NeuroBLOG

*Emerging trends in neuroscience* Key Points: • In healthy adults (N = 101), five sessions of closed-loop neurofeedback targeting individual alpha frequency (IAF) over parieto-occipital cortex produced significant IAF upregulation in 56% of trained participants and faster reaction times on the Attention Network Test, compared with both an active sham group and the non-learners within the trained group. • The behavioral gain was specifically linked to faster alpha event-related desynchronization (α-ERD) latencies in learners — the cortex disengaged from idling alpha activity earlier in the cue–target interval — not to changes in α-ERD amplitude or to selective effects on the alerting, orienting, or executive attention networks. • Bayesian sequential mediation revealed a partial pathway from neurofeedback to IAF to α-ERD latency to reaction time, accounting for roughly 14–16% of the total effect; most of the neurofeedback-to-reaction-time relationship remained unmediated by these markers, leaving room for additional mechanisms.

*Emerging trends in neuroscience* Key Points: • This 2026 systematic review suggests that heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV-BFB) may improve working memory in some contexts, but the evidence is still mixed. • Across the 10 included studies, physiological regulation appeared more reliable than cognitive change: most studies reported increased HRV, whereas only about half reported meaningful working-memory benefits. • The most promising signals appeared in select clinical or high-stress populations, while findings in healthy young adults and older adults were less consistent.

*Brendan's perspective* Key Points: • Not all self-doubt in new neurofeedback practitioners is impostor syndrome; sometimes it is appropriate developmental caution. • In clinical or clinical-adjacent work, confidence should be built on competence, supervision, and scope awareness. • Proper training is not a luxury in neurofeedback. It is part of ethical practice.

*From the archives* Key Points: • In this small feasibility study, ten healthy adult women with sensory over-responsiveness completed a 10-session EEG neurofeedback intervention aimed at increasing resting alpha activity. • The primary neurophysiological target was not met: resting alpha power did not significantly increase across time, despite most participants showing within-session alpha upregulation during training. • Even so, follow-up findings suggested potentially meaningful improvements in life satisfaction, goal attainment, pain sensitivity, trait anxiety, and frontal low-frequency activity, supporting feasibility rather than efficacy.

*Emerging trends in neuroscience* Key Points: • In a small within-participants study, partner-triggered chest vibration was associated with higher self-reported empathy during a cooperative game. • The effect did not appear to be driven by measurable changes in skin conductance or broad shifts in other emotional ratings, which points toward a more interpretive or awareness-based mechanism. • The paradigm is creative and genuinely interesting, but the evidence remains preliminary given the very small sample, subjective primary outcome, and limited mechanistic clarity.

*Brendan's perspective* Key Points: • Neurofeedback is best understood as a method, not a standalone profession. • It can absolutely become a clinician's primary expertise, but in most real-world settings it functions as a subspecialty layered onto an existing profession. • Terms like neurotherapy and neurotherapist should not be used loosely; if they are used at all, they need careful definition, clear limits, and protection against misuse. • The quality, safety, and usefulness of neurofeedback depend less on the machine itself than on the training, judgment, and scope of practice of the person using it. (Still, the technology we use matters, and there are unfortunately more bad systems out there than good.)