Traditional closed-loop training or neurofeedback training, which is more effective in improving attention?

Have you ever been in a situation like this

When we are busy

What we are looking for is right in front of us

We are blind to it

This phenomenon is related to a classic limitation of human cognition:

Limited attention (limited attention)

What is the most important thing to know about attention?

limited attention

01

Human beings have a finite number of things they can pay attention to at any one time (for most of them this number is only 2 or 3).

Assuming that we are already paying attention to 3 things at once, when we try to get a 4th thing noticed as well, then the 4th thing becomes the center of attention, and attention on the first three things wanes.

For children, due to their lack of ability, skill, experience, etc., they are able to pay attention to perhaps even fewer things at once.

So when a child is faced with a more complex environment or matter, it will be more difficult to focus on the top few goals.

If a child's attention span is not very good, or if their general attention span is on the low side, they are even more likely to be frazzled, disorganized, or simply distracted from the main task, devoting their attention to inappropriate places.

There is no way to improve the ability to concentrate and break the spell of limited attention. Yes, there are various forms of cognitive training that can be used to improve general cognition.

Researchers at Princeton University in the United States have demonstrated that one of the effective methods of cognitive training -- Neurofeedback -- can improve people's ability to focus their attention. deBettencourt et al., 2015).

Neurofeedback, in general, refers to the real-time acquisition and computation of neural signal indicators (e.g., brainwave EEG, functional magnetic **** vibration imaging fMRI) during cognitive training, which are then fed back to the trainee in the form of visual or auditory feedback, with a view to allowing the trainee to learn to self-regulate their brain function based on the feedback information.

Princeton University, in this study, had trained subjects (current undergraduates) distinguish whether a scene was indoors or outdoors, or whether a face was male or female.

The challenge of the task was that the translucent scene and the face were placed on top of each other, and the trainees were told that they needed to either selectively pay attention to the face and ignore the scene, or to pay attention to the scene and ignore the face, and to make judgments only about the category that was being paid attention to (indoor or outdoor; male or female).

In order to realize the neurofeedback, the scholars used real-time functional magnetic **** vibration imaging (real-time fMRI) to realize on-line analysis and automatically determine whether the trainee's attention is focused on the task-relevant image category at the current moment (face vs. scene)

When the neurofeedback system When the neurofeedback system detects that the trainee is inattentive or switches to a category that is not relevant to the task, the system automatically increases the difficulty of the task by decreasing the proportion of task-relevant images in the mix (e.g., from 50% faces to 30% faces).

When the trainee is focused, the training system will automatically reduce the difficulty of the training to reward this good performance, and conversely, when the trainee is not focused, the system will increase the difficulty of the task to penalize it.

The system starts with the training task and modulates the difficulty of the task by analyzing the collected neural signals (fMRI) in real time, thus forming a closed-loop feedback system.

The study found that prior to the training, subjects completed the task with an error rate of about 30 percent, and after the neurofeedback training, performance improved dramatically, as shown in the green bar graph on the left in the figure below.

The researchers also found that when they used feedback from the trainees on a control group (that is, the control group used feedback that wasn't based on their own fMRI signals), the control group's performance didn't improve significantly at the end of the training session (blue bar, left, below).

This also suggests that neurofeedback training needs to be ''tailored'' to each individual's own situation and data to be more effective.

In summary, it seems that neurofeedback does improve the effectiveness of cognitive training (this study focuses on attention) and has greater advantages in 3 areas.

1. The most immediate benefit is the ability to feed back collected brain signals to the trainee in real time and in a graphic manner, so that neural activity can be monitored visually.

2. Compared to traditional open-loop cognitive training (e.g., word and picture-based exercises), a closed-loop system allows the trainee to learn the ability to constrain and control neural activity in a more effective way, thus achieving the training goal.

3. Another advantage of neurofeedback is that the captured neural images can also be analyzed offline so that researchers can find out the real principles and mechanisms, whereas most traditional training modalities make it difficult to measure what's going on in the brain.

Scholars at Princeton University, for example, have found that when trainees receive neurofeedback for attention training, the neurofeedback signals actually originate in the attentional control region (below, b) and in sensory areas located in the occipital and temporal lobes (occipitotemporal) (below, a).

This suggests that when a trainee loses focus, this leads to changes in neural activation in the attentional and sensory regions, which are then detected by the feedback system and fed back to the trainee in the form of task difficulty for training purposes.

Of course, while recognizing the convenience and effectiveness of science and technology, we cannot completely deny and discard the auxiliary role of traditional training methods.

The use of EEG biofeedback training in the process of helping children to improve their attention, can in the first time to accurately feedback on the child's brain situation, to make the appropriate prompts to adjust the task form, so that the child's attention to return to the task, and gradually develop efficient brain habits at the same time,

But at the same time, the competitive thinking also

But at the same time, we will also work with the auxiliary training to consolidate the child's progress, so that the child through the combination of different training methods, in the efficient progress at the same time, but also to achieve a comprehensive and stable enhancement!