Prefrontal responses to negative emotional cognitive stimuli are associated with future suicide attempts in patients with mood disorders: a near-infrared spectroscopy study
- 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan
- 2Shinsayama Kaede Clinic, Saitama, Japan
Abstract
Early identification of suicide risk remains a critical challenge in psychiatry. Longitudinal evidence linking baseline brain responses to subsequent suicide attempts remains limited. In this exploratory prospective follow-up study, 29 patients with major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder underwent near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during an emotional Stroop task at baseline; 22 completed the 6-month follow-up and were included in the analysis, five of whom attempted suicide. Baseline oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) responses during the threat-word condition were compared between patients with and without suicide attempts using Mann–Whitney U tests. The main exploratory NIRS measure was the mean normalized Oxy-Hb response across 15–45 s (periods b + c) in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); the corresponding left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) measure was also examined. The follow-up attempt group showed higher baseline Oxy-Hb responses in the left DLPFC (U = 7.00, Holm-adjusted p = 0.022) and left OFC (U = 5.00, Holm-adjusted p = 0.020). Exploratory Spearman’s rank correlations showed that baseline Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology scores were associated with the periods b + c NIRS measures in both regions, suggesting that baseline depressive symptom severity may have contributed to the observed group differences. These preliminary findings suggest that altered prefrontal hemodynamic responses during threat-related emotional interference may be associated with subsequent suicidal behavior. Larger prospective studies are required to replicate these findings and clarify their clinical relevance.
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BibTeX
@article{kamimura2026prefrontal,
title = {{Prefrontal responses to negative emotional cognitive stimuli are associated with future suicide attempts in patients with mood disorders: a near-infrared spectroscopy study}},
author = {Hisashi Kamimura and Takahiro Matsuoka and Hiroshi Okai and Hiroshi Okai and Naoki Shimizu and Shu Harada and Koji Matsuo},
journal = {Frontiers in Neuroimaging},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fnimg.2026.1955513},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1955513},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Prefrontal responses to negative emotional cognitive stimuli are associated with future suicide attempts in patients with mood disorders: a near-infrared spectroscopy study
AU - Hisashi Kamimura
AU - Takahiro Matsuoka
AU - Hiroshi Okai
AU - Hiroshi Okai
AU - Naoki Shimizu
AU - Shu Harada
AU - Koji Matsuo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Frontiers in Neuroimaging
DO - 10.3389/fnimg.2026.1955513
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fnimg.2026.1955513
AB - Early identification of suicide risk remains a critical challenge in psychiatry. Longitudinal evidence linking baseline brain responses to subsequent suicide attempts remains limited. In this exploratory prospective follow-up study, 29 patients with major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder underwent near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during an emotional Stroop task at baseline; 22 completed the 6-month follow-up and were included in the analysis, five of whom attempted suicide. Baseline oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) responses during the threat-word condition were compared between patients with and without suicide attempts using Mann–Whitney U tests. The main exploratory NIRS measure was the mean normalized Oxy-Hb response across 15–45 s (periods b + c) in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); the corresponding left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) measure was also examined. The follow-up attempt group showed higher baseline Oxy-Hb responses in the left DLPFC (U = 7.00, Holm-adjusted p = 0.022) and left OFC (U = 5.00, Holm-adjusted p = 0.020). Exploratory Spearman’s rank correlations showed that baseline Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology scores were associated with the periods b + c NIRS measures in both regions, suggesting that baseline depressive symptom severity may have contributed to the observed group differences. These preliminary findings suggest that altered prefrontal hemodynamic responses during threat-related emotional interference may be associated with subsequent suicidal behavior. Larger prospective studies are required to replicate these findings and clarify their clinical relevance.
SN - 2813-1193
ER -