Group-level t-score maps in FC between the right PFC and all other cortical regions compared between tPBM and placebo conditions at A) stimulation, and B) post-stimulation periods. Red lines indicate higher FC during tPBM than the placebo stimulations and blue lines indicate the opposite. Only significant (p < 0.05, FDR corrected) FC changes are shown. Black boxes enclose channels within the right PFC; Red circle marks the approximate location of tPBM. Different ROIs are denoted by color: frontopolar (FP) (red), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (yellow), Broca’s area (green), premotor cortex (PMC) (light blue), primary motor and somatosensory cortical (M1/S1) areas (dark blue), somatosensory association cortex (SAC) (pink), and Wernicke’s Area (gold).

Group-level t-score maps in FC between the right PFC and all other cortical regions compared between tPBM and placebo conditions at A) stimulation, and B) post-stimulation periods. Red lines indicate higher FC during tPBM than the placebo stimulations and blue lines indicate the opposite. Only significant (p < 0.05, FDR corrected) FC changes are shown. Black boxes enclose channels within the right PFC; Red circle marks the approximate location of tPBM. Different ROIs are denoted by color: frontopolar (FP) (red), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (yellow), Broca’s area (green), premotor cortex (PMC) (light blue), primary motor and somatosensory cortical (M1/S1) areas (dark blue), somatosensory association cortex (SAC) (pink), and Wernicke’s Area (gold).

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Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) with near-infrared light on the human head has been shown to enhance human cognition. In this study, tPBM-induced effects on resting state brain networks were investigated using 111-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy over the whole head. Measurements were collected with and without 8-minute tPBM in...

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... However, it is not clear whether both wavelength ranges result in similar physiological effects or whether one is better than the other 76 . A sizable number of studies have reported the physiological effects of a 1064-nm laser 10,27,29,31,33,36,37,39,52,[77][78][79] . In this study, we explored the physiological effects of 800-nm tPBM, which would guide the optimal selection of wavelengths for more effective outcomes of tPBM. ...
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... In addition, it is important to consider the potential differences in t-PBM treatment effects between developing brains in children and fully developed adult brains. While t-PBM might impact brain connectivity differently in these two groups (Urquhart et al., 2020), studies focusing on t-PBM applied for other neuropsychiatric disorders with children are scarce (Hamilton et al., 2022;Leisman et al., 2018;Pallanti et al., 2022). Therefore, clinical trials should stratify participants by age to discern any agedependent variations in t-PBM's effectiveness. ...
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... In additional to facilitating lymphatic drainage, the release of NO during tPBM could also increase cerebral blood flow 192 and might contribute to the enhancement of cerebral endogenic and myogenic functional connectivity (FC). 171,[193][194][195] Except for tPBM-mediated NO regulation, it has been demonstrated that tPBM can attenuate cerebral Aβ burden through the activation of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase signaling pathway, mediated by CCO, as well as via the stimulation of microglia and angiogenesis. 75,80,196 In addition, Tao et al. reported that PBM (1070 nm) reduces the Aβ levels in the brain via stimulating and recruiting microglia to the Aβ burden 75 (Fig. 5) and increasing cerebral vessel density. ...
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... However, it is not clear whether both wavelength ranges result in similar physiological effects or whether one is better than the other 71 . A sizable number of studies have reported the physiological effects of a 1064-nm laser 10,26,28,30,32,[35][36][37]47,[72][73][74] . In this study, we explored the physiological effects of 800-nm tPBM, which would guide the optimal selection of wavelengths for more effective outcomes of tPBM. ...
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... PBM has also be used to counter nerve damage in the sinuses, the cranial nerves (including the olfactory and gustatory sensory nerves), and the brain by repairing sensory receptors (ion channels) or by replacing damaged neurons altogether through apoptosis and neurogenesis. The improvement of long COVID symptoms of brain fog, depression, and mental health deficits through transcranial PBM has also been attributed to improved circulation and neural connectivity 222 . ...
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... Intriguingly, recent studies have also found that the promising effect of tPBM on brain function is still observed in the large-scale functional connectivity network [56], [57]. For instance, in a study employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Dmochowski et al. stimulated the right frontal lobe with tPBM and observed brain-wide functional connectivity (FC) increases during the stimulation, with a quarter of all connections showing such a significant increase [56]. ...
... For instance, in a study employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Dmochowski et al. stimulated the right frontal lobe with tPBM and observed brain-wide functional connectivity (FC) increases during the stimulation, with a quarter of all connections showing such a significant increase [56]. Consistently, an fNIRS study evaluated the cerebral changes across the whole brain brought by tPBM to the right forehead and discovered increases in the global small-world efficiency [57]. Similar results were found in studies adopting other neuromodulation techniques. ...
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... Functional and broadband NIRS use the optical properties of oxyhaemoglobin (HbO) and desoxyhaemoglobin (desoxyHb) to evaluate brain activity, before, during and after tPBM stimulation. Eight studies have used this method, mainly at rest (Pruitt et al. 2020;Saucedo et al. 2021;Tian et al. 2016;Urquhart et al. 2020;Wang et al. 2017;Wang et al. 2022a;Wu et al. 2020). Typically, these studies used a broadband NIRS to investigate the metabolic (Δ[oxy-CCO]) and haemodynamic (Δ[HbO] and Δ[desoxyHb]) effects of a single session of 8-10 min laser stimulation at 1064 nm directed on the forehead, in comparison with sham. ...
... Finally, a fNIRS study recorded haemodynamic parameters in twelve regions of interests using a 111-channel NIRS device located over the whole brain (Urquhart et al. 2020). In this study, correlation analyses were done to evaluate the functional connectivity between the twelve areas of the brain. ...
... When examining at the global level, an increased global complexity and efficiency of the networks has been found (Urquart et al. 2020), which seemed frequency dependent (Gadheri et al. 2021;Shahdadian et al. 2022;Zomorrodi et al. 2019). Changes at the local level indicated improvement of segregation capacities, presumably resulting in better integration and information processing locally (Gadheri et al. 2021;Shahdadian et al. 2022;Urquhart et al. 2020). Taken together, these results indicated a modification of the topology of brain networks by tPBM, probably by modulating inhibitory and excitatory loops at the large-scale level, but more research is clearly needed to understand the precise nature of these changes and their consequences. ...
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In recent years, transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) has been developing as a promising method to protect and repair brain tissues against damages. The aim of our systematic review is to examine the results available in the literature concerning the efficacy of tPBM in changing brain activity in humans, either in healthy individuals, or in patients with neurological diseases. Four databases were screened for references containing terms encompassing photobiomodulation, brain activity, brain imaging, and human. We also analysed the quality of the included studies using validated tools. Results in healthy subjects showed that even after a single session, tPBM can be effective in influencing brain activity. In particular, the different transcranial approaches - using a focal stimulation or helmet for global brain stimulation - seemed to act at both the vascular level by increasing regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and at the neural level by changing the activity of the neurons. In addition, studies also showed that even a focal stimulation was sufficient to induce a global change in functional connectivity across brain networks. Results in patients with neurological disease were sparser; nevertheless, they indicated that tPBM could improve rCBF and functional connectivity in several regions. Our systematic review also highlighted the heterogeneity in the methods and results generated, together with the need for more randomised controlled trials in patients with neurological diseases. In summary, tPBM could be a promising method to act on brain function, but more consistency is needed in order appreciate fully the underlying mechanisms and the precise outcomes.
... It has been suggested that tPBM up-regulates complex IV of the mitochondrial respiratory chain to modulate cytochrome c oxidase (CCO). This leads to increased adenosine triphosphate (ATP) formation and initiates secondary cell signaling pathways (5)(6)(7). The resulting metabolic effects following PBM increase cerebral metabolic energy production, oxygen consumption, and blood flow in animals and humans (8)(9)(10)(11). ...
... lateral visual network). Another independent set of studies from the same group revealed that 1064-nm tPBM on the right PFC increased hemodynamic activities across the entire cortical region and enhanced topographical functional connectivity between the right PFC stimulation site and parietal regions (5,39). Together, these studies show that 1064-nm tPBM on the right PFC of the resting human brain modulates both regional-specific activity and functional connectivity as observed in EEG and hemodynamic data. ...
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Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) is a safe and noninvasive intervention that has shown promise for improving cognitive performance. Whether tPBM can modulate brain activity and thereby enhance working memory (WM) capacity in humans remains unclear. In this study, we found that 1064-nm tPBM applied to the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) improves visual working memory capacity and increases occipitoparietal contralateral delay activity (CDA). The CDA set-size effect during retention mediated the effect between the 1064-nm tPBM and subsequent WM capacity. The behavioral benefits and the corresponding changes in the CDA set-size effect were absent with tPBM at a wavelength of 852 nm or with stimulation of the left PFC. Our findings provide converging evidence that 1064-nm tPBM applied to the right PFC can improve WM capacity.
... All these published reports strongly support that tPBM facilitates the photo-oxidization of [2,[25][26][27]. The enhancement of mitochondrial activity is expected to increase cerebral oxygen demand, blood flow, and blood oxygenation, as reported in recent literature [19,[28][29][30]. One of these studies suggested the modulation of vasomotion in the cerebral vasculature stimulated by nitricoxide release as another effect of tPBM [30]. ...
... Frequency-specific PSD bandwidths were then selected to cover the delta (1-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and gamma bands. Next, the mean power change at each of the five frequency bands (f ), ∆mPower f , during each of the three temporal segments (Stim1, Stim2, and post) was normalized to the last minute of its baseline (pre), as expressed [38]: ...
... Topographic maps of group-averaged (n = 45), baseline-normalized, and sham-subtracted changes in ∆mPowerss (see equation(2)) in delta (1-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and gamma (30-70 Hz) bands during the first 4 min of tPBM (Stim1), second 4 min of tPBM (Stim2), and post tPBM period. Also, statistical results after the cluster-based permutation testing are superimposed in each topographical map, showing significant differences in ∆mPower between the tPBM and sham stimulations during respective three time segments and in five frequency bands with corrected significance levels of p < 0.05 (×) and p < 0.01 ( * ). ...
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Full-text available
Objective: Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) has shown promising benefits, including cognitive improvement, in healthy humans and in patients with Alzheimer's disease. In this study, we aimed to identify key cortical regions that present significant changes caused by tPBM in the electroencephalogram (EEG) oscillation powers and functional connectivity in the healthy human brain. Approach: A 64-channel EEG was recorded from 45 healthy participants during a 13-min period consisting of a 2-min baseline, 8-min tPBM/sham intervention, and 3-min recovery. After pre-processing and normalizing the EEG data at the five EEG rhythms, cluster-based permutation tests were performed for multiple comparisons of spectral power topographies, followed by graph-theory analysis (GTA) as a topological approach for quantification of brain connectivity metrics at global and nodal/cluster levels. Main results: EEG power enhancement was observed in clusters of channels over the frontoparietal regions in the alpha band and the centroparietal regions in the beta band. The global measures of the network revealed a reduction in synchronization, global efficiency, and small-worldness of beta band connectivity, implying an enhancement of brain network complexity. In addition, in the beta band, nodal graphical analysis demonstrated significant increases in local information integration and centrality over the frontal clusters, accompanied by a decrease in segregation over the bilateral frontal, left parietal, and left occipital regions. Significance: Frontal tPBM increased EEG alpha and beta powers in the frontal-central-parietal regions, enhanced the complexity of the global beta-wave brain network, and augmented local information flow and integration of beta oscillations across prefrontal cortical regions. This study sheds light on the potential link between electrophysiological effects and human cognitive improvement induced by tPBM.
... , especially in the human prefrontal cortex [7,9,169]. Furthermore, 1064 nm tPBM delivered to the right prefrontal cortex can alter the brain's hemodynamic, metabolic, electrophysiological functional connectivity at rest [43,105,170]. ...
... The significant increase in oxyhemoglobin ISO spectral amplitude (SAHbO) over the endogenic band in response to all three tPBM conditions ( figure 4.2(a)) ipsilateral to stimulation, implies that tPBM can significantly excite cerebral hemodynamic activity originated in endothelial oscillations over the stimulation site. This observation, which is independent of laser wavelength and location is in great agreement with several studies showing an increase in Δ[HbO] and its ISO spectral amplitude during and after tPBM with various laser/LED wavelengths and tissues [9,12,43,170,174]. We have also shown in another study that the upregulation of SAHbO in the endogenic band is because tPBM (specifically 1064nm laser) releases nitric oxide (NO) leading to vessel dilation [175] which seems to be the case for all examined wavelengths and locations in this study. ...
... In addition, improvement in cognitive activity and treatment of different neurological disorders have been reported during and after the employment of lowintensity light-emitting diode (LED) or laser on the human brain, especially on the prefrontal cortex [2,7,9,47,168,169]. Furthermore, it is shown that tPBM with different wavelengths and locations can alter the brain's hemodynamic, metabolic, and electrophysiological functional connectivity and MVC at rest [43,105,170,181]. ...
Thesis
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Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) targets the human brain with near-infrared (NIR) light and is shown to affect human cognitive performance and neural electrophysiological activity as well as concentration changes of oxidized cytochrome-c-oxidase ([CCO]) and hemoglobin oxygenation ([HbO]) in human brain. Brain topographical connectivity, which shows the communication between regions of the brain, and its alteration can be assessed to quantify the effects of external stimuli, diseases, and cognitive decline, in resting-state or task-based measurements. Furthermore, understanding the interactions between different physiological representations of neural activity, namely electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and metabolic signals in the human brain, has been an important topic among researchers in recent decades. In my doctoral study, neurophysiological networks were constructed using frequency-domain analyses on oscillations of electroencephalogram (EEG), [CCO], and [HbO] time series that were acquired by a portable EEG and 2-channel broadband near-infrared spectroscopy (2-bbNIRS). Specifically, my dissertation included three aims. The first one was to examine how tPBM altered the topographical connectivity in the electrophysiological oscillations of the resting human brain. As the first step, I defined and found key regions and clusters in the EEG sensor space that were affected the most by tPBM during and after the stimulation using both cluster-based power analysis and graph-based connectivity analysis. The results showed that the right prefrontal 1064-nm tPBM modulates several global and regional electrophysiological networks by shifting the information path towards frontal regions, especially in the beta band. For the second aim, I performed 2-bbNIRS measurements from 26 healthy humans and developed a methodology that enabled quantification of the infra-slow oscillation (ISO) power and connectivity between bilateral frontal regions of the human brain in resting state and in response to frontal tPBM stimulation at different sites and laser wavelengths. As the result, several stable and consistent features were extracted in the resting state of 26 young healthy adults. Moreover, these features were used to reveal some effects of tPBM on prefrontal metabolism and hemodynamics, while illustrating the similarities and differences between different stimulation conditions. Finally, the third aim was to investigate the resting-state prefrontal physiological network and the corresponding modulation in response to left frontal 800-nm tPBM by determining the effective connectivity/coupling between each pair of the electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and metabolic ISO of the human brain. Complementary to the previous studies, my study showed that prefrontal tPBM not only modulates the information path between two locations of the prefrontal cortex, it can also induce unilateral alterations in interactions between neural activity, hemodynamics, and metabolism. Overall, my dissertation shed light on the mechanism of action of prefrontal tPBM.