Open AccessSelf‐regulation of regional cortical activity using real‐time fMRI: The right inferior frontal gyrus and linguistic processing
Author(s) -
Rota Giuseppina,
Sitaram Ranganatha,
Veit Ralf,
Erb Michael,
Weiskopf Nikolaus,
Dogil Grzegorz,
Birbaumer Niels
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.20621
Subject(s) - neurofeedback , functional magnetic resonance imaging , psychology , inferior frontal gyrus , brain activity and meditation , magnetoencephalography , neuroscience , superior temporal gyrus , salience (neuroscience) , cognitive psychology , functional imaging , neuroimaging , medial frontal gyrus , brain mapping , broca's area , audiology , electroencephalography , medicine
Neurofeedback of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used to acquire selective control over activation in circumscribed brain areas, potentially inducing behavioral changes, depending on the functional role of the targeted cortical sites. In the present study, we used fMRI‐neurofeedback to train subjects to enhance regional activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) to influence speech processing and to modulate language‐related performance. Seven subjects underwent real‐time fMRI‐neurofeedback training and succeeded in achieving voluntary regulation of their right Brodmann's area (BA) 45. To examine short‐term behavioral impact, two linguistic tasks were carried out immediately before and after the training. A significant improvement of accuracy was observed for the identification of emotional prosodic intonations but not for syntactic processing. This evidence supports a role for the right IFG in the processing of emotional information and evaluation of affective salience. The present study confirms the efficacy of fMRI‐biofeedback for noninvasive self‐regulation of circumscribed brain activity. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.