Modulatory effects of dynamic fMRI-based neurofeedback on emotion regulation networks in adolescent females

Catharina Zich; Nicola Johnstone; Michael Lührs; Stephen Lisk; Simone PW. Haller; Annalisa Lipp; Jennifer YF. Lau; Kathrin Cohen Kadosh

NeuroImage (Oct 2020)

Modulatory effects of dynamic fMRI-based neurofeedback on emotion regulation networks in adolescent females

Catharina Zich,
Nicola Johnstone,
Michael Lührs,
Stephen Lisk,
Simone PW. Haller,
Annalisa Lipp,
Jennifer YF. Lau,
Kathrin Cohen Kadosh

Affiliations

Catharina Zich: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; Corresponding author. Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Nicola Johnstone: School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK
Michael Lührs: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6211 LK, the Netherlands; Department of Research and Development, Brain Innovation, Maastricht, 6229 EV, the Netherlands
Stephen Lisk: Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
Simone PW. Haller: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK
Annalisa Lipp: School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK
Jennifer YF. Lau: Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
Kathrin Cohen Kadosh: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK; School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 220
p. 117053

Abstract

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Research has shown that difficulties with emotion regulation abilities in childhood and adolescence increase the risk for developing symptoms of mental disorders, e.g anxiety. We investigated whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based neurofeedback (NF) can modulate brain networks supporting emotion regulation abilities in adolescent females.We performed three experiments (Experiment 1: N = 18; Experiment 2: N = 30; Experiment 3: N = 20). We first compared different NF implementations regarding their effectiveness of modulating prefrontal cortex (PFC)-amygdala functional connectivity (fc). Further we assessed the effects of fc-NF on neural measures, emotional/metacognitive measures and their associations. Finally, we probed the mechanism underlying fc-NF by examining concentrations of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters.Results showed that NF implementations differentially modulate PFC-amygdala fc. Using the most effective NF implementation we observed important relationships between neural and emotional/metacognitive measures, such as practice-related change in fc was related with change in thought control ability. Further, we found that the relationship between state anxiety prior to the MRI session and the effect of fc-NF was moderated by GABA concentrations in the PFC and anterior cingulate cortex.To conclude, we were able to show that fc-NF can be used in adolescent females to shape neural and emotional/metacognitive measures underlying emotion regulation. We further show that neurotransmitter concentrations moderate fc–NF–effects.

Published in NeuroImage

ISSN: 1053-8119 (Print); 1095-9572 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/neuroimage

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