Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40639729›Full record

ArticleBrain research2025

Plasma and serum BDNF differentially relate to fNIRS prefrontal cortex activity during executive function and memory tasks.

Flaminia Ronca, Cian Xu, Tom Gurney, Antonia Hamilton, Giampietro Schiavo, Dennis Chan, Ilias Tachtsidis, Paola Pinti, Paul W Burgess

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Article in Brain research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Flaminia RoncaInstitute of Sport, Exercise and Health, Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: f.ronca@ucl.ac.uk.
Cian XuInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Tom GurneyInstitute of Sport, Exercise and Health, Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Antonia HamiltonInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Giampietro SchiavoDepartment of Neuromuscular Diseases and UCL Queen Square Motor Neuron Disease Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Dennis ChanInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Ilias TachtsidisDepartment of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, UK.
Paola PintiDepartment of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, UK; Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
Paul W BurgessInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionBrain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is known to play significant roles in memory through synaptic plasticity and hippocampal volume. However, its function in the prefrontal cortex remains less explored, and differences in the associations of plasma BDNF (pBDNF) and serum BDNF (sBDNF) with cortical function are at present poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether there are differential relationships between pBDNF and sBDNF with prefrontal cortex activity during executive function and episodic memory tasks.

methodsTwenty-three participants (7 females, age 32 ± 15 years) provided venous blood samples and completed executive function and episodic memory tasks at three time points (weeks 0, 6, and 12). Prefrontal cortex function was additionally measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in week 6.

resultsThere was a significant positive association between pBDNF (but not sBDNF) and episodic memory performance (p < 0.05), and with higher CBSI-beta in the left orbitofrontal and frontopolar regions (R range = 0.41 to 0.58; p range = 0.004 to 0.049) during both encoding and retrieval blocks. During inhibition and attention tasks, pBDNF correlated with lower CBSI-beta in the medial frontopolar and orbitofrontal regions (R range = -0.41 to -0.55; p range = 0.007 to 0.05) but did not predict cognitive performance. In contrast, sBDNF was associated with higher CBSI-beta across the prefrontal cortex during endogenous attending only, but was not associated with performance on any task. DISCUSSION: Better cognitive performance and higher neural activity during episodic memory suggest that pBDNF may be involved in supporting prefrontal cortex functions for episodic memory. Different associations between pBDNF and sBDNF and both cognitive and imaging outcomes may reflect the differing bioavailability of these two BDNF pools, with implications for future mechanistic studies.

Indexed as

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic FactorExecutive FunctionMemoryPrefrontal CortexAdultFemaleHumansMaleMemory, EpisodicNeuropsychological TestsSpectroscopy, Near-InfraredYoung AdultBDNF protein, humanBrain-Derived Neurotrophic FactorAttentionCognitionHemodynamicInhibitionNeurotrophicReaction time

Identifiers

PMID40639729
PMCPMC7619107

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.