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Decoded neurofeedback (DecNef) is a form of closed-loop functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) combined with machine learning approaches, which holds some promises for clinical applications. Yet, currently only a few research groups have had the opportunity to run such experiments; furthermore, there is no existing public dataset for scientists to analyse and investigate some of the factors enabling the manipulation of brain dynamics. We release here the data from published DecNef studies, consisting of 5 separate fMRI datasets, each with multiple sessions recorded per participant. For each participant the data consists of a session that was used in the main experiment to train the machine learning decoder, and several (from 3 to 10) closed-loop fMRI neural reinforcement sessions. The large dataset, currently comprising more than 60 participants, will be useful to the fMRI community at large and to researchers trying to understand the mechanisms underlying non-invasive modulation of brain dynamics. Finally, the data collection size will increase over time as data from newly run DecNef studies will be added.

Motor representations in the human mirror neuron system are tuned to respond to specific observed actions. This ability is widely believed to be influenced by genetic factors, but no study has reported a genetic variant affecting this system so far. One possibility is that genetic variants might interact with visuomotor associative learning to configure the system to respond to novel observed actions. In this perspective, we conducted a candidate gene study on the Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism, a genetic variant linked to motor learning in regions of the mirror neuron system, and tested the effect of this polymorphism on motor facilitation and visuomotor associative learning. In a single-pulse TMS study carried on 16 Met (Val/Met and Met/Met) and 16 Val/Val participants selected from a large pool of healthy volunteers, Met participants showed significantly less muscle-specific corticospinal sensitivity during action observation, as well as reduced visuomotor associative learning, compared to Val homozygotes. These results are the first evidence of a genetic variant tuning sensitivity to action observation and bring to light the importance of considering the intricate relation between genetics and associative learning in order to further understand the origin and function of the human mirror neuron system.