Frontoparietal Connectivity Neurofeedback Training for Promotion of Working Memory: An fNIRS Study in Healthy Male Participants

• Main Authors: Meiyun Xia, Pengfei Xu, Yuanbin Yang, Wenyu Jiang, Zehua Wang, Xiaolei Gu, Mingxi Yang, Deyu Li, Shuyu Li, Guijun Dong, Ling Wang, Daifa Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2021-01-01
• Series: IEEE Access
• Subjects: Cognitive training; functional connectivity; functional near-infrared spectroscopy; neurofeedback; working memory
• Online Access: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9408632/

Neurofeedback cognitive training is a promising tool used to promote cognitive functions effectively and efficiently. In this study, we investigated a novel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based frontoparietal functional connectivity (FC) neurofeedback training paradigm related to working memory, involving healthy adults. Compared with conventional cognitive training studies, we chose the frontoparietal network, a key brain region for cognitive function modulation, as neurofeedback, yielding a strong targeting effect. In the experiment, 10 participants (test group) received three cognitive training sessions of 15 min using fNIRS-based frontoparietal FC as neurofeedback, and another 10 participants served as the control group. Frontoparietal FC was significantly increased in the test group (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p =0.03$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), and the cognitive functions (memory and attention) were significantly promoted compared with the control group (accuracy of 3-back test: <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p =0.0005$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, reaction time of 3-back test: <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p =0.0009$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). After additional validations on long-term training effect and on different patient populations, the proposed method exhibited considerable potential to be developed as a fast, effective, and widespread training approach for cognitive function enhancement.