Comparative Analysis of Pulse Structures on Frontal Gamma Band Activity during Transcranial Infrared Photobiomodulation

Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) is a treatment that has been utilized in therapeutic methods due to its noninvasive ability to enhance various neural processes, such as stimulating neural plasticity in recovering patients and serving as a method of neural modulation. However, there is a lack of investigation into the pulse structures by which tPBM is delivered. This study will analyze four separate light conditions—continuous wave (CW), pulsed wave (PW), amplitude modulated (AM), and dynamically focusing (DF)—and evaluate their effectiveness in modulating gamma oscillations. While no statistical differences could be calculated as a result of the low participant number, there were promising trends: amplitude modulated light was generally found to be the most effective, followed closely by pulsed wave, with continuous wave light only generally performing better than the baseline while dynamic focusing light tended to perform less effectively than no stimulation. Understanding how to deliver near-infrared stimulation more efficiently could help develop more effective therapeutic measures, potentially leading to greater insight into the effects of low-level light on the brain’s productivity. Further research into tPBM could seek to increase the sample size and enhance EEG electrode connectivity to improve data quality and enable more robust statistical analysis. This research may open pathways for more optimized neurorehabilitation and cognitive enhancement by drawing attention to alternate pulse structures during tPBM.