Using TD-fNIRS to Measure the Impact of Alcohol and Ketamine on the Brain

Perdue presents the results from two studies that highlight how researchers can use time-domain functional NIR spectroscopy (TD-fNIRS) to quantify the impact of substances on the brain. In the first study, TD-fNIRS was used to measure acute brain dynamics after intramuscular ketamine and placebo administration in healthy participants in a clinic setting. Ketamine led to a brain-wide reduction in the fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF), changes in brain oxygenation, and a decrease in the global brain connectivity of the prefrontal region. In the second study, TD-fNIRS was used to quantify alcohol dose response in healthy participants.

Novel brain lateralization metrics measured during an inhibitory control task could differentiate between alcohol doses. These metrics helped explain task performance independent of measured blood alcohol content. Together, these studies show the potential for TD-fNIRS to provide quantitative information in clinical settings.

About the presenter
Katherine Perdue, Ph.D., completed her doctorate in biomedical engineering from the Thayer School at Dartmouth College, specializing in methods for functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) of human brain activity. She then completed postdoctoral training at the Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School working on social neuroscience in infants and children using fNIRS.

She is currently the director of applied neuroscience at Kernel, a neurotech startup in Los Angeles, California. Her group develops commercial and clinical applications of functional brain imaging.