Using fNIRS to Study Working Memory of Infants in Rural Africa

K Begus; S Lloyd-Fox; D Halliday; M Papademetriou; M K Darboe; A M Prentice; S E Moore; C E Elwell

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-3023-4_34

Using fNIRS to Study Working Memory of Infants in Rural Africa

Adv Exp Med Biol. 2016:876:273-279. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3023-4_34.

Authors

K Begus¹, S Lloyd-Fox^{2

3}, D Halliday³, M Papademetriou³, M K Darboe⁴, A M Prentice^{4

5}, S E Moore^{4

6}, C E Elwell⁷

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK. k.begus@bbk.ac.uk.
² Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.
³ Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, University College London, London, UK.
⁴ MRC International Nutrition Group, Keneba Field Station, Keneba, The Gambia.
⁵ MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁶ MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, UK.
⁷ Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, UK.

PMID: 26782222
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3023-4_34

Abstract

A pilot study was conducted to assess the feasibility of using fNIRS as an alternative to behavioral assessments of cognitive development with infants in rural Africa. We report preliminary results of a study looking at working memory in 12-16-month-olds and discuss the benefits and shortcomings for the potential future use of fNIRS to investigate the effects of nutritional insults and interventions in global health studies.

Keywords: Infants; Nutrition; Working memory; fNIRS.

MeSH terms

Africa
Humans
Infant
Memory, Short-Term*
Pilot Projects
Rural Population
Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / methods*

Abstract

MeSH terms

Grants and funding