Work

Simultaneous monitoring of the human brain, spinal cord, and cauda equina activity for movement control: An fNIRS approach

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: • Brain-spinal cord-cauda equina interactions are essential for controlling hindlimb movement. • A NIRS-based imaging method is developed to simultaneously track brain, spinal cord, and cauda equina activity during human movement. • The motor clusters detected with this methodology are functionally connected and comparable to those identified by invasive methods. • The hemodynamic response may reflect synchronous neural activity in the human brain-spinal cord-cauda equina system for hindlimb movement control. • This study may broaden our understanding of the complex brain-spinal cord-cauda equina interplay for body movement control in normal and abnormal states. Brain‒spinal cord‒cauda equina interactions are essential for controlling lower body movement. However, current monitoring approaches for spinal and caudal activity are limited to use without body movement and to processing via batches of data. Here, we present a novel optical method based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy that enables simultaneous tracking of human brain-spinal cord-cauda equina hemodynamics during body movement. We first developed a support frame for positioning optical emitters and receivers along the spinal canal to maximize spatial resolution and identify the optimal distance between them. We tested the methodology at this optimal emitter-detector distance by assessing the spatiotemporal activation of the motor clusters associated with human ankle extension-flexion movement in the brain, spinal cord, and cauda equina. These brain and spinal clusters are shown to be functionally connected and comparable to those identified by invasive methods during surgical operations. These findings suggest that hemodynamic responses reflect synchronous neural activity in the human brain-spinal cord-cauda equina system for hindlimb movement control.

Source: NeuroImage

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121216

Author: Hojeong Kim

Institution: Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques

Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,540