Live from the "regulating brain": Harnessing the brain to change emotion

Live feedback from the brain can empower individuals to change their own brain activity. The premise behind neurofeedback (NF) is that an organism learns to control brain activation and function via contingent feedback. We outline here why this approach can aid emotion regulation research and treatment, and how this is achieved with feedback from the neural circuitry of emotion. The focus is, in particular, on functional MRI (fMRI) and fMRI-inspired mapping techniques that permit the probing of deep brain activation with scalp electroencephalography. The NF approach for self-neuromodulation is discussed with respect to the process-model of emotion regulation. We argue that real-time feedback from brain areas or from circuits can augment neuroscience-based emotion regulation practices and thus provides a promising tool for more precise clinical intervention and the alleviation of emotion dysregulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).