Application of Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy in the Study of Brain Function in Children with Autism

There is a high degree of correlation between abnormal brain functional characteristics and behavioural manifestations in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which are characterised by dys-synchronicity, abnormal connectivity, and functional imbalance of brain regions in neural activity. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), as a non-invasive neuroimaging technique, is more suitable for brain function testing of children with ASD in natural environment with its advantages of portability, flexibility, and high temporal resolution, compared with brain function testing techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). In recent years, fNIRS has been widely used to study the brain function of children with ASD in different cognitive tasks, especially in the areas of brain activation patterns, functional connectivity, diagnosis, and intervention therapy. fNIRS is expected to provide neural biomarkers for the diagnosis of ASD as well as individualised guidance for intervention therapy.