Abstract

This pilot study investigated frontal pole activity during cognitive and playful tasks in a nine-year-old participant using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Four tasks, including Hyakumasu Calculation, Suika Game, Puyo Puyo, and ScratchJr, were performed over ten days, yielding a total of 40 sessions. Oxy-Hb changes in channels seven to ten were analyzed using paired t-tests with false discovery rate correction. After correction, significant differences appeared in four comparisons: Hyakumasu Calculation elicited greater activity than Puyo Puyo (ch7, ch9) and Suika Game (ch9), while Puyo Puyo showed reduced activity compared to ScratchJr (ch8), all with large effect sizes. Other comparisons indicated medium to large effect sizes but did not remain significant after correction. These findings suggest that frontal pole activity varies with task characteristics. Educationally, alternating high-load tasks (e.g., calculation) and low-load play tasks (e.g., puzzle games) may optimize cognitive performance. However, the single-subject design restricts generalizability, requiring studies with larger samples and longer durations.

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