Table 3.
Details of real-time fMRI neurofeedback studies with regulation target in the “motor subsystem.”
| References | ROI(s), regulation direction and definition | Study population | Control condition | Feedback | Regulation of target ROI(s)/online changes | Offline analysis (whole brain) | (Post-hoc) connectivity changes | Behavioral/clinical changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Megumi et al., 2015 | Connectivity between M1 (left) and LP (left) ↑; % | 12 healthy volunteers (21 controls (2 control groups)) | Placebo control/control without feedback intervention (with fMRI) | Intermittent (numerical) | Yes, l. M1 → l. LP↑ (EG) | - | DMN (LP, PCC, MPFC) → MVN (M1, SMA, IPS, FEF) (EG) | No observation |
| Yamashita et al., 2017 | Connectivity between M1 (left) and LP (left) ↑; % | 18 healthy volunteers (12 controls) | Feedback based on opposite regulation direction | Intermittent (scale) | Yes, M1 → LP↑ (EG), M1 → LP↓(CG) | - | M1 → LP | ~ |
| Liew et al., 2016 | Connectivity between M1 and ipsilesional thalamus ↑; # | 4 chronic stroke patients (no controls) | No control | Continuous (scale) | Yes, M1 → thalamus (3/4) | - | Perilesional M1 → ipsilesional thalamus | No observation |
| Chiew et al., 2012 | M1 (bilateral) ↑↓ (increase laterality); # | 13 healthy volunteers (5 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (scale) | ~ | Basal ganglia, thalamus, cortical motor regions, parietal cortex, premotor, SMA, r. AI, ACC ↑ (NFvs.Rest) | - | No observation |
| Berman et al., 2012 | M1 (left) ↑; # | 15 healthy volunteers (no controls) | No control | Continuous (scale) | No | Thalamus, SPL, IPS, anterior insula, IFG, MFG ↑ | - | No observation |
| Blefari et al., 2015 | M1 (left) ↑; # | 11 healthy volunteers (no controls) | No control | Continuous (scale) | ~ | SMA, PMA, putamen, caudate, IPL ↑; MTG, MFG, precuneus, insula, MOG ↓ | - | No behavioral improvement |
| Yoo et al., 2008 | M1 (left) ↑; # | 11 healthy volunteers (11 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (curve) | Yes, M1↑ (EG) | Pre-/post-central gyrus, r. parahippocampal gyrus, MTG↑ (EG), Follow-up: hippocampus and the limbo-thalamo-cortical pathway↑ (EG) | - | No observation |
| Yang et al., 2021 | M1 (left) or PMA (left ventral) ↑; % | 15 + 15 healthy volunteers (no controls) *1 | Other | Continuous (scale) | ~ No, l. M1 → (EG1); Yes, l. PMA↑ (EG2) | r. precentral cortex, l. SMA, l. rolandic operculum, r. IPL↑ | - | No observation |
| Mehler et al., 2019 | M1 and SMA (bilateral) ↑; # | 17 healthy volunteers (no controls) | Other | Continuous (scale) | ~ Yes, SMA↑, No, M1↓ | - | - | No observation |
| Pereira et al., 2019 | PMA (bilateral) interhemispheric connectivity ↑↓; # | 10 healthy volunteers (no controls) | Control without feedback intervention (with fMRI) | Continuous (scale) | Yes, PMA↑↓ | PMA, SMA, IFG, lentiform nucleus, cerebellum↑ | l. PMA → r. PMA | No observation |
| Sitaram et al., 2012 | PMA (left ventral) ↑; # | 2 chronic stroke patients (4 healthy control volunteers) | Other (HV) | Continuous (scale) | Yes, PMA↑ | PMA, SMA, SMC, IFG, medial FC, occipital gyrus↑ | - | No clinical improvement |
| Marins et al., 2015 | PMA (left) ↑; % | 14 healthy volunteers (14 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (scale) | Yes, l. PMA↑ (EG) | PMA, SFG, MFG, hippocampus, SMA, basal ganglia, cerebellum ↑ (EG) | - | No observation |
| Xie et al., 2015 | PMA (right dorsal) ↑; # | 12 healthy volunteers (12 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (curve) | - | - | l. PMA → r. PPL, r. PMA → r. PPL↑ | No observation |
| Hui et al., 2014 | PMA (right) ↑; # | 12 healthy volunteers (12 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (curve) | Yes, PMA↑ (EG) | SMA, l. M1/S1, PPL, cerebellum↑ | r. PMA → l. PPL | Behavioral improvement |
| Kober et al., 2019 | Precentral gyrus (left lateral) ↑; # | 11 healthy volunteers (no controls) | No control | Continuous (scale) | Yes, l. precentral gyrus↑ | Cerebellum, pre-/post-central regions, SMA, basal ganglia, visual brain regions ↑ | - | No observation |
| Mehler et al., 2020 | SMA (bilateral) ↑; # | 4 MCA stroke patients (no controls) | No control | Continuous (scale) | ~ | - | - | No observation |
| Papoutsi et al., 2018 | SMA (bilateral) ↑; # | 10 Huntington's disease patients (no controls) | No control | Continuous (scale) | Yes, SMA↑ | l. putamen ↑ | SMA → l. putamen, SMA → cerebellum | Clinical improvement |
| Sepulveda et al., 2016 | SMA (bilateral) ↑; # | 10 male healthy volunteers (10 controls) | Other | Continuous (scale) | Yes, SMA↑ | Precentral gyrus, insula, supramarginal gyrus↑ | MFG → SFG, l. ACC → r. ACC, l. SMA → r. SMA, l. precentral gyrus → r. precentral gyrus, l. SMA → precentral gyrus | No observation |
| Scharnowski et al., 2015 | SMA (bilateral) and PHC (left) (Difference between the ROI) ↑↓; # | 7 healthy volunteers (no controls) | Feedback based on opposite regulation direction | Continuous (scale) | Yes, SMA/PHC↑↓ | SMA, PHC, Middle cingulate, l. SPL, r. SFG, precuneus↑ | No changes | Behavioral improvement |
| Al-Wasity et al., 2021 | SMA ↑; # | 10 healthy volunteers (10 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (scale) | Yes, SMA ↑ (EG); SMA ↓ (CG) | SMA, PMA, IPL, basal ganglia ↑ (EG); PMA, basal ganglia, middle frontal gyrus, r. IPL↑ (CG) | - | Behavioral improvement |
| Subramanian et al., 2011 | SMA ↑; # | 5 Parkinson's disease patients (5 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (scale) | Yes, SMA↑ (EG) | SMA, PCG, STN, thalamus, GPi, insula, cerebellar vermis↑ | - | Clinical improvement (EG) |
| Subramanian et al., 2016 | SMA ↑; # | 13 Parkinson's disease patients (13 controls) | Control without feedback intervention (without fMRI) | Continuous (scale) | Yes, SMA↑ (EG) | Cerebellum, frontal areas, putamen, insula, subthalamic nucleus, ACC↑ | - | Clinical improvement (EG) |
| Hampson et al., 2011 | SMA ↑↓; # | 8 healthy volunteers (no controls) | No control | Continuous (curve) | Yes, SMA↑↓ | - | SMA → striatum, thalamus | No observation |
| Sukhodolsky et al., 2020 | SMA ↑↓; # | 21 Tourette's syndrome patients (no controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (curve) | No, SMA → | r. putamen, caudate, dorsal frontal cortex↑ (during Upregulation, EG) | - | Clinical improvement (EG) |
| Papoutsi et al., 2020 | SMA or SMA and striatum (left) ↑; # | 16 Huntington's disease patients (16 controls)*2 | Placebo control | Continuous (activity-based) Intermittent (FC-based) (scale) | Yes, SMA ↑ (EG1); SMA → striatum↑ (EG2) | - | SMA → striatum (EG2) | No clinical improvement |
| Auer et al., 2015 | SMC (left and right) ↑; # | 16 healthy volunteers (16 controls) | Control without feedback intervention (without fMRI) | Continuous (scale) | Yes, SMC ↑ | SMC ↑ (EG) | - | No observation |
| deCharms et al., 2004 | SMC (left) ↑; # | 6 healthy volunteers (3 controls) | Placebo control | Continuous (curve) | Yes, SMC ↑ (EG) | Cerebellum, occipital, frontal regions ↑ | - | No observation |
The publications are sorted based on the region(s) of interest.
CG, control group; EG, experimental group; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; HV, healthy volunteers; MCA, middle cerebral artery; NF, neurofeedback; ROI, region of interest; ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; AI, anterior insula; DMN, default mode network; FEF, frontal eye fields; IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; IPL, inferior parietal lobe; IPS, intraparietal sulcus; LP, lateral parietal cortex; M1, primary motor cortex; MFG, middle frontal gyrus; MOG, middle occipital gyrus; MPFC, medial prefrontal cortex; MTG, middle temporal gyrus; MVN, medial visual network; PCC, posterior cingulate cortex; PHC, parahippocampal cortex; PMA, premotor area; PPL, posterior parietal lobe; S1, primary sensory area; SFG, superior frontal gyrus; SMA, supplementary motor area; SMC, somatomotor cortex; SPL, superior parietal lobe; d, dorsal; r, rostral; s, subgenual; v, ventral; l., left; r., right.
#
functional localizer; %, anatomical ROI; ↑, up-regulation; ↓, down-regulation; ↑↓, bidirectional regulation; (ROI1) → (ROI2), connectivity between two regions; -, no information; ~, mixed results.
*1
This study compared NF from two motor regions.
*2
This study had two experimental and two control groups.