Self-regulation of rACC activation in patients with Postherpetic Neuralgia : A preliminary study using Real-time fMRI neurofeedback

Postherpetic neuralgia(PHN) is defined as a chronic pain syndrome that can cause significant deleterious impacts on physical,emotional,and social functioning and therefore can have a widespread adverse effect on health-related quality of life.Currently there is no effective treatment because the specific mechanisms of the disease is still unknown.Real-time fMRI (rtfMRI) feedback is a potential tool for pain modulation that directly targets the brain with the goal of restoring regulatory function. Previous research had found that through rtfMRI neurofeedback training,subjects were able to learn to control activation in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), a region putatively involved in pain perception and regulation.The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether patients with PHN can learn to control activation in rACC and regulate their perception of pain by using rtfMRI neurofeedback.And we futher want to explore the clinical application of rtfMRI neurofeedback in the treatment of PHN. Subjects and method