EEG‐neurofeedback and executive function enhancement in healthy adults: A systematic review

Electroencephalographic (EEG)‐neurofeedback training (NFT) is a promising technique that supports individuals in learning to modulate their brain activity to obtain cognitive and behavioral improvements. EEG‐NFT is gaining increasing attention for its potential “peak performance” applications on hea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychophysiology Vol. 58; no. 9; pp. e13874 - n/a
Main Authors: Viviani, Giada, Vallesi, Antonino
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2021
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Subjects:
Biofeedback
brain oscillatory activity
Cognitive ability
EEG
electroencephalogram
Electroencephalography
Executive function
Executive Function - physiology
executive functions
Feedback
Humans
Neurofeedback - physiology
neurofeedback training
Review
Reviews
Systematic review
task‐switching
working memory
task-switching
neurofeedback training
brain oscillatory activity
executive functions
working memory
electroencephalogram
ISSN:0048-5772, 1469-8986, 1469-8986, 1540-5958
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Electroencephalographic (EEG)‐neurofeedback training (NFT) is a promising technique that supports individuals in learning to modulate their brain activity to obtain cognitive and behavioral improvements. EEG‐NFT is gaining increasing attention for its potential “peak performance” applications on healthy individuals. However, evidence for clear cognitive performance enhancements with healthy adults is still lacking. In particular, whether EEG‐NFT represents an effective technique for enhancing healthy adults' executive functions is still controversial. Therefore, the main objective of this systematic review is to assess whether the existing EEG‐NFT studies targeting executive functions have provided reliable evidence for NFT effectiveness. To this end, we conducted a qualitative analysis of the literature since the limited number of retrieved studies did not allow us meta‐analytical comparisons. Moreover, a second aim was to identify optimal frequencies as NFT targets for specifically improving executive functions. Overall, our systematic review provides promising evidence for NFT effectiveness in boosting healthy adults' executive functions. However, more rigorous NFT studies are required in order to overcome the methodological weaknesses that we encountered in our qualitative analysis. Neurofeedback is a noninvasive training tool for self‐regulating oscillatory brain activity. Its beneficial effects on cognition are still debated. This systematic review evaluates available evidence on the ability of neurofeedback to boost high‐level cognitive functions. Although some protocols seem to work better than others, more rigorous research is needed.
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ISSN:0048-5772
1469-8986
1469-8986
1540-5958
DOI:10.1111/psyp.13874