Real-time Neurofeedback Training of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Based on Imagined Social Support

A double-blinded, placebo-controlled, between-subject design will be employed in this study. In a randomized order, a total of 60 healthy subjects will be recruited and assigned to the experimental group (EG; N=30), which receives real feedback from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), or the sham control group (CG; N=30) which receives sham feedback from an unrelated brain region. Neurofeedback training consists of 1 baseline session without feedback (also as a localizer task), 4 training sessions with intermittent feedback and 1 transfer session without feedback. Each NF run includes 5 regulation blocks and 5 baseline blocks. Each trial starts with a jittered fixation cross (2~8 s), a modulation block (i.e. regulation or baseline; 30 s) without continous feedback, and a intermittent feedback period (4s) to display the mean activiation of the mPFC/control region during the regulation block compared with baseline block. Objectives are to determine (1) if subjects in the neurofeedback (NF) group can gain volitional control over the mPFC activation using imagined social support as regulation strategy, (2) whether successful increased modulation of the mPFC could improve negative anticipation and sense of control for future events .

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)