Abstract
The amygdala has a pivotal role in processing traumatic stress; hence, gaining control
over its activity could facilitate adaptive mechanism and recovery. To date, amygdala
volitional regulation could be obtained only via real-time functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI), a highly inaccessible procedure. The current article presents high-impact
neurobehavioral implications of a novel imaging approach that enables bedside monitoring
of amygdala activity using fMRI-inspired electroencephalography (EEG), hereafter termed
amygdala-electrical fingerprint (amyg-EFP). Simultaneous EEG/fMRI indicated that the
amyg-EFP reliably predicts amygdala-blood oxygen level–dependent activity. Implementing
the amyg-EFP in neurofeedback demonstrated that learned downregulation of the amyg-EFP
facilitated volitional downregulation of amygdala-blood oxygen level–dependent activity
via real-time fMRI and manifested as reduced amygdala reactivity to visual stimuli.
Behavioral evidence further emphasized the therapeutic potential of this approach
by showing improved implicit emotion regulation following amyg-EFP neurofeedback.
Additional EFP models denoting different brain regions could provide a library of
localized activity for low-cost and highly accessible brain-based diagnosis and treatment.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: January 06, 2016
Accepted:
December 17,
2015
Received in revised form:
December 16,
2015
Received:
August 24,
2015
Identification
Copyright
© Society of Biological Psychiatry, 2016.
