Mind over chatter: Plastic up-regulation of the fMRI salience network directly after EEG neurofeedback

Abstract

Neurofeedback (NFB) involves a brain-computer interface that allows users to learn to voluntarily control their cortical oscillations, reflected in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Although NFB is being pioneered as a noninvasive tool for treating brain disorders, there is insufficient evidence on the mechanism of its impact on brain function. Furthermore, the dominant rhythm of the human brain is the alpha oscillation (8–12 Hz), yet its behavioral significance remains multifaceted and largely correlative. In this study with 34 healthy participants, we examined whether during the performance of an attentional task, the functional connectivity of distinct fMRI networks would be plastically altered after a 30-min session of voluntary reduction of alpha rhythm (n=17) versus a sham-feedback condition (n=17). We reveal that compared to sham-feedback, NFB induced an increase of connectivity within the salience network (dorsal anterior cingulate focus), which was detectable 30 minutes after termination of training. This increase in connectivity was negatively correlated with changes in 'on-task' mind-wandering as well as resting state alpha rhythm. Crucially, there was a causal dependence between alpha rhythm modulations during NFB and at subsequent resting state, not exhibited by the sham group. Our findings provide neurobehavioral evidence for a temporally direct, plastic impact of NFB on a key cognitive control network of the brain, suggesting a promising basis for its use to treat cognitive disorders under physiological conditions.

Closed-loop brain training: the science of neurofeedback

“…Indeed, neurofeedback-mediated reductions in parieto-occipital EEG amplitudes boosted visual attention 17 or curbed mind-wandering 18 , and neurofeedback-mediated increases in intracortical neuronal synchronization elicited improvements in tasks requiring internal processing, such as mental rotation 19 or musical performance 20 .…”

The self-regulating brain and neurofeedback: Experimental science and clinical promise

“…Some proponents of EEG-nf argue that nonspecific factors alone cannot account for clinical improvement because changes are observable via objective measurements, including EEG (Leins et al, 2007;Strehl et al, 2006) and resting-state fMRI (Lévesque, Beauregard, & Mensour, 2006;Ros et al, 2013). However, few, if any, studies rule out the influence of other parameters, which are intrinsic to feedback training (Box 2 provides a partial list).…”

Frontal Alpha Oscillations and Attentional Control: A Virtual Reality Neurofeedback Study

“…Despite the often-conflicting reports, or perhaps because of them, the past decade has seen a sharp rise of neurofeedback research in cognitive science (van Boxtel and Gruzelier, 2014), showing both functional (Ros et al, 2013) and structural (Ghaziri et al, 2013) changes due to NFT. Although much of the present literature is focused on validating NFT protocols, we consider that NFT in healthy participants can be used as a tool to address theoretical differences in other scientific domains.…”