Dataset Information

Real-time neurofeedback to alter interpretations of a naturalistic narrative.

ABSTRACT: We explored the potential of using real-time fMRI (rt-fMRI) neurofeedback training to bias interpretations of naturalistic narrative stimuli. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two possible conditions, each corresponding to a different interpretation of an ambiguous spoken story. While participants listened to the story in the scanner, neurofeedback was used to reward neural activity corresponding to the assigned interpretation. After scanning, final interpretations were assessed. While neurofeedback did not change story interpretations on average, participants with higher levels of decoding accuracy during the neurofeedback procedure were more likely to adopt the assigned interpretation; additional control conditions are needed to establish the role of individualized feedback in driving this result. While naturalistic stimuli introduce a unique set of challenges in providing effective and individualized neurofeedback, we believe that this technique holds promise for individualized cognitive therapy.

SUBMITTER: Mennen AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9451129 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Real-time neurofeedback to alter interpretations of a naturalistic narrative.

Mennen Anne C AC Nastase Samuel A SA Yeshurun Yaara Y Hasson Uri U Norman Kenneth A KA

Neuroimage. Reports 20220702 3

We explored the potential of using real-time fMRI (rt-fMRI) neurofeedback training to bias interpretations of naturalistic narrative stimuli. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two possible conditions, each corresponding to a different interpretation of an ambiguous spoken story. While participants listened to the story in the scanner, neurofeedback was used to reward neural activity corresponding to the assigned interpretation. After scanning, final interpretations were assessed. Whi ...[more]

PMID: 36081469

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Project description:Neurofeedback (NFB) enables the voluntary regulation of brain activity, with promising applications to enhance and recover emotion and cognitive processes, and their underlying neurobiology. It remains unclear whether NFB can be used to aid and sustain complex emotions, with ecological validity implications. We provide a technical proof of concept of a novel real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) NFB procedure. Using rtfMRI-NFB, we enabled participants to voluntarily enhance their own neural activity while they experienced complex emotions. The rtfMRI-NFB software (FRIEND Engine) was adapted to provide a virtual environment as brain computer interface (BCI) and musical excerpts to induce two emotions (tenderness and anguish), aided by participants' preferred personalized strategies to maximize the intensity of these emotions. Eight participants from two experimental sites performed rtfMRI-NFB on two consecutive days in a counterbalanced design. On one day, rtfMRI-NFB was delivered to participants using a region of interest (ROI) method, while on the other day using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier. Our multimodal VR/NFB approach was technically feasible and robust as a method for real-time measurement of the neural correlates of complex emotional states and their voluntary modulation. Guided by the color changes of the virtual environment BCI during rtfMRI-NFB, participants successfully increased in real time, the activity of the septo-hypothalamic area and the amygdala during the ROI based rtfMRI-NFB, and successfully evoked distributed patterns of brain activity classified as tenderness and anguish during SVM-based rtfMRI-NFB. Offline fMRI analyses confirmed that during tenderness rtfMRI-NFB conditions, participants recruited the septo-hypothalamic area and other regions ascribed to social affiliative emotions (medial frontal / temporal pole and precuneus). During anguish rtfMRI-NFB conditions, participants recruited the amygdala and other dorsolateral prefrontal and additional regions associated with negative affect. These findings were robust and were demonstrable at the individual subject level, and were reflected in self-reported emotion intensity during rtfMRI-NFB, being observed with both ROI and SVM methods and across the two sites. Our multimodal VR/rtfMRI-NFB protocol provides an engaging tool for brain-based interventions to enhance emotional states in healthy subjects and may find applications in clinical conditions associated with anxiety, stress and impaired empathy among others.

Dataset Information

Real-time neurofeedback to alter interpretations of a naturalistic narrative.

Publications

Real-time neurofeedback to alter interpretations of a naturalistic narrative.

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