Mindfulness-based real-time neurofeedback procedure
POSITIVE
During both no-neurofeedback and neurofeedback runs, participants will see a central white ball with larger circles above and below it on the screen presented via PsychoPy [Mindfulness-based Real-time fMRI Neurofeedback Schematic. Participants will be instructed to practice mental noting while undergoing fMRI (top panel). In real time, fMRI data will be analyzed using Multivariate and Univariate Real-time Functional Imaging (MURFI) for FPN relative to DMN activation (bottom left panel). The targeted state is greater FPN relative to DMN activation. The difference between FPN and DMN activation will determine the velocity of a small white ball upwards (when FPN > DMN) and downwards (when DMN > FPN) towards two larger circles displayed to the participant via PsychoPy (bottom right panel). A free stock image from Vecteezy.com was used in this figureDuring neurofeedback runs, the velocity of the central white ball will be determined by the Positive Diametric Activity (PDA) metric, which is defined as the difference (in standard deviations) between FPN > DMN activation estimates [The PDA contrast required to move the ball into the circles will be adaptively calibrated both within and between neurofeedback runs. Within runs, after a hit to either the lower or upper circle, the radius of the circle that was hit will shrink by 10%. After a run is completed, the velocity of the ball given the same PDA magnitude will increase 25% for the next run if there were < 3 hits in the previous run, and decrease by 25% if there were > 5 hits. If there were 3–5 hits, the velocity will remain the same. No monetary rewards will be awarded based on neurofeedback performance [At the end of each neurofeedback run, participants will answer questions on: (1) how often they were using the noting practice (from “Never” to “Always”), (2) how often they checked the position of the ball (from “Never” to “Always”), (3) how difficult it was to apply mental noting (from “Not at all” to “Very Difficult”), and (4) how calm they feel at the current moment (from “Not at all” to “Very Calm”) on a visual analog scale from 1–9 using a button box. Full task instructions and PsychoPy code are available at 