FMRI fights depression

The participant is positioned in the fMRI machine at Stanford University and instructed to squeeze a ball to signal readiness. The scanning procedure begins to visualize brain activity non-invasively.

The participant views negative and sad pictures while fMRI imaging captures brain activation patterns. The researchers identify overactivity in the anterior insula and amygdala, brain regions associated with depression risk.

The fMRI signal from the overactive brain region is fed back to the participant as a visual line on a display. This allows the participant to see their brain activity in real-time during the scan.

The participant learns to reduce their brain activation by thinking of positive thoughts such as playing with puppies or lying in sand. They monitor the feedback line decreasing as they successfully dampen activation in the target region.

The visual feedback line is removed, and the participant continues to successfully maintain reduced brain activation using the learned mental strategies. This demonstrates that the regulation skill can be sustained independently.

One week after training, the participant returns to the lab where they are exposed to stress stimuli. Measurements show decreased physiological reactivity including lower heart rate and reduced skin response compared to baseline.