Neurofeedback of visual food cue reactivity: a potential avenue to alter incentive sensitization and craving

Ihssen, Niklas, Sokunbi, Moses O., Lawrence, Andrew D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6705-2110, Lawrence, Natalia S. and Linden, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5638-9292 2017. Neurofeedback of visual food cue reactivity: a potential avenue to alter incentive sensitization and craving. Brain Imaging and Behavior 11 (3) , pp. 915-924. 10.1007/s11682-016-9558-x

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

FMRI-based neurofeedback transforms functional brain activation in real-time into sensory stimuli that participants can use to self-regulate brain responses, which can aid the modification of mental states and behavior. Emerging evidence supports the clinical utility of neurofeedback-guided up-regulation of hypoactive networks. In contrast, down-regulation of hyperactive neural circuits appears more difficult to achieve. There are conditions though, in which down-regulation would be clinically useful, including dysfunctional motivational states elicited by salient reward cues, such as food or drug craving. In this proof-of-concept study, 10 healthy females (mean age = 21.40 years, mean BMI = 23.53) who had fasted for 4 h underwent a novel ‘motivational neurofeedback’ training in which they learned to down-regulate brain activation during exposure to appetitive food pictures. FMRI feedback was given from individually determined target areas and through decreases/increases in food picture size, thus providing salient motivational consequences in terms of cue approach/avoidance. Our preliminary findings suggest that motivational neurofeedback is associated with functionally specific activation decreases in diverse cortical/subcortical regions, including key motivational areas. There was also preliminary evidence for a reduction of hunger after neurofeedback and an association between down-regulation success and the degree of hunger reduction. Decreasing neural cue responses by motivational neurofeedback may provide a useful extension of existing behavioral methods that aim to modulate cue reactivity. Our pilot findings indicate that reduction of neural cue reactivity is not achieved by top-down regulation but arises in a bottom-up manner, possibly through implicit operant shaping of target area activity.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Brain imaging; fMRI; Neurofeedback; Visual cue reactivity; Craving; Food pictures; Obesity Addiction
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	1931-7557
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	25 July 2017
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 11:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/101962

Citation Data

Cited 31 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item