scholarly journals Real-time fMRI neurofeedback reduces auditory hallucinations and modulates resting state connectivity of involved brain regions: Part 2: Default mode network -preliminary evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 284 ◽  
pp. 112770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens C.C. Bauer ◽  
Kana Okano ◽  
Satrajit S. Ghosh ◽  
Yoon Ji Lee ◽  
Helena Melero ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S10-S10
Author(s):  
Margaret Niznikiewicz ◽  
Kana Okano ◽  
Clemens Bauer ◽  
Paul Nestor ◽  
Elizabetta Del Re ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Auditory hallucinations (AH) are one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia (SZ) and constitute a significant source of suffering and disability. One third of SZ patients experience pharmacology-resistant AH, so an alternative/complementary treatment strategy is needed to alleviate this debilitating condition. In this study, real-time functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging neurofeedback (rt-fMRI NFB), a non-invasive technique, was used to help 10 SZ patients modulate their brain activity in key brain regions belonging to the network involved in the experience of auditory hallucinations. In two experiments we selected two different brain targets. 1. the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and 2. default mode network (DMN)-central executive network (CEN) connectivity. STG is a key area in the neurophysiology of AH. Hyperactivation of the default mode network (DMN) and of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) in SZ has been shown in imaging studies. Furthermore, several studies point to reduced anticorrelation between the DMN and the central executive network (CEN). Finally, DMN hyperconnectivity has been associated with positive symptoms such as AHs while reduced DMN anticorrelations have been associated with cognitive impairment. Methods In the STG-focused NFB experiment, subjects were trained to upregulate the STG activity while listening to their own voice recording and downregulate it while ignoring a stranger’s voice recording in the course of 21 min NFB session. Visual feedback was provided to subjects at the end of each run from their own STG activity in the form of a thermometer. AH were assessed with auditory hallucination scale pre-NFB and within a week after the NFB session. The DMN-CEN focused NFB experiment was conducted about 1 month later to minimize the carry over effects from the STG-focused NFB and was designed to help SZ patients modulate their DMN and CEN networks. DMN and CEN networks were defined individually for each subject. The goal of the task was to increase CEN-DMN anti-correlations. To achieve that patients were provided with meditation strategies to guide their performance. Feedback was provided in the form of a ball that traveled up if the modulation of DMN-CEN connectivity was successful and traveled down if it was not successful. AH measures were taken before the NFB session and within a week after the session. Results In the STG-focused NFB task, significant STG activation reduction was found in the comparison of pre- relative to post-NFB in the condition of ignoring another person’s voice (p<0.05), FWE-TFCE corrected. AH were also significantly reduced (p<0.01). Importantly, significant correlation was found between reductions in the STG activation and AH reductions (r=.83). In the DMN-CEN focused NFB task, significant increase in the anti-correlations between medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (p<0.05) was observed as well as significant reduction in the mPFC-PCC connectivity (p <0.05), in the pre-post NFB comparisons. AH were significantly reduced in post- relative to pre-NFB comparison (p<0.02). Finally, there was a significant correlation between individual scores in mPFC-STG connectivity and AH reductions. Discussion These the two experiments suggest that targeting both the STG BOLD activation and DMN-CEN connectivity in NFB tasks aimed at AH reduction result both in brain changes and in AH reductions. Together, these results provide strong preliminary support for the NFB use as a means to impact brain function leading to reductions in AH in SZ. Importantly, these results suggest that AH result from brain abnormalities in a network of brain regions and that targeting a brain region belonging to this network will lead to AH symptom reduction.


2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (5) ◽  
pp. 1250-1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Hinds ◽  
Todd W. Thompson ◽  
Satrajit Ghosh ◽  
Julie J. Yoo ◽  
Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli ◽  
...  

We used real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine which regions of the human brain have a role in vigilance as measured by reaction time (RT) to variably timed stimuli. We first identified brain regions where activation before stimulus presentation predicted RT. Slower RT was preceded by greater activation in the default-mode network, including lateral parietal, precuneus, and medial prefrontal cortices; faster RT was preceded by greater activation in the supplementary motor area (SMA). We examined the roles of these brain regions in vigilance by triggering trials based on brain states defined by blood oxygenation level-dependent activation measured using real-time fMRI. When activation of relevant neural systems indicated either a good brain state (increased activation of SMA) or a bad brain state (increased activation of lateral parietal cortex and precuneus) for performance, a target was presented and RT was measured. RTs on trials triggered by a good brain state were significantly faster than RTs on trials triggered by a bad brain state. Thus human performance was controlled by monitoring brain states that indicated high or low vigilance. These findings identify neural systems that have a role in vigilance and provide direct evidence that the default-mode network has a role in human performance. The ability to control and enhance human behavior based on brain state may have broad implications.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Di ◽  
Bharat B. Biswal

The two major brain networks, i.e. the default mode network (DMN) and the task positive network, typically reveal negative and variable connectivity in resting-state. In the present study, we examined whether the connectivity between the DMN and different components of the task positive network were modulated by other brain regions by using physiophysiological interaction (PPI) on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Spatial independent component analysis was first conducted to identify components that represented networks of interest, including the anterior and posterior DMNs, salience, dorsal attention, left and right executive networks. PPI analysis was conducted between pairs of these networks to identify networks or regions that showed modulatory interactions with the two networks. Both network-wise and voxel-wise analyses revealed reciprocal positive modulatory interactions between the DMN, salience, and executive networks. Together with the anatomical properties of the salience network regions, the results suggest that the salience network may modulate the relationship between the DMN and executive networks. In addition, voxel-wise analysis demonstrated that the basal ganglia and thalamus positively interacted with the salience network and the dorsal attention network, and negatively interacted with the salience network and the DMN. The results demonstrated complex modulatory interactions among the DMNs and task positive networks in resting-state, and suggested that communications between these networks may be modulated by some critical brain structures such as the salience network, basal ganglia, and thalamus.


Author(s):  
Xin Di ◽  
Bharat B. Biswal

The two major brain networks, i.e. the default mode network (DMN) and the task positive network, typically reveal negative and variable connectivity in resting-state. In the present study, we examined whether the connectivity between the DMN and different components of the task positive network were modulated by other brain regions by using physiophysiological interaction (PPI) on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Spatial independent component analysis was first conducted to identify components that represented networks of interest, including the anterior and posterior DMNs, salience, dorsal attention, left and right executive networks. PPI analysis was conducted between pairs of these networks to identify networks or regions that showed modulatory interactions with the two networks. Both network-wise and voxel-wise analyses revealed reciprocal positive modulatory interactions between the DMN, salience, and executive networks. Together with the anatomical properties of the salience network regions, the results suggest that the salience network may modulate the relationship between the DMN and executive networks. In addition, voxel-wise analysis demonstrated that the basal ganglia and thalamus positively interacted with the salience network and the dorsal attention network, and negatively interacted with the salience network and the DMN. The results demonstrated complex modulatory interactions among the DMNs and task positive networks in resting-state, and suggested that communications between these networks may be modulated by some critical brain structures such as the salience network, basal ganglia, and thalamus.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Rebecca H. Umbach ◽  
Nim Tottenham

Abstract Callous-unemotional (CU) traits characterize a subset of youth at risk for persistent and serious antisocial behavior. Differences in resting state connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) have been associated with CU traits in forensic and clinical samples of adolescents and with deficient interpersonal/affective traits (often operationalized as Factor 1 psychopathy traits) in adults. It is unclear whether these brain-behavior associations extend to community-based children. Using mixed model analyses, we tested the associations between CU traits and within-network resting-state connectivity of seven task-activated networks and the DMN using data from 9,636 9–11-year-olds in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Even after accounting for comorbid externalizing problems, higher levels of CU traits were associated with reduced connectivity within the DMN. This finding is consistent with prior literature surrounding psychopathy and CU traits in clinically and forensically based populations, suggesting the correlation likely exists on a spectrum, can be detected in childhood, and is not restricted to children with significant antisocial behavior.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Wu ◽  
Guozhi Huang ◽  
Ziping Liu ◽  
Shigui Guo ◽  
Jianming Yang ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Di ◽  
Bharat B. Biswal

Communications between different brain systems are critical to support complex brain functions. Unlike generally high functional connectivity between brain regions from same system, functional connectivity between regions from different systems are more variable. In the present study, we examined whether the connectivity between different brain networks were modulated by other regions by using physiophysiological interaction (PPI) on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Spatial independent component analysis was first conducted to identify the default mode network (DMN) and several task positive networks, including the salience, dorsal attention, left and right executive networks. PPI analysis was conducted between pairs of these networks to identify networks or regions that showed modulatory interactions with the two networks. Network-wise analysis revealed reciprocal modulatory interactions between the DMN, salience, and executive networks. Together with the anatomical properties of the salience network regions, the results suggest that the salience network may modulate the relationship between the DMN and executive networks. In addition, voxel-wise analysis demonstrated that the basal ganglia and thalamus positively interacted with the salience network and the dorsal attention network, and negatively interacted with the salience network and the DMN. The results demonstrated complex relationships among brain networks in resting-state, and suggested that between network communications of these networks may be modulated by some critical brain structures such as the salience network, basal ganglia, and thalamus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Parker ◽  
Qolamreza R. Razlighi

Abstract The topography of the default mode network (DMN) can be obtained with one of two different functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods: either from the spontaneous but organized synchrony of the low-frequency fluctuations in resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), known as “functional connectivity”, or from the consistent and robust deactivations in task-based fMRI (tb-fMRI), here referred to as the “negative BOLD response” (NBR). These two methods are fundamentally different, but their results are often used interchangeably to describe the brain’s resting-state, baseline, or intrinsic activity. While the DMN was initially defined by consistent task-based decreases in blood flow in a set of specific brain regions using PET imaging, recently nearly all studies on the DMN employ functional connectivity in rs-fMRI. In this study, we first show the high level of spatial overlap between NBR and functional connectivity of the DMN extracted from the same tb-fMRI scan; then, we demonstrate that the NBR in putative DMN regions can be significantly altered without causing any change in their overlapping functional connectivity. Furthermore, we present evidence that in the DMN, the NBR is more closely related to task performance than the functional connectivity. We conclude that the NBR and functional connectivity of the DMN reflect two separate but overlapping neurophysiological processes, and thus should be differentiated in studies investigating brain-behavior relationships in both healthy and diseased populations. Our findings further raise the possibility that the macro-scale networks of the human brain might internally exhibit a hierarchical functional architecture.


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