With the use of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (NF), amygdala activitiy can be visualized in real time. In this study, continuous amygdala NF was provided to patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) with the instruction to down-regulate. During four sessions of NF training, patients viewed aversive pictures and received feedback from a thermometer display, which showed the amygdala blood oxygenation level-dependent signal. Conditions of regulation and viewing without regulation were presented. Each session started with a resting-state scan and was followed by a transfer run without NF. Amygdala regulation, task-related and resting-state functional brain connectivity were analyzed. Self-ratings of dissociation and difficulty in emotion regulation were collected. BPD patients down-regulated right amygdala activation but there were no improvements over time. Task-related amygdala-ventromedial prefrontal cortex connectivity was altered across the four sessions, with an increased connectivity when regulating vs viewing pictures. Resting-state amygdala-lateral prefrontal cortex connectivity was altered and dissociation, as well as scores for 'lack of emotional awareness', decreased with training. Results demonstrated that amygdala NF may improve healthy brain connectivity, as well as emotion regulation. A randomized-controlled trial is needed to investigate whether amygdala NF is instrumental for improving neural regulation and emotion regulation in BPD patients.
Alterations of amygdala-prefrontal connectivity with real-time fMRI neurofeedback in BPD patients.
C. Paret,R. Kluetsch,Jenny Zaehringer,M. Ruf,T. Demirakca,M. Bohus,G. Ende,C. Schmahl
Published 2016 in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2016
- Venue
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
- Publication date
2016-06-01
- Fields of study
Medicine, Psychology
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- amygdala-ventromedial prefrontal cortex connectivity
Functional connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex measured during the task.
Aliases: amygdala-vmPFC connectivity, amygdala-ventromedial PFC connectivity
- borderline personality disorder
The clinical participant group enrolled in the neurofeedback sessions.
Aliases: BPD
- dissociation
A self-rated symptom measure collected from participants during the neurofeedback training.
- lack of emotional awareness
A self-rated domain reflecting reduced awareness of emotions that was assessed during training.
Aliases: emotional awareness
- picture viewing condition
The task condition in which participants viewed aversive pictures without attempting regulation.
Aliases: viewing condition, viewing without regulation
- real-time fmri neurofeedback
A feedback method that uses ongoing fMRI signals to show participants their brain activity in real time.
Aliases: RT-fMRI neurofeedback, real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback, NF
- regulation condition
The task condition in which participants were instructed to down-regulate their amygdala response while viewing aversive pictures.
Aliases: regulating condition, regulation
- resting-state amygdala-lateral prefrontal cortex connectivity
Functional connectivity between the amygdala and lateral prefrontal cortex measured during resting-state scans.
Aliases: amygdala-lateral PFC connectivity, resting-state connectivity
- right amygdala activation
The blood oxygenation level-dependent activity in the right amygdala targeted for regulation.
Aliases: right amygdala activity
- training
The four-session neurofeedback training period spanning repeated sessions and transfer runs.
Aliases: four sessions, neurofeedback training
REFERENCES
Showing 1-45 of 45 references · Page 1 of 1