Dynamic Functional Network Connectivity Changes Associated with fMRI Neurofeedback of Right Premotor Cortex.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Long Z
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8147082 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with poor self-control, underpinned by inferior fronto-striatal deficits. We showed previously that 18 ADHD adolescents over 11 runs of 8.5 min of real-time functional magnetic resonance neurofeedback of the right inferior frontal cortex (rIFC) progressively increased activation in 2 regions of the rIFC which was associated with clinical symptom improvement. In this study, we used functional connectivity analyses to investigate whether fMRI-Neurofeedback of rIFC resulted in dynamic functional connectivity changes in underlying neural networks. Whole-brain seed-based functional connectivity analyses were conducted using the two clusters showing progressively increased activation in rIFC as seed regions to test for changes in functional connectivity before and after 11 fMRI-Neurofeedback runs. Furthermore, we tested whether the resulting functional connectivity changes were associated with clinical symptom improvements and whether they were specific to fMRI-Neurofeedback of rIFC when compared to a control group who had to self-regulate another region. rIFC showed increased positive functional connectivity after relative to before fMRI-Neurofeedback with dorsal caudate and anterior cingulate and increased negative functional connectivity with regions of the default mode network (DMN) such as posterior cingulate and precuneus. Furthermore, the functional connectivity changes were correlated with clinical improvements and the functional connectivity and correlation findings were specific to the rIFC-Neurofeedback group. The findings show for the first time that fMRI-Neurofeedback of a typically dysfunctional frontal region in ADHD adolescents leads to strengthening within fronto-cingulo-striatal networks and to weakening of functional connectivity with posterior DMN regions and that this may be underlying clinical improvement.
| S-EPMC6414400 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neurofeedback by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of potential therapeutic relevance that allows individuals to be aware of their own neurophysiological responses and to voluntarily modulate the activity of specific brain regions, such as the premotor cortex (PMC), important for motor recovery after brain injury. We investigated (i) whether healthy human volunteers are able to up-regulate the activity of the left PMC during a right hand finger tapping motor imagery (MI) task while receiving continuous fMRI-neurofeedback, and (ii) whether successful modulation of brain activity influenced non-targeted motor control regions. During the MI task, participants of the neurofeedback group (NFB) received ongoing visual feedback representing the level of fMRI responses within their left PMC. Control (CTL) group participants were shown similar visual stimuli, but these were non-contingent on brain activity. Both groups showed equivalent levels of behavioral ratings on arousal and MI, before and during the fMRI protocol. In the NFB, but not in CLT group, brain activation during the last run compared to the first run revealed increased activation in the left PMC. In addition, the NFB group showed increased activation in motor control regions extending beyond the left PMC target area, including the supplementary motor area, basal ganglia and cerebellum. Moreover, in the last run, the NFB group showed stronger activation in the left PMC/inferior frontal gyrus when compared to the CTL group. Our results indicate that modulation of PMC and associated motor control areas can be achieved during a single neurofeedback-fMRI session. These results contribute to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of MI-based neurofeedback training, with direct implications for rehabilitation strategies in severe brain disorders, such as stroke.
| S-EPMC4689787 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neurofeedback based on real-time fMRI is an emerging technique that can be used to train voluntary control of brain activity. Such brain training has been shown to lead to behavioral effects that are specific to the functional role of the targeted brain area. However, real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback so far was limited to mainly training localized brain activity within a region of interest. Here, we overcome this limitation by presenting near real-time dynamic causal modeling in order to provide feedback information based on connectivity between brain areas rather than activity within a single brain area. Using a visual-spatial attention paradigm, we show that participants can voluntarily control a feedback signal that is based on the Bayesian model comparison between two predefined model alternatives, i.e. the connectivity between left visual cortex and left parietal cortex vs. the connectivity between right visual cortex and right parietal cortex. Our new approach thus allows for training voluntary control over specific functional brain networks. Because most mental functions and most neurological disorders are associated with network activity rather than with activity in a single brain region, this novel approach is an important methodological innovation in order to more directly target functionally relevant brain networks.
| S-EPMC3734349 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neuroimaging studies have found 'reality monitoring', our ability to distinguish internally generated experiences from those derived from the external world, to be associated with activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the brain. Here we probe the functional underpinning of this ability using real-time fMRI neurofeedback to investigate the involvement of mPFC in recollection of the source of self-generated information. Thirty-nine healthy individuals underwent neurofeedback training in a between groups study receiving either Active feedback derived from the paracingulate region of the mPFC (21 subjects) or Sham feedback based on a similar level of randomised signal (18 subjects). Compared to those in the Sham group, participants receiving Active signal showed increased mPFC activity over the course of three real-time neurofeedback training runs undertaken in a single scanning session. Analysis of resting state functional connectivity associated with changes in reality monitoring accuracy following Active neurofeedback revealed increased connectivity between dorsolateral frontal regions of the fronto-parietal network (FPN) and the mPFC region of the default mode network (DMN), together with reduced connectivity within ventral regions of the FPN itself. However, only a trend effect was observed in the interaction of the recollection of the source of Imagined information compared with recognition memory between participants receiving Active and Sham neurofeedback, pre- and post- scanning. As such, these findings demonstrate that neurofeedback can be used to modulate mPFC activity and increase cooperation between the FPN and DMN, but the effects on reality monitoring performance are less clear.
| S-EPMC8752965 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Motor or perceptual learning is known to influence functional connectivity between brain regions and induce short-term changes in the intrinsic functional networks revealed as correlations in slow blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal fluctuations. However, no cause-and-effect relationship has been elucidated between a specific change in connectivity and a long-term change in global networks. Here, we examine the hypothesis that functional connectivity (i.e., temporal correlation between two regions) is increased and preserved for a long time when two regions are simultaneously activated or deactivated. Using the connectivity-neurofeedback training paradigm, subjects successfully learned to increase the correlation of activity between the lateral parietal and primary motor areas, regions that belong to different intrinsic networks and negatively correlated before training under the resting conditions. Furthermore, whole-brain hypothesis-free analysis as well as functional network analyses demonstrated that the correlation in the resting state between these areas as well as the correlation between the intrinsic networks that include the areas increased for at least 2 months. These findings indicate that the connectivity-neurofeedback training can cause long-term changes in intrinsic connectivity and that intrinsic networks can be shaped by experience-driven modulation of regional correlation.
| S-EPMC4377493 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Due to its central role in cognitive control, the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) has been the target of multiple brain modulation studies. In the context of the present pilot study, the dlPFC was the target of eight repeated neurofeedback (NF) sessions with functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess the brain responses during NF and with functional and resting state magnetic resonance imaging (task-based fMRI and rsMRI) scanning. Fifteen healthy participants were recruited. Cognitive task fMRI and rsMRI were performed during the 1st and the 8th NF sessions. During NF, our data revealed an increased activity in the dlPFC as well as in brain regions involved in cognitive control and self-regulation learning (pFWE < 0.05). Changes in functional connectivity between the 1st and the 8th session revealed increased connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and the dlPFC, and between the posterior cingulate cortex and the dorsal striatum (pFWE < 0.05). Decreased left dlPFC-left insula connectivity was also observed. Behavioural results revealed a significant effect of hunger and motivation on the participant control feeling and a lower control feeling when participants did not identify an effective mental strategy, providing new insights on the effects of behavioural factors that may affect the NF learning.
| S-EPMC11358514 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Despite the existence of several emotion regulation studies using neurofeedback, interactions among a small number of regions were evaluated, and therefore, further investigation is needed to understand the interactions of the brain regions involved in emotion regulation. We implemented electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback with simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a modified happiness-inducing task through autobiographical memories to upregulate positive emotion. Then, an explorative analysis of whole brain regions was done to understand the effect of neurofeedback on brain activity and the interaction of whole brain regions involved in emotion regulation. The participants in the control and experimental groups were asked to do emotion regulation while viewing positive images of autobiographical memories and getting sham or real (based on alpha asymmetry) EEG neurofeedback, respectively. The proposed multimodal approach quantified the effects of EEG neurofeedback in changing EEG alpha power, fMRI blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) activity of prefrontal, occipital, parietal, and limbic regions (up to 1.9% increase), and functional connectivity in/between prefrontal, parietal, limbic system, and insula in the experimental group. New connectivity links were identified by comparing the brain functional connectivity between experimental conditions (Upregulation and View blocks) and also by comparing the brain connectivity of the experimental and control groups. Psychometric assessments confirmed significant changes in positive and negative mood states in the experimental group by neurofeedback. Based on the exploratory analysis of activity and connectivity among all brain regions involved in emotion regions, we found significant BOLD and functional connectivity increases due to EEG neurofeedback in the experimental group, but no learning effect was observed in the control group. The results reveal several new connections among brain regions as a result of EEG neurofeedback which can be justified according to emotion regulation models and the role of those regions in emotion regulation and recalling positive autobiographical memories.
| S-EPMC9853008 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Depressive disorders contribute heavily to global disease burden; This is possibly because patients are often treated homogeneously, despite having heterogeneous symptoms with differing underlying neural mechanisms. A novel treatment that can directly influence the neural circuit relevant to an individual patient's subset of symptoms might more precisely and thus effectively aid in the alleviation of their specific symptoms. We tested this hypothesis in a proof-of-concept study using fMRI functional connectivity neurofeedback. We targeted connectivity between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex/middle frontal gyrus and the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, because this connection has been well-established as relating to a specific subset of depressive symptoms. Specifically, this connectivity has been shown in a data-driven manner to be less anticorrelated in patients with melancholic depression than in healthy controls. Furthermore, a posterior cingulate dominant state-which results in a loss of this anticorrelation-is expected to specifically relate to an increase in rumination symptoms such as brooding. In line with predictions, we found that, with neurofeedback training, the more a participant normalized this connectivity (restored the anticorrelation), the more related (depressive and brooding symptoms), but not unrelated (trait anxiety), symptoms were reduced. Because these results look promising, this paradigm next needs to be examined with a greater sample size and with better controls. Nonetheless, here we provide preliminary evidence for a correlation between the normalization of a neural network and a reduction in related symptoms. Showing their reproducibility, these results were found in two experiments that took place several years apart by different experimenters. Indicative of its potential clinical utility, effects of this treatment remained one-two months later.Clinical trial registration: Both experiments reported here were registered clinical trials (UMIN000015249, jRCTs052180169).
| S-EPMC8850610 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMotor information in the brain is transmitted from the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) to the primary motor cortex (M1), where it is further processed and relayed to the spinal cord to eventually generate muscle movement. However, how information from the PMd affects M1 processing and the final output is unclear. Here, we applied intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) to the PMd to alter cortical excitability not only at the application site but also at the PMd projection site of M1. We aimed to determine how PMd iTBS-altered information changed M1 processing and the corticospinal output.MethodsIn total, 16 young, healthy participants underwent PMd iTBS with 600 pulses (iTBS600) or sham-iTBS600. Corticospinal excitability, short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and intracortical facilitation (ICF) were measured using transcranial magnetic stimulation before and up to 60 min after stimulation.ResultsCorticospinal excitability in M1 was significantly greater 15 min after PMd iTBS600 than that after sham-iTBS600 (p = 0.012). Compared with that after sham-iTBS600, at 0 (p = 0.014) and 15 (p = 0.037) min after iTBS600, SICI in M1 was significantly decreased, whereas 15 min after iTBS600, ICF in M1 was significantly increased (p = 0.033).ConclusionOur results suggested that projections from the PMd to M1 facilitated M1 corticospinal output and that this facilitation may be attributable in part to decreased intracortical inhibition and increased intracortical facilitation in M1. Such a facilitatory network may inform future understanding of the allocation of resources to achieve optimal motion output.
| S-EPMC7346859 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The right dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) of humans has been reported to be involved in a broad range of motor and cognitive functions. We explored the basis of this behavioral heterogeneity by performing a connectivity-based parcellation using meta-analytic approach applied to PMd coactivations. We compared our connectivity-based parcellation results with parcellations obtained through resting-state functional connectivity and probabilistic diffusion tractography. Functional connectivity profiles and behavioral decoding of the resulting PMd subregions allowed characterizing their respective behavior profile. These procedures divided the right PMd into 5 distinct subregions that formed a cognitive-motor gradient along a rostro-caudal axis. In particular, we found 1) a rostral subregion functionally connected with prefrontal cortex, which likely supports high-level cognitive processes, such as working memory, 2) a central subregion showing a mixed behavioral profile and functional connectivity to parietal regions of the dorsal attention network, and 3) a caudal subregion closely integrated with the motor system. Additionally, we found 4) a dorsal subregion, preferentially related to hand movements and connected to both cognitive and motor regions, and 5) a ventral subregion, whose functional profile fits the concept of an eye movement-related field. In conclusion, right PMd may be considered as a functional mosaic formed by 5 subregions.
| S-EPMC5963821 | biostudies-literature