New Software Updates Aurora + NIRSite
We are delighted to announce new software versions for Aurora and NIRSite by NIRx. They may already be downloaded from our Help Center!
We are delighted to announce new software versions for Aurora and NIRSite by NIRx. They may already be downloaded from our Help Center! These updates include compatibility for MacOS and the Hyperscan application. Thank you to our team in Berlin for making this happen.
Aurora 2021.4: Data acquisition with NIRSport2
New features and improvements
Support of single device split Hyperscanning in Hyperscan application. Ability to choose two different (max. 8x8) configurations to run from one NSP2 device, support for short channels and accelerometer. Independent visualization of data, separate storage of data.
LSL stream update: Inclusion of subject information (name, age, etc.) in LSL stream metadata.
Full accelerometer data in LSL stream.
Full accelerometer data (100 Hz) in SNIRF file.
Accelerometer samples (in LSL stream, *.acc, and SNIRF file) are corrected for drift of clock between NSP2 and accelerometer.
More default montages & configurations included when Aurora is initially installed.
Bug fixes and changes
Better error messages/handling when writing access to Documents folder is denied by Windows
Validation of "Data root directory" and "Configuration directory" on the settings page (i.e. errors when the directory does not exist or Aurora can't write to it)
Hyperscan data now saved in the Hyperscan folder instead of the Data folder.
Better validation of custom channel names/labels
NIRSite 2021.4: Montage Creation
Bug fixes and changes
Compatibility now spans from macOS Mojave to Big Sur.
Optode positions created in the fNIRS Optodes’ Location Decider (fOLD) can be loaded directly into NIRSite (if saved in ASCII format).
Digpts.txt file is automatically generated in the montage folder.
Additionally, we will be hosting an open webinar 11th May, 10 am EST/ 4 pm CET on Hyperscan: The hyperscanning feature for NIRSport2 + Aurora that will go over many of these features - see you there!
Would you like to learn more? Feel free to reach out to our support team. We’d be happy to hear from you.
New Hyperscanning Study on Mother-Child pairs points to maternal stress as undermining factor of brain-to-brain synchrony
Hyperscanning using fNIRS is a technique that is set to revolutionize social neuroscience in humans. The full mobility of new acquisition devices (like NIRSport1 since 2012 and NIRSport2 2018) allows for experiments which are much more ecologically relevant than those conducted in the past, while recording data from multiple participants at the same time facilitates the portrayal of more delicate, and more accurate, neurophysiological phenomena.
One such study which was recently conducted used mother and child dyads as its participants and measured the brain-to-brain synchrony of these pairs. Specifically, the study asked what the effect of parenting stress (coming from the mother) was, on the ability of the two to entrain to the same brain rhythm [1]. The experiment was conducted on 31 mothers with an average age of 35, and their children, which were a mixture of girls and boys, had an average age of 3.5 years.
The mothers were asked to fill in some questionnaires which allowed the experimenters to get an estimate of the perceived parenting stress that a mother had around parenting. fNIRS was then recorded from the prefrontal cortex of both the mother and the child while the two watched a series of short cartoon movie excerpts.
The group showed a statistically significant correlation between the parenting stress index score of the mother and the brain-to-brain synchrony of mother and child, as that was estimated using a cluster of channels which covered areas including the Inferior frontal Gyrus (IFG), the frontal eye field (FEF) and the dorsolateral PFC. While the findings of the study are not unprecedented, the authors were the first to trace the effects of this stress to specific neurological areas.
Since brain-to-brain synchrony of mother and child is closely tied to the emotional development of the child, this study underlines the importance of good mental health of the parenting mother. The implications of this are profound when we consider that in a lot of developed countries many mothers are forced to return to work, part-time or full-time, within a year of the birth of their baby, in order to support the family.
On the other hand, women who take longer maternity breaks (e.g.: more than 2 years) may have a hard time getting back into employment and climbing the career ladder. This not only increases stress in the life of these mothers but also contributes to the gender pay gap. To talk numbers, in Germany of 2015 only 25% of women with a child of two years of age had returned to full-time or near full-time employment [2]. This figure is up from 15% in 2006 and this is thought to be at least partly due to benefits like the ‘parental allowance’ which is widely accepted to have had a big positive impact on family planning [2]. It is clear however that more needs be done in order to give fathers more paternity leave or encourage them to take it. Equalizing the amount of time that the two parents spend working, as well as the time spent with their child, is bound to reduce stress for all family members.
References
1) Azhari, A., Leck, W. Q., Gabrieli, G., Bizzego, A., Rigo, P., Setoh, P., … Esposito, G. (2019). Parenting Stress Undermines Mother-Child Brain-to-Brain Synchrony: A Hyperscanning Study. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47810-4
2) Federal Ministry of Germany for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. n.d. "Family Report 2017: Benefits, Effects, Trends." Chapter 4: Equal Sharing of Responsibility for Work and Family Life: Wishful Thinking and Reality. https://www.bmfsfj.de/blob/123200/c5eed9e4f3242f9cfe95ee76ffd90fa6/familienreport-2017-englisch-data.pdf
Music, education and the brain
A report from UFABC, Brazil
Brains in Concert!
Below a small report from a unique event that took place earlier this year in São Paulo!
At the start of 2019, a very special event took place in the auditorium of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, in São Paulo Brazil. The lucky 500 researchers and students that managed to secure a ticket, were able to experience a musical performance quite different from traditional concerts. While doctor Alicia Kowaltowski (Institute of Chemistry of the University of São Paulo (IQ-USP)) and neuroscientist Patrícia de Carvalho Aguiar (Einstein Brain Institute) played violin and cello, real-time oxygenation changes in their brain were projected above their heads!
This spectacular show was produced by Professor João Ricardo Sato, neuroscientist and statistician at the Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC). Professor Sato is an expert fNIRS researcher, with a particular interest in applying hyper-scanning to study teaching and learning processes, as well as music cognition. During the event in January, the brain, music and education converged into a great spectacle. A full report of this event can be read in the online version of the Pesquisa FAPESP magazine (in Portuguese).
It’s not the first time this group is finding new and innovative ways to showcase fNIRS. Below is a video produced by the Neuroscience and Music group of UFABC during the presentation of the Orquestra Sinfônica de Santo André.
And, who has not seen the famous violin hyper-scanning video?
In February, Professor Sato and his colleagues published their work on studying brain activity in professional violinists in Frontiers in Psychology. Specifically, the group used fNIRS hyper-scanning to identify distinct patterns of brain activity for when the violinists were playing either as leader or as follower in musical duets. A great example of multi-subject studies in naturalistic environments!
Interested to read more about the work of Professor Sato? Below you will find A selection of recent publication:
VANZELLA, P. et al . fNIRS responses in professional violinists while playing duets: Evidence for distinct leader and follower roles at the brain level . Frontiers in Psychology . Feb. 2019.
BROCKINGTON, G. et al . From the laboratory to the classroom: The potential of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in educational neuroscience . Frontiers in Psychology . Oct. 2018 .
BALARDIN, Joana B. et al . Imaging brain function with functional near-infrared spectroscopy in unconstrained environments . Frontiers in Human Neuroscience . May. 2017.
New to fNIRS and interested to see if our hyper-scanning solutions can enhance your research? Or looking to advance your ongoing fNIRS work and take it to natural environments? Please do not hesitate to Contact us!