fMRI neurofeedback facilitates XXXX regulation in females with @entity913 .

@entity913 @entity1 @entity148
BACKGROUND: Spider phobics show an exaggerated fear response when encountering spiders. This fear response is aggravated by negative and irrational beliefs about the feared object. Cognitive reappraisal can target these beliefs, and therefore has a fear regulating effect. The presented study investigated if neurofeedback derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) would facilitate @entity148 regulation by cognitive reappraisal, using @entity913 as a model of @entity148 . Feedback was provided based on activation in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right insula, as indicators of engagement and regulation success, respectively. METHODS: Eighteen female spider phobics participated in a randomized, controlled, single-blinded study. All @entity1 completed a training session in the MRI scanner. @entity1 assigned to the neurofeedback condition were instructed to shape their regulatory strategy based on the provided feedback. @entity1 assigned to the control condition were asked to adapt their strategy intuitively. RESULTS: Neurofeedback @entity1 exhibited lower @entity148 levels than the control group at the end of the training. In addition, only neurofeedback @entity1 achieved down-regulation of insula activation levels by cognitive reappraisal. Group differences became more pronounced over time, supporting learning as a mechanism behind this effect. Importantly, within the neurofeedback group, achieved changes in insula activation levels during training predicted long-term @entity148 reduction. CONCLUSIONS: The conducted study provides first evidence that fMRI neurofeedback has a facilitating effect on @entity148 regulation in @entity913 .
