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Kumari R, Gibson H, Jarjees M, Turner C, Purcell M, Vučković A. The predictive value of cortical activity during motor imagery for subacute spinal cord injury-induced neuropathic pain. Clin Neurophysiol 2023; 148:32-43. [PMID: 36796284 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2023.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to explore whether cortical activation and its lateralization during motor imagery (MI) in subacute spinal cord injury (SCI) are indicative of existing or upcoming central neuropathic pain (CNP). METHODS Multichannel electroencephalogram was recorded during MI of both hands in four groups of participants: able-bodied (N = 10), SCI and CNP (N = 11), SCI who developed CNP within 6 months of EEG recording (N = 10), and SCI who remained CNP-free (N = 10). Source activations and its lateralization were derived in four frequency bands in 20 regions spanning sensorimotor cortex and pain matrix. RESULTS Statistically significant differences in lateralization were found in the theta band in premotor cortex (upcoming vs existing CNP, p = 0.036), in the alpha band at the insula (healthy vs upcoming CNP, p = 0.012), and in the higher beta band at the somatosensory association cortex (no CNP vs upcoming CNP, p = 0.042). People with upcoming CNP had stronger activation compared to those with no CNP in the higher beta band for MI of both hands. CONCLUSIONS Activation intensity and lateralization during MI in pain-related areas might hold a predictive value for CNP. SIGNIFICANCE The study increases understanding of the mechanisms underlying transition from asymptomatic to symptomatic early CNP in SCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radha Kumari
- Biomedical Engineering Research Division, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Hannah Gibson
- Biomedical Engineering Research Division, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Mohammed Jarjees
- Biomedical Engineering Research Division, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK; Medical Instrumentation Techniques Engineering Department, Northern Technical University, Mosul 41002, Iraq
| | - Christopher Turner
- Biomedical Engineering Research Division, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Mariel Purcell
- Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow G51 4TF, UK
| | - Aleksandra Vučković
- Biomedical Engineering Research Division, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
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2
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Fink M, Pasche S, Schmidt K, Tewes M, Schuler M, Mülley BW, Schadendorf D, Scherbaum N, Kowalski A, Skoda EM, Teufel M. Neurofeedback Treatment Affects Affective Symptoms, But Not Perceived Cognitive Impairment in Cancer Patients: Results of an Explorative Randomized Controlled Trial. Integr Cancer Ther 2023; 22:15347354221149950. [PMID: 36691908 PMCID: PMC9893099 DOI: 10.1177/15347354221149950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND EEG biofeedback (NF) is an established therapy to enable individuals to influence their own cognitive-emotional state by addressing changes in brainwaves. Psycho-oncological approaches of NF in cancer patients are rare and effects are hardly studied. OBJECTIVE The aim of this explorative, randomized controlled trial was to test the effectiveness of an alpha and theta NF training protocol, compared to mindfulness based therapy as an established psycho-oncological treatment. METHODS Of initially 62 screened patients, 56 were included (inclusion criteria were cancer independent of tumor stage, age >18 years, German speaking; exclusion criteria suicidal ideation, brain tumor). Randomization and stratification (tumor stage) was conducted by a computer system. Participants got 10 sessions over 5 weeks, in (a) an NF intervention (n = 21; 13 female, 8 male; MAge = 52.95(10 519); range = 31 to 73 years)) or (b) a mindfulness group therapy as control condition (CG; n = 21; ie, 15 female, 6 male; MAge = 50.33(8708); range = 32 to 67 years)). Outcome parameters included self-reported cognitive impairment (PCI) as primary outcome, and secondary outcomes of emotional distress (DT, PHQ-8, GAD-7), fatigue (MFI-20), rumination (RSQ), quality of life (QoL, EORTC-30 QoL), self-efficacy (GSE), and changes in EEG alpha, and theta-beta band performance in the NF condition. RESULTS No changes in cognitive impairment were found (P = .079), neither in NF nor CG. High affective distress was evident, with 70.7% showing elevated distress and 34.1% showing severe depressive symptoms. Affective symptoms of distress (P ≤ .01), depression (P ≤ .05) and generalized anxiety (P ≤ .05) decreased significantly over time. No differences between NF and CG were found. There was a significant increase of the alpha band (P ≤ .05; N = 15) over the NF sessions. Self-efficacy predicted QoL increase in NF with P ≤ .001 and an explained variance of 48.2%. CONCLUSION This is the first study to investigate NF technique with regard to basic mechanisms of effectiveness in a sample of cancer patients, compared to an established psycho-oncological intervention in this field. Though there were no changes in cognitive impairment, present data show that NF improves affective symptoms comparably to mindfulness-based therapy and even more pronounced in QoL and self-efficacy.Trial registration: ID: DRKS00015773.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Fink
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,Madeleine Fink, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, LVR-University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Virchowstraße 174, Essen 45147, Germany. Emails: ;
| | | | | | - Mitra Tewes
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Martin Schuler
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,Partner Site University Hospital Essen, and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Essen, Germany
| | - Bernhard W. Mülley
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Dirk Schadendorf
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | | | - Axel Kowalski
- NeuroFit GmbH, Krefeld, Germany,IB University of Applied Health and Social Sciences, Berlin, Germany
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3
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Sanders ZB, Fleming MK, Smejka T, Marzolla MC, Zich C, Rieger SW, Lührs M, Goebel R, Sampaio-Baptista C, Johansen-Berg H. Self-modulation of motor cortex activity after stroke: a randomized controlled trial. Brain 2022; 145:3391-3404. [PMID: 35960166 PMCID: PMC9586541 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awac239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Real-time functional MRI neurofeedback allows individuals to self-modulate their ongoing brain activity. This may be a useful tool in clinical disorders that are associated with altered brain activity patterns. Motor impairment after stroke has previously been associated with decreased laterality of motor cortex activity. Here we examined whether chronic stroke survivors were able to use real-time fMRI neurofeedback to increase laterality of motor cortex activity and assessed effects on motor performance and on brain structure and function. We carried out a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03775915) in which 24 chronic stroke survivors with mild to moderate upper limb impairment experienced three training days of either Real (n = 12) or Sham (n = 12) neurofeedback. Assessments of brain structure, brain function and measures of upper-limb function were carried out before and 1 week after neurofeedback training. Additionally, measures of upper-limb function were repeated 1 month after neurofeedback training. Primary outcome measures were (i) changes in lateralization of motor cortex activity during movements of the stroke-affected hand throughout neurofeedback training days; and (ii) changes in motor performance of the affected limb on the Jebsen Taylor Test (JTT). Stroke survivors were able to use Real neurofeedback to increase laterality of motor cortex activity within (P = 0.019), but not across, training days. There was no group effect on the primary behavioural outcome measure, which was average JTT performance across all subtasks (P = 0.116). Secondary analysis found improvements in the performance of the gross motor subtasks of the JTT in the Real neurofeedback group compared to Sham (P = 0.010). However, there were no improvements on the Action Research Arm Test or the Upper Extremity Fugl–Meyer score (both P > 0.5). Additionally, decreased white-matter asymmetry of the corticospinal tracts was detected 1 week after neurofeedback training (P = 0.008), indicating that the tracts become more similar with Real neurofeedback. Changes in the affected corticospinal tract were positively correlated with participants neurofeedback performance (P = 0.002). Therefore, here we demonstrate that chronic stroke survivors are able to use functional MRI neurofeedback to self-modulate motor cortex activity in comparison to a Sham control, and that training is associated with improvements in gross hand motor performance and with white matter structural changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeena Britt Sanders
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Melanie K Fleming
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Tom Smejka
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Marilien C Marzolla
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Catharina Zich
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Sebastian W Rieger
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Michael Lührs
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6229 EV Maastricht, The Netherlands.,Research Department, Brain Innovation B.V., 6229 EV Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6229 EV Maastricht, The Netherlands.,Research Department, Brain Innovation B.V., 6229 EV Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Cassandra Sampaio-Baptista
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.,Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
| | - Heidi Johansen-Berg
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
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De Filippi E, Marins T, Escrichs A, Gilson M, Moll J, Tovar-Moll F, Deco G. One session of fMRI-Neurofeedback training on motor imagery modulates whole-brain effective connectivity and dynamical complexity. Cereb Cortex Commun 2022; 3:tgac027. [PMID: 36072710 PMCID: PMC9441014 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgac027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past decade, several studies have shown that Neurofeedback (NFB) by functional magnetic resonance imaging can alter the functional coupling of targeted and non-targeted areas. However, the causal mechanisms underlying these changes remain uncertain. Here, we applied a whole-brain dynamical model to estimate Effective Connectivity (EC) profiles of resting-state data acquired before and immediately after a single-session NFB training for 17 participants who underwent motor imagery NFB training and 16 healthy controls who received sham feedback. Within-group and between-group classification analyses revealed that only for the NFB group it was possible to accurately discriminate between the 2 resting-state sessions. NFB training-related signatures were reflected in a support network of direct connections between areas involved in reward processing and implicit learning, together with regions belonging to the somatomotor, control, attention, and default mode networks, identified through a recursive-feature elimination procedure. By applying a data-driven approach to explore NFB-induced changes in spatiotemporal dynamics, we demonstrated that these regions also showed decreased switching between different brain states (i.e. metastability) only following real NFB training. Overall, our findings contribute to the understanding of NFB impact on the whole brain’s structure and function by shedding light on the direct connections between brain areas affected by NFB training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora De Filippi
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas , 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Theo Marins
- D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rua Diniz Cordeiro 30, Botafogo-Rio de Janeiro , 22281-100, Brazil
- Post-Graduate Program in Morphological Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Citade universitaria da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro , 21941-590, Brazil
| | - Anira Escrichs
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas , 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Matthieu Gilson
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas , 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Jorge Moll
- D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rua Diniz Cordeiro 30, Botafogo-Rio de Janeiro , 22281-100, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Tovar-Moll
- D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rua Diniz Cordeiro 30, Botafogo-Rio de Janeiro , 22281-100, Brazil
- Post-Graduate Program in Morphological Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Citade universitaria da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro , 21941-590, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Deco
- Institució Catalana de la Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig de Lluis Companys , 23, 08010, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for human Cognitive and Brain Sciences , Stephanstrasse 1a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University level 5 , 18 Innovation Walk, Clayton Campus. Wellington Road, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia
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5
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fMRI neurofeedback in the motor system elicits bidirectional changes in activity and in white matter structure in the adult human brain. Cell Rep 2021; 37:109890. [PMID: 34706229 PMCID: PMC8961413 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
White matter (WM) plasticity supports skill learning and memory. Up- and downregulation of brain activity in animal models lead to WM alterations. But can bidirectional brain-activity manipulation change WM structure in the adult human brain? We employ fMRI neurofeedback to endogenously and directionally modulate activity in the sensorimotor cortices. Diffusion tensor imaging is acquired before and after two separate conditions, involving regulating sensorimotor activity either up or down using real or sham neurofeedback (n = 20 participants × 4 scans). We report rapid opposing changes in corpus callosum microstructure that depend on the direction of activity modulation. Our findings show that fMRI neurofeedback can be used to endogenously and directionally alter not only brain-activity patterns but also WM pathways connecting the targeted brain areas. The level of associated brain activity in connected areas is therefore a possible mediator of previously described learning-related changes in WM.
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Guler S, Cohen AL, Afacan O, Warfield SK. Matched neurofeedback during fMRI differentially activates reward-related circuits in active and sham groups. J Neuroimaging 2021; 31:947-955. [PMID: 34101274 DOI: 10.1111/jon.12899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Functional MRI neurofeedback (fMRI-nf) leverages the brain's ability to self-regulate its own activity. However, self-regulation processes engaged during fMRI-nf are incompletely understood. Here, we used matched feedback in an fMRI-nf experimental protocol to investigate whether brain processes recognize true neurofeedback signals. METHODS We implemented an existing fMRI-nf protocol to train lateralized motor activity using a finger-tap task in conjunction with real-time feedback. Twelve healthy, right-handed, adult participants were assigned into age- and sex-matched active and sham study groups. Matched participant pairs received the same visual feedback, based on brain activity of the participant from the active group. We compared group-averaged activation maps before, during, and after neurofeedback, and analyzed changes in lateralized motor activity due to neurofeedback. RESULTS Active and sham groups demonstrated different brain activation to the same feedback during neurofeedback. In particular, there was higher activation in visual cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, and right inferior frontal gyrus in the active group compared to the sham group. Conversely, sham participants demonstrated higher activation in anterior cingulate cortex, left frontal pole, and posterior superior temporal gyrus. Despite differing brain activations during neurofeedback, neither group demonstrated significant improvement in lateralized motor activity from pre to postfeedback scan in the same session. We also observed no significant difference between pre and postfeedback activation maps, suggesting that no significant finger-tap related functional reorganization had occurred. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that fMRI neurofeedback paradigms that monitor or incorporate activity from regions reported here would provide enhanced efficacy for research investigation and clinical intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyhmus Guler
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, Boston, USA
| | - Alexander L Cohen
- Computational Radiology Lab, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, Boston, USA.,Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, Boston, USA
| | - Onur Afacan
- Computational Radiology Lab, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, Boston, USA
| | - Simon K Warfield
- Computational Radiology Lab, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, Boston, USA
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Upregulation of Supplementary Motor Area Activation with fMRI Neurofeedback during Motor Imagery. eNeuro 2021; 8:ENEURO.0377-18.2020. [PMID: 33376115 PMCID: PMC7877466 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0377-18.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2018] [Revised: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback (NF) is a promising tool to study the relationship between behavior and brain activity. It enables people to self-regulate their brain signal. Here, we applied fMRI NF to train healthy participants to increase activity in their supplementary motor area (SMA) during a motor imagery (MI) task of complex body movements while they received a continuous visual feedback signal. This signal represented the activity of participants’ localized SMA regions in the NF group and a prerecorded signal in the control group (sham feedback). In the NF group only, results showed a gradual increase in SMA-related activity across runs. This upregulation was largely restricted to the SMA, while other regions of the motor network showed no, or only marginal NF effects. In addition, we found behavioral changes, i.e., shorter reaction times in a Go/No-go task after the NF training only. These results suggest that NF can assist participants to develop greater control over a specifically targeted motor region involved in motor skill learning. The results contribute to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of SMA NF based on MI with a direct implication for rehabilitation of motor dysfunctions.
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8
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Mehler DMA, Williams AN, Krause F, Lührs M, Wise RG, Turner DL, Linden DEJ, Whittaker JR. The BOLD response in primary motor cortex and supplementary motor area during kinesthetic motor imagery based graded fMRI neurofeedback. Neuroimage 2019; 184:36-44. [PMID: 30205210 PMCID: PMC6264383 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Revised: 08/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/04/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
There is increasing interest in exploring the use of functional MRI neurofeedback (fMRI-NF) as a therapeutic technique for a range of neurological conditions such as stroke and Parkinson's disease (PD). One main therapeutic potential of fMRI-NF is to enhance volitional control of damaged or dysfunctional neural nodes and networks via a closed-loop feedback model using mental imagery as the catalyst of self-regulation. The choice of target node/network and direction of regulation (increase or decrease activity) are central design considerations in fMRI-NF studies. Whilst it remains unclear whether the primary motor cortex (M1) can be activated during motor imagery, the supplementary motor area (SMA) has been robustly activated during motor imagery. Such differences in the regulation potential between primary and supplementary motor cortex are important because these areas can be differentially affected by a stroke or PD, and the choice of fMRI-NF target and grade of self-regulation of activity likely have substantial influence on the clinical effects and cost effectiveness of NF-based interventions. In this study we therefore investigated firstly whether healthy subjects would be able to achieve self-regulation of the hand-representation areas of M1 and the SMA using fMRI-NF training. There was a significant decrease in M1 neural activity during fMRI-NF, whereas SMA neural activity was increased, albeit not with the predicated graded effect. This study has important implications for fMRI-NF protocols that employ motor imagery to modulate activity in specific target regions of the brain and to determine how they may be tailored for neurorehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M A Mehler
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom
| | - Angharad N Williams
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom
| | - Florian Krause
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Lührs
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Brain Innovation B.V, Oxfordlaan 55, 6229 EV, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Richard G Wise
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom
| | - Duncan L Turner
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, University of East London, London, E15 4LZ, United Kingdom
| | - David E J Linden
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Joseph R Whittaker
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, United Kingdom.
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10
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Wang T, Mantini D, Gillebert CR. The potential of real-time fMRI neurofeedback for stroke rehabilitation: A systematic review. Cortex 2017; 107:148-165. [PMID: 28992948 PMCID: PMC6182108 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Revised: 08/02/2017] [Accepted: 09/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) neurofeedback aids the modulation of neural functions by training self-regulation of brain activity through operant conditioning. This technique has been applied to treat several neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, but its effectiveness for stroke rehabilitation has not been examined yet. Here, we systematically review the effectiveness of rt-fMRI neurofeedback training in modulating motor and cognitive processes that are often impaired after stroke. Based on predefined search criteria, we selected and examined 33 rt-fMRI neurofeedback studies, including 651 healthy individuals and 15 stroke patients in total. The results of our systematic review suggest that rt-fMRI neurofeedback training can lead to a learned modulation of brain signals, with associated changes at both the neural and the behavioural level. However, more research is needed to establish how its use can be optimized in the context of stroke rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianlu Wang
- Department of Brain & Cognition, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dante Mantini
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Research Center for Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Celine R Gillebert
- Department of Brain & Cognition, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
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