COIOS
Emergent technology Item new preprint

Peer-derived fMRI neurofeedback during a film reduced craving in opioid use disorder

A real-time fMRI study trained people with opioid use disorder to align prefrontal activity with a signal derived from peers further into recovery watching the same film, and reported reduced craving against sham feedback, in a preprint that gives no sample size.

The authors derived a treatment-predictive signal in dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex from fMRI of people with opioid use disorder watching Trainspotting before and after eight weeks of adjunctive treatment. An independent cohort then received real peer-guided neurofeedback or yoked sham during the same film, and real feedback increased alignment with the peer-derived target, which in turn predicted reduced craving. Sample sizes and effect sizes are not given in the abstract.

Why it is interesting: An early test of peer brain-state alignment as an addiction treatment adjunct, still far from any outcome that bears on drug mortality.

Source
medRxiv, 20 September 2026
DOI
10.64898/2026.09.18.26363414
Type
Preprint
Design
Two-cohort real-time fMRI neurofeedback proof-of-concept in opioid use disorder, real versus yoked sham feedback; sample size not stated
Verdict
New finding
Driver
AI in medicine
Driver
Alcohol, drugs and suicide