Improving cognitive control by hierarchical neurofeedback

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K12443
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cognitive science
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Saiki Jun 京都大学, 人間・環境学研究科, 教授 (60283470)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 上田 祥行 京都大学, こころの未来研究センター, 特定助教 (80582494)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: ニューロフィードバック / 認知制御 / 課題間転移 / fMRI / 視覚的注意

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The current study aimed at building a neurofeedback technique whose effect can transfer across different tasks, leading to improvement in complex attentional functions. This project will bridge the gap between theory-oriented and application-oriented studies. Using Multi-Source Interference Task (MSIT), known to show large and robust interference effects, we found a behavioral feedback procedure that could substantially reduce the amount of interference compared with a simple task practice. Also, we measured brain activities during MSIT performance, and revealed brain activities correlated with individual differences in interference effect. In particular, we identified regions strongly activated with people with small and large interferences, respectively. Based on these findings, we will continue to work on designing neurofeedback signal for improving cognitive control, and examine its effectiveness.

Free Research Field

認知神経科学