Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2025
09:42
Author Spotlight: Using Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface to Improve Motor and Cognitive Function in Stroke Patients
Published on: September 1, 2023
1.1K
Neurofeedback modulation of insula activity via MEG-based brain-machine interface: a double-blind randomized
Yuhao Wang1,2, Ryohei Fukuma1,2, Ben Seymour3,4
1Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Osaka, Suita, Japan.
Communications Biology
|May 21, 2025
Summary
This study shows that individuals can learn to control their insula activity through neurofeedback. Downregulating insula activity with neurofeedback training correlated with higher pain thresholds.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Pain Perception
Background:
- The insula is implicated in pain perception and is a target for neuromodulation.
- Cognitive control over insula activity and its causal link to pain remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cognitive modulation of insula activity using neurofeedback.
- To determine if modulating insula activity causally affects pain perception.
Main Methods:
- A double-blind, randomized controlled crossover trial involving 19 healthy subjects.
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG)-based brain-machine interface for neurofeedback training (upmodulation and downmodulation of right insula activity).
- Assessment of insula activity and pain thresholds post-training.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in insula activity were observed between upmodulation and downmodulation sessions.
- Resting-state insula activity decreased after downmodulation training compared to upmodulation training.
- Downmodulation training was associated with increased pain thresholds, though not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Humans can cognitively modulate insula activity via neurofeedback.
- MEG-based neurofeedback shows potential for therapeutic applications targeting the insula.
- Direct causal evidence linking insula activity modulation to pain threshold changes was not established in this study.
