The DOI matches its Crossref record; 344 of the 344 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Neuroimaging in Exercise–Cognition Science: A Systematic, Methodology-Focused Review
Open accessAbstract
For cognitive processes to function well, it is essential that the brain is optimally supplied with oxygen and blood. In recent years, evidence has emerged suggesting that cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics can be modified with physical activity. To better understand the relationship between cerebral oxygenation/hemodynamics, physical activity, and cognition, the application of state-of-the art neuroimaging tools is essential. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is such a neuroimaging tool especially suitable to investigate the effects of physical activity/exercises on cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics due to its capability to quantify changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxyHb) non-invasively in the human brain. However, currently there is no clear standardized procedure regarding the application, data processing, and data analysis of fNIRS, and there is a large heterogeneity regarding how fNIRS is applied in the field of exercise–cognition science. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the current methodological knowledge about fNIRS application in studies measuring the cortical hemodynamic responses during cognitive testing (i) prior and after different physical activities interventions, and (ii) in cross-sectional studies accounting for the physical fitness level of their participants. Based on the review of the methodology of 35 as relevant considered publications, we outline recommendations for future fNIRS studies in the field of exercise–cognition science.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Controlling the False Discovery Rate: A Practical and Powerful Approach to Multiple Testing
Benjamini, Y., & Hochberg, Y. (1995) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B: Statistical Methodology · doi:10.1111/j.2517-6161.1995.tb02031.x · Cited by 109,482
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & for the PRISMA Group (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2535 · Cited by 83,823
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA Statement.
(2009) · PubMed Central · Cited by 44,859
Smoothing and Differentiation of Data by Simplified Least Squares Procedures.
Savitzky, A., & Golay, M. J. E. (1964) · Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1021/ac60214a047 · Cited by 21,904
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.06.005 · Cited by 19,575 · cited 2×
“Screening for relevant studies was conducted according to the PICOS-principle [76,80].”
(1985) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 9,143
Generalized linear mixed models: a practical guide for ecology and evolution
Bolker, B. M., Brooks, M. E., Clark, C. J., Geange, S. W., Poulsen, J. R., Stevens, M. H. H., & White, J.-S. S. (2009) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.10.008 · Cited by 8,910
Brainstorm: A User-Friendly Application for MEG/EEG Analysis
Tadel, F., Baillet, S., Mosher, J. C., Pantazis, D., & Leahy, R. M. (2011) · Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience · doi:10.1155/2011/879716 · Cited by 3,677
Be smart, exercise your heart: Exercise effects on brain and cognition
Hillman, C. H., Erickson, K. I., & Kramer, A. F. (2008) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2298 · Cited by 3,563
Searching for a baseline: Functional imaging and the resting human brain
Gusnard, D. A., & Raichle, M. E. (2001) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/35094500 · Cited by 3,371
Cited by
Herold, F., Törpel, A., Schega, L., & Müller, N. G. (2019) · European Review of Aging and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s11556-019-0217-2 · Cited by 349
Self-citationDose-Response Matters! - A Perspective on the Exercise Prescription in Exercise-Cognition Research
Herold, F., Müller, P., Gronwald, T., & Müller, N. G. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02338 · Cited by 196
Self-citationYu, Q., Zhang, Z., Ludyga, S., Erickson, K. I., Cheval, B., Hou, M., Pindus, D. M., Hillman, C. H., Kramer, A. F., Falck, R. S., et al. (2025) · Advanced Science · doi:10.1002/advs.202406631 · Cited by 27
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Herold, F., Wiegel, P., Scholkmann, F., & Müller, N.
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2018-11-22
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 466
- ISSN
- 2077-0383 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2901610515
- Cited by
- 482
- References
- 344
- FWCI
- 22.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
How to cite
Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Neuroimaging in Exercise–Cognition Science: A Systematic, Methodology-Focused Review. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.3390/jcm7120466
- The paper
- Herold, F., Wiegel, P., Scholkmann, F., & Müller, N. (2018). Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Neuroimaging in Exercise–Cognition Science: A Systematic, Methodology-Focused Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm7120466
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.