The present study aims to employ real-time functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neurofeedback training in combination with cognitive reappraisal strategies for regulating negative emotions in healthy individuals.
Participants will complete:
* Cognitive reappraisal training with either real neurofeedback or sham feedback. * Questionnaires at pre- and post- training timepoints * A cold-pressor test at the end of the training
It is hypothesized that combining real-time fNIRS neurofeedback and cognitive reappraisal training will enhance emotion regulation in healthy individuals:
1. Increased neural activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) region of the brain will be significantly higher in the real neurofeedback group after training compared to the sham feedback group. 2. Real-time fNIRS-guided upregulation of the PFC will enhance emotion regulation during exposure to negative stimuli/scenes across the training runs. 3. The effects of fNIRS neurofeedback training will extend to influence emotion regulation in a cold-pressor test administered post-training, wherein individuals in the real neurofeedback group demonstrate better regulation of stress and pain induced by the task.
Normal/corrected-to-normal vision
Right-handed
Below the cut-off for clinically-significant levels of depression (below 29) indicated by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II; Beck et al., 1996)
Current/history of mental health conditions
Current/history of chronic pain
The following conditions: Cardiovascular disorder, Raynaud's phenomenon, fainting, seizure, wounds on the hand/arm
Frequent use of alcohol/nicotine
Parallel
Real-time fNIRS neurofeedback from Turbo-Satori
DeviceActivity in the target brain region measured by fNIRS in real-time will undergo processing on Turbo-Satori (BrainVoyager; Maastricht, Netherlands) to infer changes in oxygenated blood activity in the target brain region and relayed to the task program for visual feedback.
Yoked sham feedback from Turbo-Satori
DevicePrevious data acquired from another individual in the experimental group will be loaded into Turbo-Satori (BrainVoyager; Maastricht, Netherlands) software for preprocessing in real-time and relayed to the task program for visual feedback.
Neurofeedback success on the neural level
Activity in the trained target brain region as measured by concomitant fNIRS (oxygenated signal) will be assessed over the four training runs, changes will be analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) models.
Effect on emotion regulation
Individuals will undergo an evaluated stress-induction procedure via the cold pressor test after the neurofeedback training. Effects on emotion regulation will be assessed using self-reported ratings of stress on visual analog scales ranging from 0-100 and analyzed using ANOVA models.
Effect on pain regulation
Individuals will undergo an evaluated stress-induction procedure via the cold pressor test after the neurofeedback training. Effects on pain regulation will be assessed using self-reported ratings of pain on visual analog scales ranging from 0-100 and analyzed using ANOVA models.
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