Healthy, Neurofeedback
Conditions
Keywords
real-time neurofeedback, episodic future thinking, mPFC
Brief summary
Randomized active-sham controlled between-subject real-time fMRI neurofeedback trial aiming to modulate activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to improve subjective positive anticipation.
Detailed description
A randomized double-blind sham-controlled between-subject design using real-time fMRI neurofeedback. In a randomized order, a total of 60 healthy subjects will be recruited and assigned (1) experimental group (EG; N=30), which receives real neurofeedback from the left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), or (2) control group (CG; N=30) which receives sham neurofeedback from the primary motor cortex (M1). Neurofeedback training consists of 1 baseline session without feedback, 4 training sessions with real-time feedback, and and 1 transfer session without feedback. Resting state fMRI will be employed to explore neural effects. Objectives are to determine (1) if subjects in the neurofeedback (NF) group can gain volitional control over the mPFC activation using positive episodic regulation strategy, (2) whether successful increased modulation of the mPFC could enhance positive anticipation for future events and motivation (using the Effort-Expenditure for Reward Task, EEfRT).
Interventions
real-time fMRI neurofeedback training procedure running on the Turbo Brain voyager (TBV) 4.2 software (Brain Innovation, Maastricht, The Netherlands)
Sponsors
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Healthy subjects without any past or present psychiatric or neurological disorders
Exclusion criteria
* History of brain injury * Psychiatric or Neurological Disorder * Contraindications for MRI * Regular use of psychotropic substances (medication, drugs)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neural activity of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) based on blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal | 1 hour | Training-induced changes in mPFC activity will be assessed by analyzing BOLD-level activation of the mPFC |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Training-related changes in anticipated pleasure | 1 hour | Participants will be required to rate the anticipated pleasantness of future events using a Likert Scale ranging from 1 to 9 (1 = not at all pleasant) and 9 = very pleasant). |
| Training-related changes in motivational effort | 1 hour | Training-induced changes in motivational effort as measured by the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT) |
Countries
China
Outcome results
None listed