Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity
IntroductionMaladaptive functioning of the amygdala has been associated with impaired emotion regulation in affective disorders. Recent advances in real-time fMRI neurofeedback have successfully demonstrated the modulation of amygdala activity in healthy and psychiatric populations. In contrast to a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1286665/full |
| _version_ | 1797357742545960960 |
|---|---|
| author | Apurva Watve Amelie Haugg Nada Frei Yury Koush David Willinger David Willinger David Willinger Annette Beatrix Bruehl Annette Beatrix Bruehl Philipp Stämpfli Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Ronald Sladky Ronald Sladky |
| author_facet | Apurva Watve Amelie Haugg Nada Frei Yury Koush David Willinger David Willinger David Willinger Annette Beatrix Bruehl Annette Beatrix Bruehl Philipp Stämpfli Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Ronald Sladky Ronald Sladky |
| author_sort | Apurva Watve |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionMaladaptive functioning of the amygdala has been associated with impaired emotion regulation in affective disorders. Recent advances in real-time fMRI neurofeedback have successfully demonstrated the modulation of amygdala activity in healthy and psychiatric populations. In contrast to an abstract feedback representation applied in standard neurofeedback designs, we proposed a novel neurofeedback paradigm using naturalistic stimuli like human emotional faces as the feedback display where change in the facial expression intensity (from neutral to happy or from fearful to neutral) was coupled with the participant’s ongoing bilateral amygdala activity.MethodsThe feasibility of this experimental approach was tested on 64 healthy participants who completed a single training session with four neurofeedback runs. Participants were assigned to one of the four experimental groups (n = 16 per group), i.e., happy-up, happy-down, fear-up, fear-down. Depending on the group assignment, they were either instructed to “try to make the face happier” by upregulating (happy-up) or downregulating (happy-down) the amygdala or to “try to make the face less fearful” by upregulating (fear-up) or downregulating (fear-down) the amygdala feedback signal.ResultsLinear mixed effect analyses revealed significant amygdala activity changes in the fear condition, specifically in the fear-down group with significant amygdala downregulation in the last two neurofeedback runs as compared to the first run. The happy-up and happy-down groups did not show significant amygdala activity changes over four runs. We did not observe significant improvement in the questionnaire scores and subsequent behavior. Furthermore, task-dependent effective connectivity changes between the amygdala, fusiform face area (FFA), and the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) were examined using dynamic causal modeling. The effective connectivity between FFA and the amygdala was significantly increased in the happy-up group (facilitatory effect) and decreased in the fear-down group. Notably, the amygdala was downregulated through an inhibitory mechanism mediated by mOFC during the first training run.DiscussionIn this feasibility study, we intended to address key neurofeedback processes like naturalistic facial stimuli, participant engagement in the task, bidirectional regulation, task congruence, and their influence on learning success. It demonstrated that such a versatile emotional face feedback paradigm can be tailored to target biased emotion processing in affective disorders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:49:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e24474a0d9224dc2b940a5f1eebd5a07 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:49:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-e24474a0d9224dc2b940a5f1eebd5a072024-01-11T04:53:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2024-01-011710.3389/fnins.2023.12866651286665Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activityApurva Watve0Amelie Haugg1Nada Frei2Yury Koush3David Willinger4David Willinger5David Willinger6Annette Beatrix Bruehl7Annette Beatrix Bruehl8Philipp Stämpfli9Frank Scharnowski10Frank Scharnowski11Frank Scharnowski12Frank Scharnowski13Ronald Sladky14Ronald Sladky15Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandMagnetic Resonance Research Center (MRRC), Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United StatesDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDivision of Psychodynamics, Department of Psychology and Psychodynamics, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria, AustriaNeuroscience Center Zürich, University of Zürich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandCenter for Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders, Psychiatric University Hospital Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandNeuroscience Center Zürich, University of Zürich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, SwitzerlandZurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandSocial, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaIntroductionMaladaptive functioning of the amygdala has been associated with impaired emotion regulation in affective disorders. Recent advances in real-time fMRI neurofeedback have successfully demonstrated the modulation of amygdala activity in healthy and psychiatric populations. In contrast to an abstract feedback representation applied in standard neurofeedback designs, we proposed a novel neurofeedback paradigm using naturalistic stimuli like human emotional faces as the feedback display where change in the facial expression intensity (from neutral to happy or from fearful to neutral) was coupled with the participant’s ongoing bilateral amygdala activity.MethodsThe feasibility of this experimental approach was tested on 64 healthy participants who completed a single training session with four neurofeedback runs. Participants were assigned to one of the four experimental groups (n = 16 per group), i.e., happy-up, happy-down, fear-up, fear-down. Depending on the group assignment, they were either instructed to “try to make the face happier” by upregulating (happy-up) or downregulating (happy-down) the amygdala or to “try to make the face less fearful” by upregulating (fear-up) or downregulating (fear-down) the amygdala feedback signal.ResultsLinear mixed effect analyses revealed significant amygdala activity changes in the fear condition, specifically in the fear-down group with significant amygdala downregulation in the last two neurofeedback runs as compared to the first run. The happy-up and happy-down groups did not show significant amygdala activity changes over four runs. We did not observe significant improvement in the questionnaire scores and subsequent behavior. Furthermore, task-dependent effective connectivity changes between the amygdala, fusiform face area (FFA), and the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) were examined using dynamic causal modeling. The effective connectivity between FFA and the amygdala was significantly increased in the happy-up group (facilitatory effect) and decreased in the fear-down group. Notably, the amygdala was downregulated through an inhibitory mechanism mediated by mOFC during the first training run.DiscussionIn this feasibility study, we intended to address key neurofeedback processes like naturalistic facial stimuli, participant engagement in the task, bidirectional regulation, task congruence, and their influence on learning success. It demonstrated that such a versatile emotional face feedback paradigm can be tailored to target biased emotion processing in affective disorders.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1286665/fullreal-time fMRIneurofeedbackamygdalaemotion regulationdynamic faces |
| spellingShingle | Apurva Watve Amelie Haugg Nada Frei Yury Koush David Willinger David Willinger David Willinger Annette Beatrix Bruehl Annette Beatrix Bruehl Philipp Stämpfli Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Frank Scharnowski Ronald Sladky Ronald Sladky Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity Frontiers in Neuroscience real-time fMRI neurofeedback amygdala emotion regulation dynamic faces |
| title | Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity |
| title_full | Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity |
| title_fullStr | Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity |
| title_short | Facing emotions: real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity |
| title_sort | facing emotions real time fmri based neurofeedback using dynamic emotional faces to modulate amygdala activity |
| topic | real-time fMRI neurofeedback amygdala emotion regulation dynamic faces |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1286665/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT apurvawatve facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT ameliehaugg facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT nadafrei facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT yurykoush facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT davidwillinger facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT davidwillinger facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT davidwillinger facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT annettebeatrixbruehl facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT annettebeatrixbruehl facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT philippstampfli facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT frankscharnowski facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT frankscharnowski facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT frankscharnowski facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT frankscharnowski facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT ronaldsladky facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity AT ronaldsladky facingemotionsrealtimefmribasedneurofeedbackusingdynamicemotionalfacestomodulateamygdalaactivity |