To aid psychology researches on the function of the prefrontal cortex, a 16-channel brain functional imaging instrument based on near-infrared spectroscopy is developed. The probe of the instrument, covering a detection area of 15 cm64.4 cm of the prefrontal cortex, is made flexible and is easy to fix to the forehead. By employing multi-wavelength LEDs as light sources, using integrated detectors and choosing a USB-interface-based data acquisition device, the whole system is portable and convenient to use, which is good for psychological experiments. The system software is developed using Visual C++ 6.0, which controls the imaging process, measurement data plotting and storage. The maximal temporal resolution is about 100 ms. Noise and long-term drift test are given. The Valsalva maneuver experiment is used to validate the reliability of the instrument for monitoring hemodynamic changes.