title: fMRI feedback enhances emotion regulation as evidenced by a reduced amygdala response.
abstract: Deficits in emotion regulation are a prominent feature of psychiatric conditions and a promising target for treatment. For instance, cognitive reappraisal is regarded as an effective strategy for emotion regulation. Neurophysiological models have established the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) as a key structure in the regulation of emotion processing through modulations of emotion-eliciting structures such as the amygdala. Feedback of the LPFC activity by real-time functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) may thus enhance the efficacy of cognitive reappraisal. During cognitive reappraisal of aversive visual stimuli, LPFC activity was fed back to the experimental group, whereas control participants received no such information. As a result, during reappraisal, amygdala activity was lower in the experimental group than in the controls. Furthermore, an increase of inter-hemispheric functional connectivity emerged in the feedback group. The current study extends the neurofeedback literature by suggesting that fMRI feedback can modify brain activity during a given task.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; JARA Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany. Electronic address: psarkheil@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Pegah
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sarkheil
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zilverstand
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Niclas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kilian-Hütten
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; JARA Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goebel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; JARA Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mathiak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D058765:Neurofeedback / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Amygdala; Cognitive reappraisal; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Emotion regulation; Neurofeedback; Real-time fMRI