solving, vocabulary, and accumulated factual knowledge. Performance intelligence deals with visual processing, spatial reasoning, and hands-on tasks like arranging blocks or recognizing patterns.

In typical development, a child’s scores in these verbal and performance categories are usually somewhat balanced. However, some children exhibit a wide split between the two scores, a condition described as an intelligence quotient discrepancy. Previous research has indicated that large splits between verbal and performance skills are unusually common among children who have attention issues.

Some theorists propose that verbal scores measure academic achievement and acquired information, while performance scores measure the raw ability to process new variables simultaneously. A gap between the two might reflect an underlying disruption in how different regions of the brain communicate. Xin Chen, a researcher at Fujian Children’s Hospital in China, and colleagues designed an experiment to see how this intelligence gap impacts day-to-day behavior.

The research team recruited 114 children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. All participants were between the ages of six and twelve and had general intelligence test scores of 70 or higher. None of the children were currently taking medication for their attention symptoms.

Examiners administered a standard cognitive test to measure each child’s verbal and performance abilities. Based on the results, the investigators divided the children into two roughly matched groups. One group possessed a large gap between their verbal and performance scores. The other group had relatively balanced profiles without an intelligence gap.

To measure real-world skills, the research team asked the children’s parents to complete a standardized behavioral survey. The questionnaire asked caregivers to rate how often their child struggled with daily tasks. It covered specific categories like emotional control, physical organization, working memory, and task initiation.

The children also completed a computerized test to gauge their ability to process sights and sounds. The software required participants to click a mouse when they saw or heard the number one. They were instructed to hold back completely when they encountered the number two. This allowed the researchers to measure both raw reaction times and the ability to suppress an incorrect response.

To understand the biological mechanisms behind these behaviors, the scientists selected a random subset of 46 children. This smaller group underwent brain imaging while performing a second computerized assessment. The researchers utilized a noninvasive imaging technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy uses a specialized cap fitted with small light sensors. These sensors project harmless beams of near-infrared light through the scalp and skull. By measuring how the light scatters and bounces back, the system can detect changes in the concentration of oxygenated blood. Active brain tissue requires more oxygen, so tracking blood flow allows researchers to map out which brain areas are working the hardest.

While wearing the sensor cap, the subset of children played a game meant to trigger their impulse control. The screen displayed images of different animals in quick succession. The children were told to press a button as fast as possible when they saw a cat or a dog.

At random intervals, the game switched its rules. When an image of a chicken appeared, the children had to press the button. When an image of a duck appeared, they had to entirely stop themselves from reacting.

The overall results revealed a distinct pattern among the children who possessed an intelligence gap. On the parent surveys, this group scored worse on overall executive function compared to the children with balanced intelligence. Caregivers reported that children with an intelligence gap struggled the most with starting new tasks and shifting smoothly between different activities.

Similar outcomes appeared during the computerized visual and auditory tests. The group with an intelligence gap recorded slower overall reaction times. They had particular difficulty with the visual portions of the test, committing more errors when trying to hold back a mouse click.

When researchers looked back at the original intelligence tests, they noticed the biggest difference between the two groups came down to arithmetic scores. Arithmetic requires a child to hold numbers in their working memory and manipulate them mentally. The scientists suggest that this specific weakness heavily influences how severe a child’s attention symptoms might appear.

The brain imaging data provided a biological reflection of these behavioral struggles. During the animal game, the children with an intelligence gap showed reduced blood flow to the right medial prefrontal cortex. This brain area is heavily involved in regulating emotions, maintaining motivation, and making decisions.

The researchers found a direct relationship between the severity of a child’s attention deficits and the lack of blood flow in that specific frontal region. Children whose parents reported the highest levels of daily distractibility showed the lowest levels of oxygenated blood in the medial prefrontal cortex. Conversely, the results were not statistically significant when the researchers looked at the left prefrontal cortex or the temporal lobes.

Through statistical modeling, the team also identified a behavioral trait known as monitoring as a primary indicator for hyperactivity and scattered attention. Monitoring is the mental ability to supervise one’s own work to ensure a goal is met. Children who lack this supervisory skill are highly prone to careless errors in school and social settings.

The study authors listed several caveats to their findings. The project relied on older, revised editions of standard intelligence and behavioral assessments. Relying on these older formats might make it difficult to compare the current data against research conducted with newly updated testing standards.

Additionally, the participant pool was limited exclusively to Chinese children. Behaviors and test outcomes can be influenced by cultural or educational environments, meaning the results might not automatically apply to other populations. The study design also grouped all types of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder together, rather than separating children who are mostly hyperactive from those who just struggle to focus.

The investigators also did not include a control group of typically developing children. Having a baseline comparison would help isolate whether the blood flow patterns are unique to the intelligence gap or a broader feature of attention deficits. Future projects will need to incorporate larger sample sizes and different types of cognitive tasks.

Brain imaging technology also has inherent limitations. The light sensors can pick up noise from superficial blood flow in the scalp, which can sometimes blur the deeper brain signals. The authors suggest that subsequent experiments should use advanced equipment channels to filter out surface-level interference.

The study, “Effect of Intelligence Quotient Discrepancy on Attention and Executive Function in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An fNIRS Study,” was authored by Xin Chen, Liang-liang Chen, Jing-rong Wang, Ying-ying Cai, and Xiao-dan Yu.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-how-uneven-intelligence-scores-relate-to-attention-deficits-i/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #IQDiscrepancy #ADHDinChildren #AttentionDeficitHyperactivityDisorder #ExecutiveFunction #VerbalVsPerformanceIQ #fNIRS #BrainImaging #PrefrontalCortex #ChildCognition #NeuroImageResearch

The brain doesn't work in isolation, and neither should your imaging setup🧠⚡ At booth #39-40, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are showing #fNIRS + #EEG multimodality: hemodynamic & electrophysiological signals combined in a wearable, portable setup ready for lab and real-world use.

Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!

Come find us before the doors close! #OHBM2026 #MobileBrainImaging #Neuroscience
https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux

The brain doesn't work in isolation, and neither should your imaging setup🧠⚡ At booth #39-40, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are showing #fNIRS + #EEG multimodality: hemodynamic & electrophysiological signals combined in a wearable, portable setup ready for lab and real-world use.

Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!

Come find us before the doors close! #OHBM2026 #MobileBrainImaging #Neuroscience
https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux

30 brains. One experiment. Meet Brite Ultra — the world's only mass #fNIRS #hyperscanning system by Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies — live at booth #39-40 today.
Lightweight, wireless, and built to synchronize up to 30 participants at once.

Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!

You have to see this for yourself! #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BriteUltra #Neuroscience
https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux

30 brains. One experiment. Meet Brite Ultra — the world's only mass #fNIRS #hyperscanning system by Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies — live at booth #39-40 today.
Lightweight, wireless, and built to synchronize up to 30 participants at once.

Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!

You have to see this for yourself! #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BriteUltra #Neuroscience
https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux

At booth #39-40 today, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are demoing #fNIRS + #TMS, a powerful combination for brain stimulation research that gives you both the trigger and the response. Come, join us at 1 PM!

Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!

https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BrainStimulation #Neuroscience #Neuroimaging

At booth #39-40 today, Artinis & @NIRx Medical Technologies are demoing #fNIRS + #TMS, a powerful combination for brain stimulation research that gives you both the trigger and the response. Come, join us at 1 PM!

Visit booth #44 for:
🔹 APEX EEG + Brite fNIRS
🔹 SAGA EEG + NIRSport2 demos!

https://www.artinis-nirx.com/ohbm-2026-bordeaux #🧠 #OHBM2026 #BrainStimulation #Neuroscience #Neuroimaging

In a recent proof-of-concept study, Haran Sened and colleagues explored inter-brain plasticity during #psychotherapy for test anxiety.
Using the Brite for #fNIRS hyperscanning, the researchers measured therapist and patient brain activity in participants undergoing a 6-session test anxiety treatment. Their results showed that inter-brain synchrony gradually increased over treatment and was associated with reduced symptoms and improved wellbeing.

🔗 https://zurl.co/capgc

In a recent proof-of-concept study, Haran Sened and colleagues explored inter-brain plasticity during #psychotherapy for test anxiety.
Using the Brite for #fNIRS hyperscanning, the researchers measured therapist and patient brain activity in participants undergoing a 6-session test anxiety treatment. Their results showed that inter-brain synchrony gradually increased over treatment and was associated with reduced symptoms and improved wellbeing.

🔗 https://zurl.co/capgc

Using #fNIRS #hyperscanning, Li et al. (2025) show that when individuals from different backgrounds engage in real-world problem solving, inter-brain synchronization (IBS) increases in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region linked to executive function.
Their findings offer a valuable lens on cross-functional teams, innovation processes, and how we design collaborative environments.

🔗 Read more: https://zurl.co/52Bex

#Neuroscience #CognitiveScience

Using #fNIRS #hyperscanning, Li et al. (2025) show that when individuals from different backgrounds engage in real-world problem solving, inter-brain synchronization (IBS) increases in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region linked to executive function.
Their findings offer a valuable lens on cross-functional teams, innovation processes, and how we design collaborative environments.

🔗 Read more: https://zurl.co/52Bex

#Neuroscience #CognitiveScience

Curious to learn how to study real interactions in large groups but missed our Hyperscanning Summer School? 

In this session, David Zijderveld walks us through:
🟡 What makes Brite Ultra the hyperscanning fNIRS device
🔵 How it enables seamless large-group measurements
🟡 What this means for the future of social neuroscience

🔗 Catch up anytime and see large-scale hyperscanning in action:

https://zurl.co/FGlKY

#Hyperscanning #fNIRS #BriteUltra #Artinis #Neuroscience #SocialInteraction

Curious to learn how to study real interactions in large groups but missed our Hyperscanning Summer School? 

In this session, David Zijderveld walks us through:
🟡 What makes Brite Ultra the hyperscanning fNIRS device
🔵 How it enables seamless large-group measurements
🟡 What this means for the future of social neuroscience

🔗 Catch up anytime and see large-scale hyperscanning in action:

https://zurl.co/FGlKY

#Hyperscanning #fNIRS #BriteUltra #Artinis #Neuroscience #SocialInteraction

🧠 When we hear the term Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) the mind conjures up some medical equipment used at a sterile lab under harsh lights - far away from our living rooms - but today's consumer gadgets can collect and AI-process the same brain data like EEG, EMG, fNIRS. Some we use them everyday❗

💯 Transparency in product labelling matters for privacy considerations.

#BCI #neurorights #mentalprivacy #cognitiveliberty #EEG #EMG #fNIRS

Ok. Now expert* on Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy....
(* for very limited and generous interpretations of 'expert')
#projects #fNIRS

In this recent article, St. Clair et al. (2025) use #fNIRS hyperscanning to examine neural coherence between children aged 4 to 6 and their mothers during joint tasks. One of the strengths of this paper is the care taken in handling the data. By refining the analysis approach for developmental hyperscanning, the observed synchrony reflects real interaction effects rather than noise.
🔗 https://zurl.co/TkoPK

#Hyperscanning #Neuroscience

In this recent article, St. Clair et al. (2025) use #fNIRS hyperscanning to examine neural coherence between children aged 4 to 6 and their mothers during joint tasks. One of the strengths of this paper is the care taken in handling the data. By refining the analysis approach for developmental hyperscanning, the observed synchrony reflects real interaction effects rather than noise.
🔗 https://zurl.co/TkoPK

#Hyperscanning #Neuroscience

Thank you for the incredible response to our recent #fNIRS Introduction Courses! Our next stop is #Sydney 🇦🇺

📅 Friday, April 24
⏰ 10 AM – 5 PM
📍 University of Sydney, Camperdown/Darlington Campus

Join us for a full day of hands-on learning and expert insights. Spots are limited 👉 https://zurl.co/HYf2l

#Neuroscience #Neuroimaging

Thank you for the incredible response to our recent #fNIRS Introduction Courses! Our next stop is #Sydney 🇦🇺

📅 Friday, April 24
⏰ 10 AM – 5 PM
📍 University of Sydney, Camperdown/Darlington Campus

Join us for a full day of hands-on learning and expert insights. Spots are limited 👉 https://zurl.co/HYf2l

#Neuroscience #Neuroimaging

A recent study by Zhao et al. used #fNIRS to measure prefrontal activation in pilots during a simulated flight. By comparing different flight scenarios, the researchers showed that the Brite system could successfully distinguish positive (eustress) from negative (distress) based on brain oxygenation patterns. This ability to monitor mental state in real time highlights the potential of fNIRS for applications in cognitive neuroscience research.

🔗 https://zurl.co/4S1YR
#Cognitive #NeuroScience

A recent study by Zhao et al. used #fNIRS to measure prefrontal activation in pilots during a simulated flight. By comparing different flight scenarios, the researchers showed that the Brite system could successfully distinguish positive (eustress) from negative (distress) based on brain oxygenation patterns. This ability to monitor mental state in real time highlights the potential of fNIRS for applications in cognitive neuroscience research.

🔗 https://zurl.co/4S1YR
#Cognitive #NeuroScience

Age-related neural dynamics revealed by time-domain #fNIRS decoding of audiovisual dual-task processing https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166432826000938 "Age-related neural dynamics are best captured under high cognitive load"; #multisensory #integration

Age-related neural dynamics revealed by time-domain #fNIRS decoding of audiovisual dual-task processing https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166432826000938 "Age-related neural dynamics are best captured under high cognitive load"; #multisensory #integration

🧠 From setup to real-time decoding: how fNIRS-BCIs actually work. In Part 1 of our #fNIRS #BCI: Methodology and (clinical) application possibilities" webinar series, Dr. Bettina Sorger from Maastricht University & Dr. Franziska Klein from OFFIS guide you through system setup, experimental design, and the fundamentals of online analysis.

They also discuss the strengths & limitations of fNIRS compared to other BCI modalities.
▶️ https://zurl.co/pemtc

#Neuroscience #Neuroimaging

🧠 From setup to real-time decoding: how fNIRS-BCIs actually work. In Part 1 of our #fNIRS #BCI: Methodology and (clinical) application possibilities" webinar series, Dr. Bettina Sorger from Maastricht University & Dr. Franziska Klein from OFFIS guide you through system setup, experimental design, and the fundamentals of online analysis.

They also discuss the strengths & limitations of fNIRS compared to other BCI modalities.
▶️ https://zurl.co/pemtc

#Neuroscience #Neuroimaging

Can we measure learning in real classrooms?
Feng et al. (2025) used the Brite to monitor brain activity during live teaching sessions inside the classroom. Their study shows how #fNIRS can capture authentic neural responses in everyday educational settings. By taking neuroimaging beyond the lab, this study highlights the growing potential of wearable fNIRS to reveal how students engage and learn in real time.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://publications.artinis.com/publication/feng-rapid-2025/

#Neuroscience #BrainResearch

Can we measure learning in real classrooms?
Feng et al. (2025) used the Brite to monitor brain activity during live teaching sessions inside the classroom. Their study shows how #fNIRS can capture authentic neural responses in everyday educational settings. By taking neuroimaging beyond the lab, this study highlights the growing potential of wearable fNIRS to reveal how students engage and learn in real time.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://publications.artinis.com/publication/feng-rapid-2025/

#Neuroscience #BrainResearch

In a unique naturalistic study, Dupuy et al. used our Brite device to explore how museum visits impact well-being. By measuring prefrontal brain activation in real-life settings, the researchers were able to assess emotional and cognitive benefits of cultural exposure beyond the lab walls.

🟡 Participants explored a museum while wearing the Brite
🔵 Enhanced prefrontal activation during emotionally engaging art pieces

🔗 Read the full study here: https://publications.artinis.com/publication/dupuy-prefrontal-2024/

#fNIRS #Neuroscience

In a unique naturalistic study, Dupuy et al. used our Brite device to explore how museum visits impact well-being. By measuring prefrontal brain activation in real-life settings, the researchers were able to assess emotional and cognitive benefits of cultural exposure beyond the lab walls.

🟡 Participants explored a museum while wearing the Brite
🔵 Enhanced prefrontal activation during emotionally engaging art pieces

🔗 Read the full study here: https://publications.artinis.com/publication/dupuy-prefrontal-2024/

#fNIRS #Neuroscience

As the year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to say thank you.
Thank you to everyone who shared their work with us throughout the year. It has been inspiring to see how (f)NIRS continues to support research across brain, muscle, and clinical science. We are grateful for the conversations, collaborations, and the trust you place in us. We wish you a great end of the year and a bright start to the next one! ✨

Warm wishes,
The Artinis team 🧠🟡

#Artinis #fNIRS #Neuroscience

As the year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to say thank you.
Thank you to everyone who shared their work with us throughout the year. It has been inspiring to see how (f)NIRS continues to support research across brain, muscle, and clinical science. We are grateful for the conversations, collaborations, and the trust you place in us. We wish you a great end of the year and a bright start to the next one! ✨

Warm wishes,
The Artinis team 🧠🟡

#Artinis #fNIRS #Neuroscience

Hemodynamic initial-dip reflects local spiking activity.
🧠 Initial-dip: transient HbR increase.
🔍 More spatially specific than hemodynamic response.
📉 HbT decrease leads to capping HbR.
🔄 Biphasic HbR with early decrease, late rebound.

#fNIRS #Neuroimaging #Hemodynamics #Neuroscience #Pub2Post https://tnyp.me/l3nndrWk/m

In this study, de Bracque et al. used our PortaLite device to measure cerebral oxygenation in baboons, showing how adaptable the technique is across species and environments.

🟡 A non-invasive approach that keeps animal welfare central
🔵 Reliable monitoring of cerebral activity during naturalistic behavior
🟡 New opportunities to understand primate cognition and comparative neuroscience

🔗   https://publications.artinis.com/publication/debracque-cerebral-2022/

#fNIRS #Neuroscience #AnimalResearch #Artinis

We will be part of the Social Dynamics Workshop 2025, taking place on November 20–21 at @Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands🇳🇱

Join us for a live demonstration of the Brite Ultra —the world’s only mass #fNIRS hyperscanning system— and discover how large-scale, real-time brain monitoring can advance research in social interaction & group dynamics.
www.artinis.com/events/social-dynamics-workshop-2025

#Hyperscanning #Neuroscience #SocialDynamics

Naik et al. combined fNIRS and EEG measurements with machine learning to classify cognitive workload levels in surgeons. Using the Brite, their multimodal setup captured both hemodynamic and electrical brain activity, revealing subtle neural patterns linked to task complexity and surgical expertise.
This study shows how integrating #fNIRS and #EEG provides a more comprehensive view of cognitive processes.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://publications.artinis.com/publication/naik-novel-2024/

#Neuroscience

⏰ Starting in 1 hour! Join Dr. Bettina Sorger (@Maastricht University ) & Dr. Franziska Klein (OFFIS Oldenburg) for the final session of our fNIRS-BCI webinar series —exploring #clinical applications of #fNIRS #BCI, from interaction BCIs for motor-impaired patients to neurofeedback training in neurological and psychiatric disorders.

🕞 Today, 3:30–5:00 PM CEST
👉 Join here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/87120d65-1e28-4b6a-b84a-fe02d3c08976@59671240-e400-45e0-802e-35aa686f7c52

For more information, visit: https://www.artinis.com/nirs-webinar

#Neuroscience #Neurotechnology

⏰ Starting in 1 hour! Join Dr. Bettina Sorger (Maastricht University) and Dr. Franziska Klein (OFFIS Oldenburg) for the first session of our fNIRS-BCI webinar series —discover the principles, setup, and clinical applications of #fNIRS #BCI.

🕞 Today, 3:30–5:00 PM CEST
👉 Join here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/be550b22-138d-40f0-a555-f40251eadc43@59671240-e400-45e0-802e-35aa686f7c52

More information: https://www.artinis.com/nirs-webinar

#Neuroscience #Neurotechnology

How does carrying heavy loads in low-oxygen environments affect both brain and muscle? In their recent study, Baur et al. simultaneously measured brain and muscle oxygenation with the OctaMon and PortaMon to investigate the physiological response to thoracic load carriage in hypoxia.

By combining cerebral and muscular #NIRS data, the authors revealed how oxygenation patterns adapt under these demanding conditions.

🔗 Read it here: https://publications.artinis.com/publication/baur-thoracic-2025/

#fNIRS #SportsScience #Neuroscience

"Neural-Driven Image Editing" now I am literally done. #EEG and #fNIRS based image #AI modification:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.05397
Remember to put code and data online so people can understand and protect themselves, not just big companies

"Neural-Driven Image Editing" now I am literally done. #EEG and #fNIRS based image #AI modification:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.05397
Remember to put code and data online so people can understand and protect themselves, not just big companies

🌟 Join us this month as we explore the full potential of (f)NIRS in revealing the complete picture of oxygenation across the body, deepening our understanding of brain-muscle connectivity🧠💪

Begin with our introductory blog, outlining the application areas where simultaneous brain #fNIRS & muscle #NIRS measurements are most frequently used. It highlights key studies across categories & shows our optimal setups for combined measurements.
🔗 https://www.artinis.com/blogpost-all/simultaneously-measuring-brain-and-muscle-oxygenation

#brainmuscle #neuroscience

When research needs long-term monitoring in real life, comfort is essential. Artinis devices were worn for hours when Klop et al. tracked orthostatic hypotension at home and Fagerland et al. studied orchestra musicians mid-performance.
https://zurl.co/Y8Pm1
https://zurl.co/a4xvO
#fNIRS #artinis #neuroscience

Vibrotactile speech cues are associated with enhanced auditory processing in middle and superior temporal gyri https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-07718-8 "Our results support a #metamodal theory"; #fNIRS #neuroscience

#Bildgebung:

#Laserlicht durchdringt #menschliches #Gehirn:

Ein #bildgebendes Verfahren nutzt einen #Laserstrahl und dokumentiert den Weg durch das gesamte #Gehirn. #Krankheiten und #Tumore können erkannt werden.
An der #Universität von #Glasgow, #Schottland, ist eine nichtinvasive Methode entwickelt worden, um Regionen tief im Gehirn sichtbar zu machen. Damit könnte die funktionelle Nahinfrarot-Spektroskopie ( #FNIRS ) abgelöst werden.

https://www.golem.de/news/bildgebung-laserlicht-durchdringt-menschliches-gehirn-2506-197193.html

Predicting whole-brain neural dynamics from prefrontal cortex fNIRS signal during movie-watching https://academic.oup.com/scan/advance-article/doi/10.1093/scan/nsaf043/8123738 "captures robust cross-modal mappings across stimuli"; #fNIRS #crossmodal

A new study in Psychiatry Research (2024) uses #fNIRS to identify disrupted brain activity in #LongCOVID patients, linking these changes to persistent symptoms like fatigue and cognitive dysfunction 🧠😶‍🌫️

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159124007311

#BrainFog #NeuroCOVID #Neuroscience

#buildinpublic
1/2 I did another thing as I cannot compare🧠 #brain networks for schizophrenia pre and post-treatment for #EEG and #fNIRS at the same time at the Network-based statistics of Zalesky. So here it is my Multilayer-NBS:
https://github.com/alecrimi/eeg_fnirs_schizophrenia
Here is my videorant😊

I think this drawing of Laura Bell is the sweetest thing I have seen in a while 🧠❤️, and the ideal graphical abstract for the paper we published about #EEG and #fNIRS last October https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877750324002096 #brain

Great start to the #fnirs conference with Joe Culver showing the next generation of high resolution fNIRS matching MRI data but wearable.

Hello, I’m just getting started on Bluesky and cross posting with mastodon via Openvibe. I do research on human #social interaction and #autism and #fNIRS brain imaging and #wearable sensors. Looking for #starterpacks and people to follow.

Our New paper by Rosmary Blanco & Cemal Koba on comparing #EEG & #fNIRS brain networks🧠 is out in the Journal of Comput. Science!
In short: Combining EEG & fNIRS enriches our understanding of brain connectivity.
https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877750324002096

#Neuroscience #BrainResearch #Neuroimaging