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Updated: Aug 22, 2026
Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety
Published on: January 20, 2012
Advances in fMRI Real-Time Neurofeedback
Takeo Watanabe1, Yuka Sasaki1, Kazuhisa Shibata2
1Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA; Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institutes International, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan; Equal contributions.
Abstract:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback in which real-time online fMRI signals are used to self-regulate brain function. Since its advent in 2003 significant progress has been made in fMRI neurofeedback techniques. Specifically, the use of implicit protocols, external rewards, multivariate analysis, and connectivity analysis has allowed neuroscientists to explore a possible causal involvement of modified brain activity in modified behavior. These techniques have also been integrated into groundbreaking new neurofeedback technologies, specifically decoded neurofeedback (DecNef) and functional connectivity-based neurofeedback (FCNef). By modulating neural activity and behavior, DecNef and FCNef have substantially advanced both basic and clinical research.
