# Dyadic Neurofeedback for Development of Healthy Emotion Regulation in Youth

> **NIH NIH P20** · OSU CENTER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES · 2022 · $206,369

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Adolescents with a family history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at heightened risk for
depression and other mental health problems related to poor emotion regulation (ER). Parents play a crucial
role in adolescents’ development of ER skills, and parenting practices are related to the structure and function
of adolescent brain regions underlying emotion reactivity and regulation. Parenting has yet to be utilized,
however, to directly modulate adolescent ER neurocircuitry in order to promote adaptive ER development. The
proposed study will test the efficacy of a real-time fMRI dyadic neurofeedback (DNF) protocol to promote
healthy ER-related neurodevelopment in female adolescents with a maternal history of ACEs. The proposed
study will use DNF to provide neurofeedback from the adolescent’s anterior insular cortex (aIC) to the
adolescent’s mother as the mother and adolescent engage in an emotion discussion task together. Parents
and adolescents (n=35 active DNF; n=35 control) will communicate via microphones and noise-canceling
headphones while the adolescent is undergoing fMRI scanning. Specific aims of the current study are to
determine: 1) the effects of aIC DNF on the developing ER network in adolescents with a history of maternal
ACEs, 2) associations between parenting practices during DNF and reduced adolescent aIC activation, and 3)
longitudinal effects of aIC DNF on adolescent internalizing symptoms. This study is significant because
engaging with parents in DNF can promote positive ER development in at-risk adolescents. Adolescence is a
sensitive period for the development of ER, and adaptive changes in neurocircuitry and the parent-adolescent
relationship could promote resilience to later mental health problems. This study is innovative in that DNF is a
novel neurobehavioral approach with the potential to simultaneously affect both parenting behavior and
adolescent neurobiology. The study employs an experimental paradigm with naturalistic aspects that are often
lacking in fMRI studies, thus increasing the generalizability of DNF effects outside the scanner. The overall
impact of the proposed study will be the evaluation of a novel neurobehavioral approach to the promotion of
adaptive ER skills in adolescents that can inform future prevention and intervention efforts for psychiatric
disorders, including cost effective and community-based applications, aimed at preventing the
intergenerational effects of ACEs on mental health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10497047
- **Project number:** 2P20GM109097-06
- **Recipient organization:** OSU CENTER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Kara Kerr
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $206,369
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-08-01 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10497047

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10497047, Dyadic Neurofeedback for Development of Healthy Emotion Regulation in Youth (2P20GM109097-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10497047. Licensed CC0.

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