Individual Sensory Modality Dominance as an Influential Factor in the Prefrontal Neurofeedback Training for Spatial Processing: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study.

Takeshi Sakurada,Shin-Ichiroh Yamamoto,Mayuko Matsumoto

doi:10.3389/fnsys.2022.774475

Abstract

Neurofeedback is a neuromodulation technique used to improve brain function by self-regulating brain activity. However, the efficacy of neurofeedback training varies widely between individuals, and some participants fail to self-regulate brain activity. To overcome intersubject variation in neurofeedback training efficacy, it is critical to identify the factors that influence this type of neuromodulation. In this study, we considered that individual differences in cognitive ability may influence neurofeedback training efficacy and aimed to clarify the effect of individual working memory (WM) abilities, as characterized by sensory modality dominance, on neurofeedback training efficacy in healthy young adults. In particular, we focused on the abilities of individuals to retain internal (tactile or somatosensory) or external (visual) body information in their WM. Forty participants performed functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based neurofeedback training aimed at producing efficient and lower-level activity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and frontopolar cortex. We carried out a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind study that compared WM ability before and after neurofeedback training. Individual WM ability was quantified using a target searching task that required the participants to retain spatial information presented as vibrotactile or visual stimuli. Participants who received feedback information based on their own prefrontal activity showed gradually decreasing activity in the right prefrontal area during the neurofeedback training and demonstrated superior WM ability during the target searching task with vibrotactile stimuli compared with the participants who performed dummy neurofeedback training. In comparison, left prefrontal activity was not influenced by the neurofeedback training. Furthermore, the efficacy of neurofeedback training (i.e., lower right prefrontal activity and better searching task performance) was higher in participants who exhibited tactile dominance rather than visual dominance in their WM. These findings indicate that sensory modality dominance in WM may be an influential neurophysiological factor in determining the efficacy of neurofeedback training. These results may be useful in the development of neurofeedback training protocols tailored to individual needs.

Highlights

Neurofeedback is a neuromodulation technique that aims to self-regulate brain activity patterns to improve specific functions (Ehlis et al, 2018; Xiang et al, 2018; Jeunet et al, 2019)
Based on our previous findings regarding the neural basis of individual differences in working memory (WM) modality dominance (Matsumoto et al, 2020), the neurofeedback protocol used in this study provided feedback of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and frontopolar cortex (FPC), which are critical for WM (Owen et al, 2005; Pleger et al, 2006; Slotnick and Moo, 2006; Kaas et al, 2007; Giglia et al, 2014)
Post hoc tests on the Real group revealed that the beta value in ch.11 decreased, which was consistent with the neurofeedback training aims [p = 0.057, simple-simple main effect test (1st vs. 8th)], and these decreasing trends were focal and limited to the right hemisphere [ch.14: p = 0.0027, ch.15: p = 0.029; simple-simple main effect test (1st vs. 8th)]

Summary

Introduction

Neurofeedback is a neuromodulation technique that aims to self-regulate brain activity patterns to improve specific functions (Ehlis et al, 2018; Xiang et al, 2018; Jeunet et al, 2019). Using fNIRS-based neurofeedback, self-regulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to contribute to improved emotional regulation (Yu et al, 2021), and postural stability has been found to be affected by greater supplementary motor area activity (Fujimoto et al, 2017). The motor imagery-related premotor activity changes during neurofeedback training significantly correlated with functional recovery (Mihara et al, 2013). These reports demonstrate that fNIRS-based neurofeedback might constitute an effective approach to neuromodulation. The direction of self-regulation of brain activity must be appropriately determined in neurofeedback training

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