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Improving motivation through real-time fMRI-based self-regulation of the nucleus accumbens.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Li, Zhi 
Zhang, Chen-Yuan 
Huang, Jia 
Wang, Yi 
Yan, Chao 

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Impaired nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation is associated with amotivation and anhedonia, which are resistant to treatment with antipsychotics and antidepressants in schizophrenia. In this study, healthy participants were trained to self-regulate the activation of their NAcc, a brain region that plays an important role in motivation, using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback. METHOD: The experimental group (N = 19) received feedback from the NAcc, whereas the control group (N = 5) received "sham" feedback from the posterior parahippocampal gyrus, a control brain region not normally related to motivation. All participants were trained to use mental strategies to regulate their NAcc activations in a 3T MRI scanner. RESULTS: For the learning effect of NAcc regulation, we found that the majority of participants (74%) in the experimental group successfully learned to self-regulate the NAcc. They also showed improved behavioral performance in motivation and decreased functional connectivity between the NAcc and the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and an increase in small-world properties in the reward circuit after training, indicating improved information integration in reward processing. However, improvement in motivation and modification of function connectivity were not observed in the sham control group and the participants who failed to self-regulate the NAcc in the experimental group. Self-regulation was influenced by the baseline motivation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the NAcc could be self-regulated using real-time fMRI neurofeedback and can result in improved motivation in cognitive tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record

Description

Keywords

Adult, Female, Functional Neuroimaging, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Motivation, Neurofeedback, Nucleus Accumbens, Self-Control

Journal Title

Neuropsychology

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0894-4105
1931-1559

Volume Title

32

Publisher

American Psychological Association (APA)
Sponsorship
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) (unknown)