Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-driven feedback for psychiatric symptoms

• Many neuropsychiatric conditions, including OCD, are characterized by regionally abnormal brain activity.
• Only ~60% of patients respond to standard OCD interventions and these options affect the entire brain causing undesirable off-target effects.
• Studies have revealed hyperactivity of a specific brain region, the OFC, in patients with OCD making it an attractive therapeutic target.
• NIRS-driven neurofeedback therapy is optimized for such conditions: it is more affordable than fMRI, portable, non-invasive and targeted to control activity of affected neural areas.
• In NIRS, the signal reflects the metabolic activity of a defined brain area and patients can use the visual readout of this activity to learn via trial-and-error to control its activity.
• This therapy can lead to altered functional connectivity within the targeted circuitry that persists even in the absence of ongoing efforts at control
• Lead Innovator: Chris Pittenger, MD/PhD
• IP Status: Pending