Publications

View Publications List on the Google Scholar Profile for Meryem Ayşe Yücel, Research Associate Professor at the Neurophotonics Center at Boston University, Biomedical Engineering

 

2025

  • Yücel, M. A., Anderson, J. E., Rogers, D., Hajirahimi, P., Farzam, P., Gao, Y., Kaplan, R. I., Braun, E. J., Mukadam, N., Duwadi, S., Carlton, L., Beeler, D., Butler, L. K., Carpenter, E., Girnis, J., Wilson, J., Tripathi, V., Zhang, Y., Sorger, B., von Lühmann, A., Somers, D. C., Cronin-Golomb, A., Kiran, S., Ellis, T. D., & Boas, D. A. (2025). Quantifying the impact of hair and skin characteristics on fNIRS signal quality for enhanced inclusivity. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02274-7
  • Yücel, M. A., Luke, R., Mesquita, R. C., von Lühmann, A., et al. (2025). fNIRS reproducibility varies with data quality, analysis pipelines, and researcher experience. Communications Biology, 8, 1149. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08412-1
  • Stute, K., Gossé, L.K., Montero-Hernandez, S., Perkins, G.A., Yücel, M.A., et al. (2025). The fNIRS glossary project: a consensus-based resource for functional near-infrared spectroscopy terminology. Neurophotonics, 12(2), 027801. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.12.2.027801
  • Anderson, J. E., Carlton, L. B., Kura, S., O’Brien, W. J., Rogers, D., Rahimi, P., Farzam, P. Y., Zaman, M. H., Boas, D. A., & Yücel, M. A. (2025). High-density multidistance fNIRS enhances detection of brain activity during a word-color Stroop task. Neurophotonics, 12(3), 035010. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.12.3.035010
  • Pecukonis, M., Gerson, J., Gustafson-Alm, H., Wood, M., Yücel, M., Boas, D. A., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2025). The neural bases of language processing during social and non-social contexts: A fNIRS study of autistic and neurotypical preschool-aged children. Molecular Autism, 16, Article 40.
  • Howard, A. C., Kim, B., Carlton, L., Yücel, M. A., Liu, B., Boas, D. A., & Cheng, X. (2025). Validation of the linearity in image reconstruction methods for speckle contrast optical tomography. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 31(4), 1–8, Art. no. 7401108, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2025.3581407
  • Lee, S., Kim, E., Duolikun, D., Cha, B., Ferre, C. L., Yücel, M., & Kumar, D. (2025). Prefrontal cortex function and gait alterations during single- and dual-task walking in knee osteoarthritis. PLOS ONE, 20(9), e0331070. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0331070
  • Lee, S., Kim, E., Cha, B., Ferre, C. L., Yücel, M.A., & Kumar, D. (2025). Prefrontal cortex activation during daily movements and its association with clinical symptoms in knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open, 7(3):100615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocarto.2024.100615
  • Rogers, D., O’Brien, W. J., Gao, Y., Zimmermann, B., Grover, S., Zhang, Y., Gaona, A. K., Duwadi, S., Anderson, J. E., Carlton, L., Rahimi, P., Farzam, P. Y., von Lühmann, A., Reinhart, R. M. G., Boas, D. A., & Yücel, M. A. (2025). Co-localized optode-electrode design for multimodal functional near infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography. Neurophotonics, 12(2), 025006. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.12.2.025006
  • Soekadar, S. R., Scholkmann, F., Yücel, M. A., Pinti, P., Noah, J. A., & von Lühmann, A. (2025). Editorial: Advances in mobile optical brain activity monitoring. Frontiers in Neuroergonomics, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnrgo.2025.1568619
  • Pecukonis, M., Yücel, M. A., Lee, H., Knox, C., Boas, D. A., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2025). Do children’s brains function differently during book reading and screen time? A fNIRS study. Developmental Science, 28, e13615. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13615
  • Saricaoglu, M., Yücel, M. A., Budak, M., Omurtag, A., & Hanoglu, L. (2025). Different cortex activation between young and middle-aged people during different type problem-solving: An EEG & fNIRS study. NeuroImage, 308, 121062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121062

2024

  • O’Brien, W. J., Carlton, L., Muhvich, J., Kura, S., Ortega-Martinez, A., Dubb, J., Duwadi, S., Hazen, E., Yücel, M. A., von Lühmann, A., Boas, D. A., & Zimmermann, B. B. (2024). ninjaNIRS: An open hardware solution for wearable whole-head high-density functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Biomedical Optics Express, 15, 5625-5644.
  • von Lühmann, A., Kura, S., O’Brien, W. J., Zimmermann, B. B., Duwadi, S., Rogers, D., Anderson, J. E., Farzam, P., Snow, C., Chen, A., Yücel, M. A., Perkins, N., & Boas, D. A. (2024). ninjaCap: A fully customizable and 3D printable headgear for functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography brain imaging. Neurophotonics, 11(3), 036601. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.11.3.036601
  • Xu, E., Vanegas, M., Mireles, M., Dementyev, A., McCann, A., Yücel, M. A., Carp, S., & Fang, Q. (2024). Flexible circuit-based spatially aware modular optical brain imaging system for high-density measurements in natural settings. Neurophotonics, 11(3), 035002. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.11.3.035002
  • Ning, M., Duwadi, S., Yücel, M. A., von Lühmann, A., Boas, D. A., & Sen, K. (2024). fNIRS dataset during complex scene analysis. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18, 1329086. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1329086
  • Wang, M-Y., Zöllner, H. J., Yücel, M. A., & Specht, K. (2024). Editorial: Variability and reproducibility of brain imaging. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1386948. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1386948

2023

  • Butler, L. K., Pecukonis, M., Rogers, D., Boas, D. A., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Yücel, M. A. (2023). The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the production and comprehension of phonologically and semantically related words. Brain Sciences, 13(7), 1113. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13071113
  • Gao, Y., Rogers, D., von Lühmann, A., Ortega-Martinez, A., Boas, D. A., & Yücel, M. A. (2023). Short-separation regression incorporated diffuse optical tomography image reconstruction modeling for high-density functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Neurophotonics, 10(2), 025007. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.10.2.025007
  • Tucker, S., Dubb, J., Kura, S., von Lühmann, A., Franke, R., Horschig, J. M., Powell, S., Oostenveld, R., Lührs, M., Delaire, É., Aghajan, Z. M., Yun, H., Yücel, M. A., Fang, Q., Huppert, T. J., Frederick, B. B., Pollonini, L., Boas, D., & Luke, R. (2023). Introduction to the shared near infrared spectroscopy format. Neurophotonics, 10(1), 013507. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.10.1.013507
  • Ortega-Martinez, A., Rogers, D., Anderson, J., Farzam, P., Zimmermann, B., Yücel, M. A., & Boas, D. A. (2023). How much do time domain fNIRS moments improve estimation of brain activity over traditional fNIRS? Neurophotonics, 10(1), 013504. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.10.1.013504

2022

  • Ayaz, H., Yücel, M. A., & Zhou, W. (2022). Optical imaging and spectroscopy for the study of the human brain: Status report. Neurophotonics, 9(S2), S24001. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.9.S2.S24001
  • Ortega-Martinez, A., von Lühmann, A., Farzam, P., Rogers, D., Mugler, E. M., Boas, D. A., & Yücel, M. A. (2022). Multivariate Kalman filter regression of confounding physiological signals for real-time classification of fNIRS data. Neurophotonics, 9(2), 025003. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.9.2.025003
  • Liu, N., Yücel, M. A., Tong, Y., Minagawa, Y., Tian, F., & Li, X. (2022). Editorial: fNIRS in neuroscience and its emerging applications. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 960591. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.960591

2021

  • Gilmore, N., Yücel, M. A., Li, X., Boas, D., & Kiran, S. (2021). Investigating language and domain-general processing in neurotypicals and individuals with aphasia—a functional near-infrared spectroscopy pilot study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15, 728151. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.728151
  • Yücel, M. A., von Lühmann, A., Scholkmann, F., Gervain, J., Dan, I., Ayaz, H., Boas, D., Cooper, R. J., Culver, J., Elwell, C. E., Eggebrecht, A., Franceschini, M. A., Grova, C., Homae, F., Lesage, F., Obrig, H., Tachtsidis, I., Tak, S., Tong, Y., Torricelli, A., Wabnitz, H., & Wolf, M. (2021). Best practices for fNIRS publications. Neurophotonics, 8(1), 012101. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.8.1.012101
  • von Lühmann, A., Zheng, Y., Ortega-Martinez, A., Kiran, S., Somers, D., Cronin-Golomb, A., Awad, L., Ellis, T., Boas, D., & Yücel, M. A. (2021). Towards Neuroscience of the Everyday World (NEW) using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy. COBME, 18, 100272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobme.2021.100272
  • Anzolin, A., Grahl, A., Isenburg, K., Toppi, J., Ciaramidaro, A., Barton-Zuckerman, M., Yücel, M. A., Ellingsen, D. M., Astolfi, L., Kaptchuk, T. J., & Napadow, V. (2021). Brain-to-brain patient-clinician connectivity is directionally modulated by chronic low back pain therapy: an electroencephalography hyperscan approach. Journal of Pain, 22(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2021.03.093

 

2020

  • von Lühmann, A., Li, X., Gilmore, N., & Yücel, M. A. (2020). Open access multimodal fNIRS resting-state dataset with and without synthetic hemodynamic responses. Frontiers in Neuroscience.
  • Li, X., Krol, M., Jahani, S., Boas, D., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Yücel, M. A. (2020). Brain correlates of motor complexity during observed and executed actions. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 10965.
  • von Lühmann, A., Martinez, A., Boas, D. A., & Yücel, M. A. (2020). Using the General Linear Model to Improve Performance in fNIRS Single Trial Analysis and Classification: A Perspective. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14:30. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00030

2019

  • von Lühmann, A., Li, X., Müller, K. R., Boas, D. A., & Yücel, M. A. (2019). Improved physiological noise regression in fNIRS: A multimodal extension of the General Linear Model using temporally embedded Canonical Correlation Analysis. NeuroImage, 116472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116472
  • Shah, A., Grotzinger, H., Kaczmarzyk, J., Powell, L., Yücel, M. A., Gabrieli, D., & Hubbard, N. (2019). Fixed and Flexible: Dynamic Prefrontal Activations and Working Memory Capacity Relationships Vary with Memory Demand. Cognitive Neuroscience, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2019.1672236
  • Ortega-Martinez, A., Zimmermann, B., Cheng, X., Li, X., Yücel, M. A., & Boas, D. A. (2019). The contribution of speckle noise in near infrared spectroscopy measurements. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 24(10), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.24.10.105001
  • Gilman, J. M., Yücel, M. A. (co-first author), Pachas, G. N., Potter, K., Levar, N., Broos, H., Manghis, E. M., Schuster, R. M., & Evins, A. E. (2019). Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol intoxication is associated with increased prefrontal activation as assessed with functional near-infrared spectroscopy: A report of a potential biomarker of intoxication. NeuroImage, 197, 575-585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.048

2018

  • Jahani, S., Setarehdan, S., Boas, D. A., & Yücel, M. A. (2018). Motion artifact detection and correction in functional near-infrared spectroscopy: A new hybrid method based on spline interpolation method and Savitzky-Golay filtering. Neurophotonics, 5(1), 015003. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.5.1.015003
  • Nemani, A., Yücel, M. A., Kruger, U., Gee, D. W., Cooper, C., Schwaitzberg, S. D., De, S., & Intes, X. (2018). Assessing bimanual motor skills with optical neuroimaging. Science Advances, 4(10), eaap8473. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aap8473
  • Peng, K., Yücel, M. A., Steele, S. C., Bittner, E. A., Aasted, C. M., Hoeft, M. A., Lee, A., George, E. E., Boas, D. A., Becerra, L., & Borsook, D. (2018). Morphine attenuates fNIRS signal associated with painful stimuli in the medial frontopolar cortex (medial BA 10). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 394. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00394
  • Peng, K., Yücel, M. A., Aasted, C. M., Steele, S. C., Boas, D. A., Borsook, D., & Becerra, L. (2018). Using pre-recorded hemodynamic response functions in detecting prefrontal pain response: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study. Neurophotonics, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.5.1.015003
  • Corp, D. T., Youssef, G. J., Clark, R. A., Gomes-Osman, J., Yücel, M. A., Oldham, S. J., Aldraiwiesh, S., Rice, J., Pascual-Leone, A., & Rogers, M. A. (2018). Reduced motor cortex inhibition and a ‘cognitive-first’ prioritization strategy for older adults during dual-tasking. Experimental Gerontology, 113, 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2018.07.017

2017

  • Jahani, S., Fantana, A. L., Harper, D., Ellison, J. M., Boas, D. A., Forester, B. P., & Yücel, M. A. (2017). fNIRS can robustly measure brain activity during memory encoding and retrieval in healthy subjects. Scientific Reports, 7, 9533. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-10390-4
  • Yücel, M. A., Selb, J., Huppert, T. J., Franceschini, M. A., & Boas, D. A. (2017). Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy: Enabling Routine Functional Brain Imaging. Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, 4, 78-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobme.2017.04.004
  • Walsh, B., Tian, F., Tourville, J. A., Yücel, M. A., Kuczek, T., & Bostian, A. J. (2017). Hemodynamics of speech production: An fNIRS investigation of children who stutter. Scientific Reports, 7, 4034. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04348-3

2016

  • Aasted, C. M., Yücel, M. A. (co-first author), Steele, S. C., Peng, K., Boas, D. A., Becerra, L., & Borsook, D. (2016). Frontal lobe hemodynamic responses to painful stimulation: A potential brain marker of nociception. PLOS ONE, 11(11), e0166368. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166368
  • Yücel, M. A., Selb, J., Aasted, C. M., Lin, P., Borsook, D., Becerra, L., & Boas, D. A. (2016). Mayer waves reduce the accuracy of estimated hemodynamic response functions in functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Biomedical Optics Express, 7(8), 3078-3088. https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.7.003078
  • Kussman, B. D., Aasted, C. M., Yücel, M. A., Steele, S. C., Alexander, M. E., Boas, D. A., Borsook, D., & Becerra, L. (2016). Capturing pain in the cortex during general anesthesia: Near infrared spectroscopy measures in patients undergoing catheter ablation of arrhythmias. PLOS ONE, 11(7), e0159413. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159413
  • Becerra, L. R., Aasted, C. M., Boas, D. A., George, E., Yücel, M. A., Kussman, B. D., Kelsey, P., & Borsook, D. (2016). Brain measures of nociception using near infrared spectroscopy in patients undergoing routine screening colonoscopy. Pain, 157(4), 840-848. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000469
  • Nemani, A., Ahn, W., Gee, D., Intes, X., Schwaitzberg, S., Yücel, M. A., & De, S. (2016). Objective surgical skill differentiation for physical and virtual surgical trainers via functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 220, 256-261. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-649-1-256

2015

  • Yücel, M. A., Selb, J., Aasted, C. M., Petkov, M. P., Becerra, L., Borsook, D., & Boas, D. A. (2015). Short separation regression improves statistical significance and better localizes the hemodynamic response obtained by near-infrared spectroscopy for tasks with differing autonomic responses. Neurophotonics, 2(3), 035005. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.2.3.035005
  • Yücel, M. A., Aasted, C. M. (co-first author), Petkov, M. P., Borsook, D., Boas, D. A., Becerra, L. (2015). Specificity of hemodynamic brain responses to painful stimuli: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study. Scientific Reports, 5, 9469. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep09469
  • Aasted, C. M., Yücel, M. A. (co-first author), Cooper, R. J., Dubb, J., Daisuke, T., Becerra, L., Petkov, M. P., Borsook, D., Dan, I., Boas, D. A. (2015). Anatomical guidance for functional near-infrared spectroscopy: An AtlasViewer tutorial. Neurophotonics, 2(2), 020801. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.2.2.020801

 

2014

  • Gagnon, L., Sakadžić, S., Lesage, F., Musacchia, J. J., Lefebvre, J., Fang, Q., Yücel, M. A., Evans, K. C., Mandeville, E. T., Cohen-Adad, J., Polimeni, J. R., Yaseen, M. A., Lo, E. H., Greve, D. N., Buxton, R. B., Dale, A. M., Devor, A., Boas, D. A. (2014). Quantifying the microvascular origin of BOLD-fMRI from first principles with two-photon microscopy and an oxygen-sensitive nanoprobe. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35(8), 3663-3671. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4592-14.2015

2015

  • Selb, J., Yücel, M. A., Phillip, D., Schytz, H. W., Iversen, H. K., Vangel, M., Ashina, M., & Boas, D. A. (2015). Effect of motion artifacts and their correction on near-infrared spectroscopy oscillation data: A study in healthy subjects and stroke patients. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 20(5), 056011. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.20.5.056011

2014

  • Yücel, M. A., Evans, K. C., Selb, J., Huppert, T. J., Boas, D. A., & Gagnon, L. (2014). Validation of the hypercapnic calibrated fMRI method using DOT-fMRI fusion imaging. NeuroImage, 02 Pt 2, 729-735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.08.052
  • Yücel, M. A., Selb, J., Boas, D. A., Cash, S. S., & Cooper, R. J. (2014). Reducing motion artifacts for long-term clinical NIRS monitoring using collodion-fixed, prism-based optical fibers. NeuroImage, 85 Pt 1, 192-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.06.054
  • Sakadžić, S., Mandeville, E. T., Gagnon, L., Musacchia, J. J., Yaseen, M. A., Yücel, M. A., Lefebvre, J., Lesage, F., Dale, A. M., Eikermann-Haerter, K., Ayata, C., Srinivasan, V. J., Lo, E. H., Devor, A., & Boas, D. A. (2014). Large arteriolar component of oxygen delivery implies safe margin of oxygen supply to cerebral tissue. Nature Communications, 5, 5734. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6734
  • Gagnon, L., Yücel, M. A., Boas, D. A., & Cooper, R. J. (2014). Further improvement in reducing superficial contamination in NIRS using double short separation measurements. NeuroImage, 85 Pt 1, 127-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.01.073
  • Erdoğan, S. B., Yücel, M. A., & Akın, A. (2014). Analysis of task-evoked systemic interference in fNIRS measurements: Insights from fMRI. NeuroImage, 87, 490-504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.09.021

2013

  • Yücel, M. A., Selb, J., Cooper, R. J., & Boas, D. A. (2013). Targeted principle component analysis: A new motion artifact correction approach for Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences, 7(2), 1350066. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JIOHS.7.2.1350066

2012

  • Yücel, M. A., Huppert, T. J., Boas, D. A., & Gagnon, L. (2012). Calibrating the BOLD signal during a motor task using an extended fusion model incorporating DOT, BOLD, and ASL data. NeuroImage, 61(4), 1268-1276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.04.036
  • Gagnon, L., Yücel, M. A., Dehaes, M., Cooper, R. J., Perdue, K. L., Selb, J., Huppert, T. J., Hoge, R. D., & Boas, D. A. (2012). Quantification of the cortical contribution to the NIRS signal over the motor cortex using concurrent NIRS-fMRI measurements. NeuroImage, 59(4), 3933-3940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.050
  • Gagnon, L., Cooper, R. J., Yücel, M. A., Perdue, K. L., Greve, D. N., & Boas, D. A. (2012). Short separation channel location impacts the performance of short channel regression in NIRS. NeuroImage, 59(3), 2518-2528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.08.095

 

2011

  • Yücel, M. A., Devor, A., Akin, A., & Boas, D. A. (2011). The possible role of CO2 in producing a post-stimulus CBF and BOLD undershoot. Frontiers in Neuroscience.

2007

  • Yücel, M. A., & Kurnaz, I. A. (2007). An in silico model for HIF-alpha regulation and hypoxia response in tumor cells. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 97(3), 588-600. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.21271 (Spotlighted in the issue)