Closed-Loop Neurofeedback of Alpha Synchrony During Goal-Directed Attention

Alpha oscillations in sensory cortex, under frontal control, desynchronize during attentive preparation. Here, in a selective attention study with simultaneous EEG, we first demonstrate that diminished anticipatory alpha synchrony between the mid-frontal region of the dorsal attention network and ventral visual sensory cortex (frontal-sensory synchrony (FSS)) significantly correlates with greater task performance. Then, in a double-blind, randomized controlled study in healthy adults, we implement closed-loop neurofeedback of the anticipatory alpha FSS signal over ten days of training. Here, we refer to this closed-loop experimental approach of rapid neurofeedback (NF) integrated within a cognitive task as cognitive neurofeedback (cNF). We show that cNF results in significant trial-by-trial modulation of the anticipatory alpha FSS measure during training, concomitant plasticity of stimulus-evoked alpha/theta responses, as well as transfer of benefits to response time improvements on a standard test of sustained attention. In a third study, we implement cNF training in children with ADHD, replicating trial-by-trial modulation of the anticipatory alpha FSS signal, and significant improvement of sustained attention response times. These first findings demonstrate the basic mechanisms and translational utility of rapid cognitive-task-integrated neurofeedback.