The Journal of Practical Medicine >

2025 , Vol. 41 >Issue 14: 2264 - 2268

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-5725.2025.14.021

Medical Examination and Clinical Diagnosis

Clinical application of near⁃infrared spectroscopy in assisting the diagnosis of schizophrenia

  • Yonggang MU ,
  • Longyun CHEN ,
  • Tongkuai CONG ,
  • Xuxiu JING ,
  • Suzhen. ZHANG
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  • Changning District Mental Health Center/East China Normal University Affiliated Mental Health Center，Shanghai 200335，Shanghai，China

Received date: 2025-04-09

  Online published: 2025-07-29

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the functional brain characteristics of the frontal and bilateral temporal regions during a verbal fluency task （VFT） in patients with stable schizophrenia using functional near-infrared spectroscopy （fNIRS）， and to evaluate its potential clinical application in assisting the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Methods A total of 45 stable schizophrenia patients and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. fNIRS was employed to assess brain activation patterns in the frontal and bilateral temporal lobes during the VFT. The integral values， centroid values， and slopes of the frontal and bilateral temporal lobes were measured. Differences in demographic characteristics， word count， and fNIRS-derived parameters between the two groups were analyzed. A logistic regression model and receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve analysis were conducted to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the fNIRS measures in distinguishing schizophrenia patients from healthy controls. Results During VFT， the patient group demonstrated reduced word count and decreased integral values and slopes in the frontal lobe， as well as lower integral values in the bilateral temporal lobes， compared to the healthy control group （all P < 0.05）. However， no statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of frontal lobe centroid value， temporal lobe centroid value， or bilateral temporal lobe slope （all P > 0.05）. The logistic regression model indicated that the temporal lobe integral value was significantly associated with the diagnosis of schizophrenia （OR = 0.979， P = 0.005）. ROC curve analysis revealed that the frontal lobe integral value， frontal lobe slope， and temporal lobe integral value exhibited acceptable discriminatory power for disease classification， with area under the curve （AUC） values of 0.681， 0.644， and 0.779， respectively （all P < 0.05）. Conclusion In stable schizophrenia， the integral values of the frontal and temporal lobes， as well as the slope of the frontal lobe， decrease during the VFT， suggesting potential clinical utility in differentiating individuals with schizophrenia from healthy controls.

Key words： schizophrenia; near infrared spectroscopy; verbal fluency task; diagnosis

Cite this article

Yonggang MU , Longyun CHEN , Tongkuai CONG , Xuxiu JING , Suzhen. ZHANG . Clinical application of near⁃infrared spectroscopy in assisting the diagnosis of schizophrenia[J]. The Journal of Practical Medicine, 2025 , 41(14) : 2264 -2268 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-5725.2025.14.021

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