Down-regulation of amygdala activation with real-time fMRI neurofeedback in a healthy female sample

Abstract

Psychiatric conditions of emotion dysregulation are often characterized by difficulties in regulating the activity of limbic regions such as the amygdala. Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) allows to feedback brain activation and opens the possibility to establish a neurofeedback (NF) training of amygdala activation, e.g., for subjects suffering from emotion dysregulation. As a first step, we investigated whether feedback of the amygdala response to aversive scenes can improve down-regulation of amygdala activation. One group of healthy female participants received amygdala feedback (N = 16) and a control group was presented with feedback from a control region located in the basal ganglia [N(sum) = 32]. Subjects completed a one-session rt-fMRI-NF training where they viewed aversive pictures and received continuous visual feedback on brain activation (REGULATE condition). In a control condition, subjects were advised to respond naturally to aversive pictures (VIEW), and a neutral condition served as the non-affective control (NEUTRAL). In an adjacent run, subjects were presented with aversive pictures without feedback to test for transfer effects of learning. In a region of interest (ROI) analysis, the VIEW and the REGULATE conditions were contrasted to estimate brain regulation success. The ROI analysis was complemented by an exploratory analysis of activations at the whole-brain level. Both groups showed down-regulation of the amygdala response during training. Feedback from the amygdala but not from the control region was associated with down-regulation of the right amygdala in the transfer test. The whole-brain analysis did not detect significant group interactions. Results of the group whole-brain analyses are discussed. We present a proof-of-concept study using rt-fMRI-NF for amygdala down-regulation in the presence of aversive scenes. Results are in line with a potential benefit of NF training for amygdala regulation.

Multi-modal Virtual Scenario Enhances Neurofeedback Learning

“…As shown in previous fMRI-NF studies (Sulzer et al, 2013a,b;Bruhl et al, 2014;Lawrence et al, 2014;Paret et al, 2014), we found that volitional regulation of localized limbic activity could be obtained even after one session. Interestingly, comparing the two NF trials conducted in session 1 (baseline vs. training I) revealed that, at this stage, no significant difference existed in the effect size facilitated by the AS relative to the TM (Figure 2).…”

The self-regulating brain and neurofeedback: Experimental science and clinical promise

“…For example, a yet-to-be-published rtfMRI-nf experiment, discussed in an authoritative review (Sulzer, Haller, et al, 2013), showed that participants who received explicit instructions for mental strategies, compared to individuals left to explore and develop them implicitly on their own, were more successful at neural self-regulation. Moreover, comparing veritable feedback with no feedback , inversely proportional feedback , or feedback from a distinct brain region (Paret et al, 2014), revealed similar neural changes from baseline to the first trial in both experimental and control groups. On the other hand, findings from both human and animal studies suggest that explicit techniques are unnecessary and that contingent feedback alone is responsible for neural regulation (Caria et al, 2010;Koralek, Jin, Long, Costa, & Carmena, 2012).…”

“…Whereas EEG-nf requires many sessions to alter electrical activity, with rtfMRI-nf individuals can selectively modify fMRI BOLD signal within 30 minutes of training and sometimes even sooner (Brühl et al, 2014;Canterberry et al, 2013;Greer, Trujillo, Glover, & Knutson, 2014;Gröne et al, 2015;Hui, Zhang, Ge, Yao, & Long, 2014;Lawrence et al, 2014;Paret et al, 2014;. This striking difference between EEG-nf and rtfMRI-nf deserves further discussion.…”

The neurobiology of emotion regulation in posttraumatic stress disorder: Amygdala downregulation via real‐time fMRI neurofeedback

“…Ergo, participants are presented with online information that corresponds to their success in regulating the ROI. In support of this concept, selfregulation of the amygdala as compared with sham regions via rt-fMRI-nf has been shown to concomitantly affect activation in PFC areas involved in emotion regulation, as well as enhance amygdala-PFC connectivity [Koush et al, 2013;Paret et al, 2014;Zotev et al, 2011] and amygdalarostral ACC coupling [Zotev et al, 2011]. Several studies have examined the capacity to regulate emotions by targeting neurofeedback of the amygdala using rt-fMRI-nf, in healthy individuals [Br€ uhl et al, 2014;Keynan et al, 2016;Paret et al, 2014Paret et al, , 2016bZotev et al, 2011] as well as in psychiatric populations, including borderline personality disorder (BPD) [Paret et al, 2016a], and major depressive disorder [Young et al, 2014;Zotev et al, 2016].…”