[Purpose] The aim of this study was to verify frontal lobe activity in healthy individuals during the performance of spatial tasks as part of a cognitive therapeutic exercise. [Subjects] Twelve healthy young adults participated in the experiment. [Methods] The spatial tasks were to differentiate the sizes of circles with different diameters. In actual practice, a therapist held the upper limbs of an experiment participant and passively traced 5 randomly appearing circles of differing sizes by moving only the participant's shoulder joint and then had the participant determine the order of the circles. Under control conditions, the participant was not asked to make this determination. Under both experimental and control conditions, the experiment participant was asked to close his or her eyes during the tasks. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used for measurement, and relative changes in blood flow in the frontal lobe were measured. [Results] Blood flow in the premotor cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex increased significantly (p<0.05) under spatial task conditions in comparison to control conditions. [Conclusion] This result suggests that the premotor cortex, which is responsible for motor learning, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for working memory function, are activated during the performance of spatial tasks as part of cognitive therapeutic exercise.

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[Purpose] The present study investigated the influence of a plantar perceptual learning task on brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. [Subjects] Ten healthy volunteers participated in this study. [Methods] Seated subjects performed a hardness discrimination task using the soles of their feet to discriminate between sponges with 5 different levels of hardness over a period of 10 days. Brain activity was measured using fNIRS during the discrimination task on the first and final days. A cap with optical fibers covered to cover the frontal and parietal lobes, as well as the temporal and occipital lobes. [Results] On Day 1 of the task, oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb) increased significantly in the prefrontal and premotor areas, and the parietal association and motor-speech areas. On Day 10 of the task, oxyHb levels increased significantly in the supplemental motor area, and the parietal association and motor-speech areas. [Conclusion] Activation of the brain was noted in the prefrontal, premotor, and supplemental motor areas as well as the parietal association and motor-speech areas during the plantar perceptual learning task.

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