fNIRS can robustly measure brain activity during memory encoding and retrieval

A Snapshot of Science: Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease, Development of Type 1 Diabetes, and Much More

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of severe memory loss in the elderly. Early detection of AD is the key to preventing, slowing or stopping the disease. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique capable of monitoring brain activation. Here, we investigated the utility of fNIRS in measuring the brain activity of healthy adults during memory encoding and retrieval under a face-name paired-associate learning task. Their study demonstrates that fNIRS can robustly measure memory encoding and retrieval-related brain activity. Future work will include similar measurements in populations with progressing memory deficits. Their approach, if successful, will introduce a non-invasive, inexpensive and easily accessible tool for identifying early stages of AD.

you can find Meryem paper @ nature.com