The effects of psychiatric history and age on self-regulation of the default mode network
Stavros Skouras, Frank Scharnowski
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 136 |
| Population | Adults with and without psychiatric history |
| Duration | Initial session |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | Up-regulation and down-regulation learning scores are negatively correlated; age negatively correlates with performance only in healthy controls; adults with psychiatric history outperform healthy controls in default mode network up-regulation. |
Abstract
Abstract Real-time neurofeedback enables human subjects to learn to regulate their brain activity, effecting behavioral changes and improvements of psychiatric symptomatology. Neurofeedback up-regulation and down-regulation have been assumed to share common neural correlates. Neuropsychiatric pathology and aging incur suboptimal functioning of the default mode network. Despite the exponential increase in real-time neuroimaging studies, the effects of aging, pathology and the direction of regulation on neurofeedback performance remain largely unknown. Using open-access analyses and real-time fMRI data shared through the Rockland Sample Real-Time Neurofeedback project (N=136), we first modeled neurofeedback performance and learning in a group of subjects with psychiatric history (n a =74) and a healthy control group (n b =62). Subsequently, we examined the relationship between up-regulation and down-regulation learning, the relationship between age and neurofeedback performance in each group and differences in neurofeedback performance between the two groups. Results show that in an initial session of default mode network neurofeedback with real-time fMRI, up-regulation and down-regulation learning scores are negatively correlated. Moreover, age correlates negatively with default mode network neurofeedback performance, only in absence of psychiatric history. Finally, adults with psychiatric history outperform healthy controls in default mode network up-regulation. Interestingly, the performance difference is related to no up-regulation learning in controls.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity in Psychopathology Annual Review of Clinical Psychology March 29, 2012
- Age-related alterations in default mode network: Impact on working memory performance Neurobiology of Aging August 1, 2008