Material context moderates the occupation-adjusted association between Visualization and prefrontal hemodynamics during naturalistic design: an exploratory wearable fNIRS study

Overview

Authors: Yusuke Nagamori^1,2, Fumika Suzuki¹, Mika Isobe², Haruhi Miyoshi², Towa Shikata², Takuo Ando³, Kazaru Yaegashi²

Tokyo City University, Yokohama, Japan
Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan
Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Journal: Frontiers in neuroergonomics, volume 7, article 1928775

Dates: received 5 July 2026; accepted 19 August 2026; published online 10 September 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI · PMCID PMC13601332

Status: data only

Categories: other (modality), fNIRS (modality), human (organism)

Methods: Connectivity, Statistics, Preprocessing, Spectral & time-frequency, fMRI & imaging

Keywords: design attitude, individual differences, naturalistic design, neuroergonomics, prefrontal cortex, proportional-time normalization, Visualization, wearable fNIRS

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 62 references in the paper

Abstract

It remains unclear whether individual differences in a design-related disposition relate to prefrontal hemodynamics during naturalistic design, and whether the material context of the task moderates any such association. We addressed this using the Visualization subscale of the design attitude measure (DAM), a preference for externalizing ideas visually that we treat here as a continuous disposition beyond the designer job label. Thirty-nine working adults completed an open-ended block-building chair-design task using a constrained material set and a broader, higher-variety material set. Prefrontal total-hemoglobin change was recorded with a wearable two-channel fNIRS device (NeU HOT-2000; Fp1/Fp2; a single 810-nm wavelength; 10 Hz), and each self-paced trial was resampled onto a common proportional-time axis. Visualization was higher in designers than non-designers (d = 1.07). After adjusting for occupation, higher Visualization was associated with a greater broad–constrained Fp2 difference. This Condition × Visualization interaction was localized to a single window at 60–79% of the proportional timeline at Fp2 (cluster-corrected p = 0.013), with no cluster at Fp1; however, the formal between-channel comparison was not significant, so channel specificity was not established. Within this window, the effect remained significant in all 39 leave-one-out refits. The positive simple slope was present under the broad set but not the constrained set; the broad set was also rated as less difficult, more enjoyable, and more conducive to idea generation. Adjusting for occupation increased the whole-design estimate from β = +0.11 to +0.19, because occupation and Visualization related to the Fp2 difference in opposite directions (at a given Visualization level, designer status was associated with a smaller broad–constrained difference), a statistical suppression that separates the visual-externalization disposition from the occupational label; this whole-design estimate was sensitive to one participant. The findings indicate a material-context-dependent association between Visualization (a continuous disposition rather than a proxy for the designer category) and the prefrontal hemodynamic signal, and call for preregistered replication. De-identified data are openly available.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

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Data

Datasets cited

osf:6vtd2 — at OSF; found in the references

Data availability statement

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found below: OSF, https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6VTD2 (Nagamori et al., 2026).

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 7 authors, 8 keywords, 59 references.

Cite

This paper

Nagamori, Y., Suzuki, F., Isobe, M., Miyoshi, H., Shikata, T., Ando, T., & Yaegashi, K. (2026). Material context moderates the occupation-adjusted association between Visualization and prefrontal hemodynamics during naturalistic design: an exploratory wearable fNIRS study. Frontiers in neuroergonomics, 7, 1928775.

BibTeX

@article{nagamori2026material, author = {Nagamori, Yusuke and Suzuki, Fumika and Isobe, Mika and Miyoshi, Haruhi and Shikata, Towa and Ando, Takuo and Yaegashi, Kazaru}, title = {{Material context moderates the occupation-adjusted association between Visualization and prefrontal hemodynamics during naturalistic design: an exploratory wearable fNIRS study}}, journal = {Frontiers in neuroergonomics}, year = {2026}, month = sep, volume = {7}, pages = {1928775}, publisher = {Frontiers Media SA}, issn = {2673-6195}, pmcid = {PMC13601332} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Nagamori, Yusuke AU - Suzuki, Fumika AU - Isobe, Mika AU - Miyoshi, Haruhi AU - Shikata, Towa AU - Ando, Takuo AU - Yaegashi, Kazaru TI - Material context moderates the occupation-adjusted association between Visualization and prefrontal hemodynamics during naturalistic design: an exploratory wearable fNIRS study T2 - Frontiers in neuroergonomics J2 - Front Neuroergon PY - 2026 DA - 2026/09/25 VL - 7 SP - 1928775 SN - 2673-6195 PB - Frontiers Media SA LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

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