# Neurofeedback-enhanced cognitive reappraisal training for young adults with anxiety

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $180,663

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This K23 proposal seeks to further the career of Dr. Stefanie Russman Block through a mentored research
project and training plan that focuses on innovative neuroimaging methods and a theoretical framework of
emotion dysregulation applied to anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health
condition worldwide and disproportionately affect young adults (age 18-24). Despite the existence of
evidenced-based treatments, remission rates are low. Cognitive reappraisal (CR), a core therapeutic skill that
involves changing the meaning of a situation (e.g., threatening) to alter its emotional content (i.e., lower
anxiety), relies on the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), which continues to mature until age 25, and is
underrecruited in anxiety patients compared to healthy participants. Real-time functional magnetic
resonance imaging neurofeedback (NF), which teaches volitional control over targeted brain activity, may
offer a novel approach to engage the vlPFC during CR, thereby improving the effectiveness of emotion
regulation and reducing anxiety. In the proposed K23, young adults with elevated anxiety (N = 88) will be
randomized to NF targeted at the vlPFC or sham NF while performing the Emotion Regulation Task.
Participants will be instructed to reappraise the meaning of negative images to reduce their emotional impact
or to look at them passively. After each trial, participants are presented with a thermometer displaying neural
activity from the reappraise > look contrast. The sham group views pseudo-random feedback, generated to
match the spectral characteristics and average success rate of veritable feedback. After each run, participants
rate their negative affect on a visual analog scale. The specific research aims are to: 1) Evaluate the ability of
young adults with anxiety to increase vlPFC activity during CR based on NF by comparing the increase in
neural activity pre to post training; 2) Determine the relationship between vlPFC recruitment and CR
success using the reduction in negative affective ratings compared to passive viewing pre to post training; and
3) Assess the impact of NF on anxiety symptoms over time (exploratory). This K23 project will help define
a treatment target and provide pilot data for a future R-level grant. The following training objectives will ensure
that Dr. Russman Block successfully achieves these aims and is equipped to become an independent
researcher: 1) acquire skills in the design, implementation, and analysis of NF research; 2) gain
expertise in the affective neuroscience of emotion regulation; and 3) obtain training in experimental
therapeutics, including the design, conduct and analysis of randomized clinical trials. These training
objectives will provide the necessary foundation for her long-term career goals of becoming an independent,
extramurally-funded, clinical-translational researcher, whose research will seek to understand neural
processes in...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10884060
- **Project number:** 1K23MH133063-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Stefanie Rae Russman Block
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $180,663
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-07 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10884060

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10884060, Neurofeedback-enhanced cognitive reappraisal training for young adults with anxiety (1K23MH133063-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10884060. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*