Neurofeedback with Real-Time Functional MRI

Abstract

Since its invention 20 years ago, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become one of the most widely used and probably the publicly most visible noninvasive technique to measure brain activation. fMRI has played a central role in the development of cognitive neuroscience, and several new fields, including social neuroscience, neuroeconomics, and genetic imaging, may not have developed had it not been for the unique opportunities afforded by fMRI. The particular strengths of this technique are in its spatial resolution and fidelity, ability to reach deep subcortical structures, and whole-brain coverage, enabling the mapping of functionally connected networks and the extraction of information from activation patterns that are distributed across different brain areas. In the psychiatric domain, fMRI has made major contributions to the understanding of psychopathology and the effects of risk genes on cognitive and affective networks (Linden 2012a, b), and in neurology fMRI has become a central technique for mapping neuroplasticity, for example, in recovery from stroke (Seitz 2010), and for presurgical mapping. However, fMRI has not yet fulfilled its translational potential, and there is as of today no established diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic use of this technique for any of the neuropsychiatric disorders.