Introducing NIRxWINGS2: The Next Generation of Physiological Sensing

We’re excited to officially launch NIRxWINGS2 – the next evolution in physiological sensing technology for multimodal fNIRS neuroimaging. Designed in response to direct feedback from our global user community, NIRxWINGS2 brings upgrades in signal quality, flexibility, and mobility to your fNIRS studies.

Whether you're investigating cognitive function, stress and attention in dynamic environments, or designing advanced neuroergonomic paradigms, NIRxWINGS2 is your tool for combined physiological and fNIRS measurements.

In this blog post, you will find some of the features and advancements NIRxWINGS2 offers your research!

Like its predecessor, NIRxWINGS2 is designed to extend the NIRSport2 and comes with sensors for respiration, ExG (e.g., EMG, EOG, ECG), temperature, PPG, and electrodermal activity (EDA/GSR). However, the new universal sensor port offers more flexibility for your research.

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Full Customization with the NIRx BioLink

The NIRx BioLink universal sensor port introduces a flexible system that adapts to your research now and in the future.

• Mix & match sensors: ExG (e.g., EMG, ECG), respiration, temperature, and EDA

• Color-coded sensors for fast, mistake-free setup

• Auto-recognition via our Aurora software streamlines configuration

• Ready for future sensor types—your research is future-proof!

No matter your study design, you’re in control.

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Smarter Sensors, Cleaner Data

With NIRxWINGS2, signal fidelity takes a leap forward. The EDA, respiration, and temperature sensors have been refined to deliver cleaner, more reliable outputs in even the most dynamic settings:

• EDA: Redesigned circuit for improved signal quality

• Respiration: Inductive sensor belt minimizes motion artifacts

• Temperature: Thermistor-based sensor provides real-time responsiveness

• Shielded cables reduce cross-talk for high-fidelity signals

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Built for the Real World

Research doesn’t always stop at the lab door, so why should your tools? Combining the NIRxWINGS2 + NIRSport2 means compact, lightweight, and wireless solution for fully mobile multimodal recordings:

• Wireless connectivity & internal storage

• Real-time synchronization of physiology + fNIRS via LSL stream

• Robust performance in high-movement, multi-sensory environments

• Ideal for studies in sports science, mindfulness, VR, learning, and more

Take your setup into classrooms, clinics, workplaces, or the great outdoors.

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See It in Action – Join Our Webinar

Curious how NIRxWINGS2 can elevate your work? Don’t miss our upcoming live webinar, where we’ll showcase:

• How to set up your custom configuration with NIRx BioLink

• Strategies to improve data quality across modalities

• Real use cases from our global research community

• Live Q&A with our NIRx expert support team!
  

📅 Date: May 28th, 2025
⏰ Time: 4-5 pm, GMT + 2
🔗 Register via Zoom

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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.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97481684@N08/13966480422

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