LIP External Colloquium: Natalie Ebner, University of Florida, USA - "Train Your Brain: Boosting Cognition in Aging with Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback"

LIP External Colloquium: Natalie Ebner, University of Florida, USA - will present:
„Train Your Brain: Boosting Cognition in Aging with Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback“

Abstract:

In this talk, I will discuss the use of real-time fMRI neurofeedback training in cognitive aging, focusing on its potential both as an intervention and as a tool for investigating the neural mechanisms that support cognition in later life. Real-time fMRI neurofeedback provides individuals with moment-to-moment information about activity in specific brain regions or brain networks, allowing them to learn to voluntarily modulate that activity and enabling researchers to test causal links between brain function and behavior. Selective attention—our ability to focus amid distractions—often declines with age, partly due to reduced functioning in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Real-time fMRI neurofeedback training allows individuals to receive information about and learn to adjust their own brain activity, but its use and benefits among older adults are not well understood. In the study that I present in this talk, younger and older adults were trained to increase or decrease dACC activity while performing a demanding selective attention task. Older adults who were trained with real-time fMRI neurofeedback to increase dACC activity showed clear gains: higher reward scores, increased dACC activation, and improved task performance through faster and more accurate responses. These effects did not appear in younger adults or those older adults who were trained to decrease dACC activity. Findings highlight preserved brain plasticity in aging and suggest real-time neurofeedback as a viable training modality in cognitive aging. I will discuss future applications to other domains central to cognitive aging, including decision making and spatial navigation, illustrating how this neuroimaging approach may promote cognitive resilience while advancing causal mechanistic research on brain–behavior relationships across the adult lifespan.

Please use this link for joining hybrid:

https://mpib-berlin.webex.com/mpib-berlin/j.php?MTID=med667fb14fa2a1f8e5f98f6189bb32f9

Meeting number: 2741 607 6544

Password: 8bKvH8EbCe6