Enhancing Emotion Regulation Through Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)-Informed Real-time Neurofeedback

The present study aims to employ real-time functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neurofeedback training in combination with cognitive reappraisal strategies for regulating negative emotions in healthy individuals. Participants will complete: * Cognitive reappraisal training with either real neurofeedback or sham feedback. * Questionnaires at pre- and post- training timepoints * A cold-pressor test at the end of the training It is hypothesized that combining real-time fNIRS neurofeedback and cognitive reappraisal training will enhance emotion regulation in healthy individuals: 1. Increased neural activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) region of the brain will be significantly higher in the real neurofeedback group after training compared to the sham feedback group. 2. Real-time fNIRS-guided upregulation of the PFC will enhance emotion regulation during exposure to negative stimuli/scenes across the training runs. 3. The effects of fNIRS neurofeedback training will extend to influence emotion regulation in a cold-pressor test administered post-training, wherein individuals in the real neurofeedback group demonstrate better regulation of stress and pain induced by the task.

NCT Number	NCT06866028
Lead Sponsor	University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Conditions	Neurofeedback, Emotion Regulation, Stress
Enrollment	50 participants
Start Date	2024-08-08
Primary Completion	2026-08-07 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-08-07 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-03-27