Abstract #3811

How feedback, verbal instruction and reward influence learning brain self-regulation? A real-time fMRI study.

Pradyumna Sepulveda^1,2, Ranganatha Sitaram^3,4,5,6, Mohit Rana³, Cristián Montalba¹, Cristián Tejos^1,2, and Sergio Ruiz^3,5

¹Biomedical Imaging Center, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, ²Department of Electrical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, ³Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, ⁴Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, India, ⁵Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, ⁶Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Explicitly instructing subjects to use mental imagery and giving monetary reward are two strategies used to complement contingent neurofeedback (NF) in the process of learning to self-regulate BOLD signal with real-time fMRI NF. However, it is yet to be defined which is the optimal protocol design in rtfMRI-NF studies, critical step for potential clinical applications. The present study compares the influence of these two strategies in NF learning. Results showed a positive effect of monetary reward in BOLD signal change. Mental imagery had no significant impact in rtfMRI learning. Despite variation of strategies, brain patterns during NF training were similar.

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