Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the electrophysiological effects of the photobiomodulation (PBM) by the quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) as a diagnostic method. The neurotherapeutic potential of transcranial PBM has been recently investigated in preclinical and clinical studies. According to the PBM mechanisms of action on increasing the cerebral blood flow and the neuronal firing, a change may occur in cortical electrical activity after transcranial PBM that could be revealed in qEEG. A total of 30 participants (15 males and 15 females) were included in this experimental study in a convenience sampling method. A 19-channel EEG was obtained from subjects, before and after receiving sham or real 850-nm PBM by light emitting diode (LED) array on the right prefrontal cortex (PFC). An attentional task also was completed by the participant before and after the irradiation. Results presented that the effect of PBM on the reaction time was significant (p = 0.001) in favor of the real-treatment group (p < 0.05). For the absolute power, repeated-measures ANOVA showed a significant interaction of group × time × frequency (p = 0.04). In the real-treatment group, absolute power of delta band was significantly reduced in all electrodes (p < 0.05). Also, a similar significant interaction of group × time × frequency was seen for relative power (p = 0.04). Post-hoc analysis showed a significant decrease in delta band after PBM in the real treatment group (p < 0.05). The study presented that light irradiation with 850-nm LED source on right PFC could change brain electrical activity and has beneficial effects on attentional performance.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Salehpour F, Mahmoudi J, Kamari F, Sadigh-Eteghad S, Rasta SH, Hamblin MR (2018) Brain photobiomodulation therapy: a narrative review. Mol Neurobiol 55(8):6601–36
Yue L, Monge M, Ozgur MH, Murphy K, Louie S, Miller CA, Emami A , Humayun MS (2015) Simulation and measurement of transcranial near infrared light penetration. In Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XXVI, (Vol. 9321, p 3210S–93216). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2077019
Chen Y, De Taboada L, O’Connor M, Delapp S, Zivin JA (2013) Thermal effects of transcranial near-infrared laser irradiation on rabbit cortex. Neurosci Lett 553:99–103
Rojas JC, Gonzalez-Lima F (2013) Neurological and psychological applications of transcranial lasers and LEDs. Biochem Pharmacol 86(4):447–457
Rojas JC, Gonzalez-Lima F (2011) Low-level light therapy of the eye and brain. Eye Brain 3:49–67
Salgado S, Parreira R, Ceci L, de Oliveira L, Zangaro R (2015) Transcranial light emitting diode therapy (TCLT) and its effects on neurological disorders. J Bioeng Biomed Sci 5(1):1
Saltmarche AE, Naeser MA, Ho KF, Hamblin MR, Lim L (2017) Significant improvement in cognition in mild to moderately severe dementia cases treated with transcranial plus intranasal photobiomodulation: case series report. Photomed Laser Surg 35(8):432–441. https://doi.org/10.1089/pho.2016.4227
Moghadam Sabouri H, Nazari MA, Jahan A, Mahmoudi J, Salimi MM (2017) Beneficial effects of transcranial light emitting diode (LED) therapy on attentional performance: an experimental design. Iran Red Crescent Med J 19(5):e44513
Berman MH, Halper JP, Nichols TW, Jarrett H, Lundy A, Huang JH (2017) Photobiomodulation with near infrared light helmet in a pilot, placebo controlled clinical trial in dementia patients testing memory and cognition. J Neurol Neurosci 8(1)
Salehpour F, Ahmadian N, Rasta SH, Farhoudi M, Karimi P, Sadigh-Eteghad S (2017) Transcranial low-level laser therapy improves brain mitochondrial function and cognitive impairment in D-galactose–induced aging mice. Neurobiol Aging 58:140–150
Hamblin MR (2017) Mechanisms and mitochondrial redox signaling in photobiomodulation. Photochem Photobiol 94(2):199–212
Oron U, Ilic S, De Taboada L, Streeter J (2007) Ga-As (808 nm) laser irradiation enhances ATP production in human neuronal cells in culture. Photomed Laser Surg 25(3):180–182
Uozumi Y, Nawashiro H, Sato S, Kawauchi S, Shima K, Kikuchi M (2010) Targeted increase in cerebral blood flow by transcranial near-infrared laser irradiation. Lasers Surg Med 42(6):566–576
da Luz Eltchechem C, Salgado ASI, Zangaro RA, da Silva Pereira MC, Kerppers II, da Silva LA, Parreira RB (2017) Transcranial LED therapy on amyloid-beta toxin 25-35 in the hippocampal region of rats. Lasers Med Sci 32(4):749–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-017-2156-3
Hamblin MR (2017) Photobiomodulation for stroke. In: Lapchak PA, Yang YG (eds) Translational research in stroke. Springer, Singapore, pp 397–441
Salehpour F, Rasta SH (2017) The potential of transcranial photobiomodulation therapy for treatment of major depressive disorder. Rev Neurosci 28(4):441–453. https://doi.org/10.1515/revneuro-2016-0087
Naeser MA, Martin PI, Ho MD, Krengel MH, Bogdanova Y, Knight JA, Yee MK, Zafonte R, Frazier J, Hamblin MR (2016) Transcranial, red/near-infrared light-emitting diode therapy to improve cognition in chronic traumatic brain injury. Photomed Laser Surg 34(12):610–626
Hwang J, Castelli DM, Gonzalez-Lima F (2016) Cognitive enhancement by transcranial laser stimulation and acute aerobic exercise. Lasers Med Sci:1–10
Blanco NJ, Maddox WT, Gonzalez-Lima F (2015) Improving executive function using transcranial infrared laser stimulation. J Neuropsychol 11(1):14–25
Gonzalez-Lima F, Barrett DW (2014) Augmentation of cognitive brain functions with transcranial lasers. Front Syst Neurosci 14:8–36
Leuchter AF, Uijtdehaage SH, Cook IA, O'Hara R, Mandelkern M (1999) Relationship between brain electrical activity and cortical perfusion in normal subjects. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 90(2):125–140
Grover F Jr, Weston J, Weston M (2017) Acute effects of near infrared light therapy on brain state in healthy subjects as quantified by qEEG measures. Photomed Laser Surg 35(3):136–141
de Freitas LF, Hamblin MR (2016) Proposed mechanisms of photobiomodulation or low-level light therapy. IEEE J Sel Top Quantum Electron 22(3):348–364
Wang X, Dmochowski J, Husain M, Gonzalez-Lima F, Liu H (2017) Proceedings# 18. Transcranial infrared brain stimulation modulates EEG alpha power. Brain Stimulation 10(4):e67–e69
Vargas E, Barrett DW, Saucedo CL, Huang L-D, Abraham JA, Tanaka H, Haley AP, Gonzalez-Lima F (2017) Beneficial neurocognitive effects of transcranial laser in older adults. Lasers Med Sci 32(5):1153–1162
Averbukh LD (2013) Exploring the link between drug addiction propensity and improper top-down control in sustained attention tasks. Dissertation, University of Michigan
Faul F, Erdfelder E, Lang A-G, Buchner A (2007) G* power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav Res Methods 39(2):175–191
Jasper HH (1958) The ten-twenty electrode system of the international federation. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 10:370–375
Arciniegas DB, Anderson CA, Filley CM (2013) Behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry. Cambridge University Press, New York
Valentino DA, Arruda J, Gold S (1993) Comparison of QEEG and response accuracy in good vs poorer performers during a vigilance task. Int J Psychophysiol 15(2):123–133
Bearden TS, Cassisi JE, White JN (2004) Electrophysiological correlates of vigilance during a continuous performance test in healthy adults. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 29(3):175–188
Barrett D, Gonzalez-Lima F (2013) Transcranial infrared laser stimulation produces beneficial cognitive and emotional effects in humans. Neuroscience 230:13–23
Xuan W, Vatansever F, Huang L, Hamblin MR (2014) Transcranial low-level laser therapy enhances learning, memory, and neuroprogenitor cells after traumatic brain injury in mice. J Biomed Opt 19(10):108003–108003
Salehpour F, Farajdokht F, Erfani M, Sadigh-Eteghad S, Shotorbani SS, Hamblin MR, Karimi P, Rasta SH, Mahmoudi J (2018) Transcranial near-infrared photobiomodulation attenuates memory impairment and hippocampal oxidative stress in sleep-deprived mice. Brain Res 1682:36–43
Rojas JC, Bruchey AK, Gonzalez-Lima F (2012) Low-level light therapy improves cortical metabolic capacity and memory retention. J Alzheimers Dis 32(3):741–752
Knyazev GG (2012) EEG delta oscillations as a correlate of basic homeostatic and motivational processes. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 36(1):677–695
Nagata K, Tagawa K, Hiroi S, Shishido F, Uemura K (1989) Electroencephalographic correlates of blood flow and oxygen metabolism provided by positron emission tomography in patients with cerebral infarction. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 72(1):16–30
Ingvar D, Sulg I (1969) Regional cerebral blood flow and EEG frequency content in man. Scand J Clin Invest 23(Suppl 109):47–66
Alper KR, John ER, Brodie J, Günther W, Daruwala R, Prichep LS (2006) Correlation of PET and qEEG in normal subjects. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 146(3):271–282
Gauthier A-K, Chevrette T, Bouvier H, Godbout R (2009) Evening vs. morning wake EEG activity in adolescents with anxiety disorders. J Anxiety Disord 23(1):112–117
Saletu B, Anderer P, Saletu-Zyhlarz G (2010) EEG topography and tomography (LORETA) in diagnosis and pharmacotherapy of depression. Clin EEG Neurosci 41(4):203–210
Babiloni C, Ferri R, Binetti G, Vecchio F, Frisoni GB, Lanuzza B, Miniussi C, Nobili F, Rodriguez G, Rundo F (2009) Directionality of EEG synchronization in Alzheimer's disease subjects. Neurobiol Aging 30(1):93–102
Wacker J, Dillon DG, Pizzagalli DA (2009) The role of the nucleus accumbens and rostral anterior cingulate cortex in anhedonia: integration of resting EEG, fMRI, and volumetric techniques. Neuroimage 46(1):327–337
Lal SK, Craig A (2005) Reproducibility of the spectral components of the electroencephalogram during driver fatigue. Int J Psychophysiol 55(2):137–143
Tanaka H, Hayashi M, Hori T (1997) Topographical characteristics and principal component structure of the hypnagogic EEG. Sleep 20(7):523–534
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Hassan Sabouri who helped in editing the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences and all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Research involving human participants
The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (No: IR.TBZMED.RCE.1395.687).
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jahan, A., Nazari, M.A., Mahmoudi, J. et al. Transcranial near-infrared photobiomodulation could modulate brain electrophysiological features and attentional performance in healthy young adults. Lasers Med Sci 34, 1193–1200 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-018-02710-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-018-02710-3