Li Zhonglin, Tong Li, Wang Linyuan, Li Yongli, He Wenjie, Guan Min, Yan Bin
China National Digital Switching System Engineering and Technological Research Center, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Department of Radiology, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Exp Brain Res. 2016 Dec;234(12):3575-3586. doi: 10.1007/s00221-016-4744-z. Epub 2016 Aug 17.
Disordered emotion regulation may affect work efficiency, induce social disharmony, and even cause psychiatric diseases. Despite recent neurocomputing advances, whether positive and negative emotion networks can be voluntarily modulated is still unknown. In the present study, we addressed this question through multivariate voxel pattern analysis and real-time functional MRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf). During a sustained emotion regulation task, participants' emotional states (positive or negative) were given to them as feedback. Participants were able to increase the percentage of positive emotional states, enhancing emotion regulation network activities. Participants showed an improvement on the positive subscale of positive and negative affect scale that came close to significance. Furthermore, the activation of several emotion-related brain regions, including insula, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, was also increased during rtfMRI-nf training. These findings suggest that humans are able to voluntarily modulate positive emotion networks, leading to exciting applications in the treatment of various neurological and psychiatric disorders.
情绪调节紊乱可能会影响工作效率，引发社会不和谐，甚至导致精神疾病。尽管最近神经计算技术取得了进展，但正负情绪网络是否可以被自主调节仍然未知。在本研究中，我们通过多变量体素模式分析和实时功能磁共振成像神经反馈（rtfMRI-nf）解决了这个问题。在持续的情绪调节任务中，参与者的情绪状态（积极或消极）作为反馈提供给他们。参与者能够提高积极情绪状态的百分比，增强情绪调节网络活动。参与者在正负情绪量表的积极子量表上的改善接近显著水平。此外，在rtfMRI-nf训练期间，包括脑岛、杏仁核、前扣带回皮质和背内侧前额叶皮质在内的几个与情绪相关的脑区的激活也增加了。这些发现表明，人类能够自主调节积极情绪网络，这在各种神经和精神疾病的治疗中具有令人兴奋的应用前景。
