Center for Brain Imaging, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University & Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging, Ministry of Education, Xifeng Road, Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710126, China.
International Joint Research Center for Advanced Medical Imaging and Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment & Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xifeng Road, Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710126, China.
Cereb Cortex. 2024 Jun 4;34(6). doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhae259.
Time-on-task effect is a common consequence of long-term cognitive demand work, which reflects reduced behavioral performance and increases the risk of accidents. Neurofeedback is a neuromodulation method that can guide individuals to regulate their brain activity and manifest as changes in related symptoms and cognitive behaviors. This study aimed to examine the effects of functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based neurofeedback training on time-on-task effects and sustained cognitive performance. A randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled study was performed: 17 participants received feedback signals of their own dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity (neurofeedback group), and 16 participants received feedback signals of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity from the neurofeedback group (sham-neurofeedback group). All participants received 5 neurofeedback training sessions and completed 2 sustained cognitive tasks, including a 2-back task and a psychomotor vigilance task, to evaluate behavioral performance changes following neurofeedback training. Results showed that neurofeedback relative to the sham-neurofeedback group exhibited increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation, increased accuracy in the 2-back task, and decreased mean response time in the psychomotor vigilance task after neurofeedback training. In addition, the neurofeedback group showed slower decline performance during the sustained 2-back task after neurofeedback training compared with sham-neurofeedback group. These findings demonstrate that neurofeedback training could regulate time-on-task effects on difficult task and enhance performance on sustained cognitive tasks by increasing dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity.
任务时间效应是长期认知需求工作的常见后果，它反映了行为表现的下降和事故风险的增加。神经反馈是一种神经调节方法，可以引导个体调节大脑活动，并表现为相关症状和认知行为的变化。本研究旨在检验基于功能近红外光谱的神经反馈训练对任务时间效应和持续认知表现的影响。采用随机、单盲、假对照研究：17 名参与者接受自身背外侧前额叶皮层活动的反馈信号（神经反馈组），16 名参与者接受来自神经反馈组的背外侧前额叶皮层活动的反馈信号（假神经反馈组）。所有参与者接受 5 次神经反馈训练，并完成 2 项持续认知任务，包括 2 -back 任务和精神运动警觉任务，以评估神经反馈训练后的行为表现变化。结果表明，与假神经反馈组相比，神经反馈组的背外侧前额叶皮层激活增加，2-back 任务的准确性提高，精神运动警觉任务的平均反应时间减少。此外，与假神经反馈组相比，神经反馈组在神经反馈训练后进行持续的 2-back 任务时表现出更慢的下降性能。这些发现表明，神经反馈训练可以通过增加背外侧前额叶皮层的活动来调节困难任务的任务时间效应，并提高持续认知任务的表现。
