The promise of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) for psychological research: A brief review

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is an optical imaging technique that measures brain activity by monitoring cortical oxygenation changes. It is portable, non-invasive and has good motion tolerance. In the last thirty years, these features have led NIRS to be used in a wide range of applications. This brief review considers the advantages of NIRS and its potential use in psychological research by giving examples of different paradigms that have been applied in cognitive, developmental and clinical domains. The principal aim of this work is to propose a new starting point to those in the field of psychological research who is interested in learning about the technique. First, we examine its use in healthy groups in simple motor, auditory and visual stimulation as well as in tasks involving higher cognitive demands. We then review the main NIRS studies in the field of developmental psychology related to infants, children and older adults. This is followed by possible applications with specific clinical populations, in particular patients with psychiatric disorders and Alzheimer's disease. We finally conclude by presenting the main advantages and limits of NIRS compared with other neuroimaging techniques, highlighting the methodological challenges facing its use with special populations in real life settings.