EEG Neurofeedback Training Research Articles

A - 67 A Critical Analysis of EEG Neurofeedback Training Efficacy in Historically Disadvantaged Communities

Abstract Objective Electroencephalogram neurofeedback training (EEG-NFT) is gaining popularity as a way of supporting emotional regulation following traumatic brain injury (TBI; Dehghani et al., 2023; Bezmaternykh et al., 2021; Rajeswaran and Bennett, 2019), as well as mental disorders defined in the DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022; Deiber et al., 2021; Micoulaud-Franchi et al., 2021; Neurofeedback Collaborative Group, 2023). EEG-NFT can extend well beyond TBIs and mental health disorders, especially in marginalized individuals facing ongoing trauma due to discrimination, hate crimes, and chronic stress as a result of frequent micro- and macroaggressions (Choi et al., 2022; Majeno et al., 2021; Moody and Lewis, 2019). One area not explored is the efficacy of EEG-NFT for individuals who have experienced racial or gender discrimination, especially if they are receiving training while continuing to experience microaggressions during the course of treatment. The authors commenced a review to determine (1) how often demographic data is shared in EEG-NFT research, (2) how frequently individuals who experience stigma enroll in neurofeedback, and (3) the efficacy of EEG-NFT specifically on marginalized individuals. Method Literature Review. Results Current literature reveals a deficiency in research amongst marginalized populations. Conclusions EEG-NFT shows promising results in emotional regulation for various mental disorders and TBIs, but there remains a significant gap in understanding its effectiveness for marginalized populations. The authors are moving forward with a detailed study, starting with an IRB proposal at Antioch University New England, to explore the efficacy of EEG-NFT in these underrepresented groups and plan to present preliminary results later this year.

Effects of Electroencephalogram Neurofeedback Intervention on Blood C-Reactive Protein Levels in Astronauts Attending 2-Week Long Analog Moon Mission.

The human organism is affected by multiple stressors every single day, especially during extremely demanding activities. It needs a method to regulate itself better. One of the stressors that is affecting humans is social isolation. The state of prolonged isolation happens during space missions. In this study, 40 analog astronauts attended a two-week-long mission. The experimental group had EEG neurofeedback training intervention performed on a daily basis, while the control group remained isolated without neurofeedback. The results let us take this non-invasive intervention under consideration, while debating the methods to lower the physiological stress reaction in humans that are exposed to extremely hard circumstances. Although not statistically significant, the trends observed give us direction towards other research to confirm EEG neurofeedback as a method to lower cell stress response levels.

Effects of home-based EEG neurofeedback training as a non-pharmacological intervention for Parkinson's disease

ObjectivesAberrant movement-related cortical activity has been linked to impaired motor function in Parkinson's disease (PD). Dopaminergic drug treatment can restore these, but dosages and long-term treatment are limited by adverse side-effects. Effective non-pharmacological treatments could help reduce reliance on drugs. This experiment reports the first study of home-based electroencephalographic (EEG) neurofeedback training as a non-pharmacological candidate treatment for PD. Our primary aim was to test the feasibility of our EEG neurofeedback intervention in a home setting. MethodsSixteen people with PD received six home visits comprising symptomology self-reports, a standardised motor assessment, and a precision handgrip force production task while EEG was recorded (visits 1, 2 and 6); and 3 × 1-hr EEG neurofeedback training sessions to supress the EEG mu rhythm before initiating handgrip movements (visits 3 to 5). ResultsParticipants successfully learned to self-regulate mu activity, and this appeared to expedite the initiation of precision movements (i.e., time to reach target handgrip force off-medication pre-intervention = 628 ms, off-medication post-intervention = 564 ms). There was no evidence of wider symptomology reduction (e.g., Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III Motor Examination, off-medication pre-intervention = 29.00, off-medication post intervention = 30.07). Interviews indicated that the intervention was well-received. ConclusionBased on the significant effect of neurofeedback on movement-related cortical activity, positive qualitative reports from participants, and a suggestive benefit to movement initiation, we conclude that home-based neurofeedback for people with PD is a feasible and promising non-pharmacological treatment that warrants further research.

Brain regulation training improves emotional competences in patients with alcohol use disorder.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is defined as the impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences and still represents one of the biggest challenges for society regarding health conditions, social consequences, and financial costs, including the high relapse rates after traditional alcohol rehabilitation treatment. Especially, the deficient emotional competence in AUD is said to play a key role in the development of AUD and hinders the interruption of substance compulsion, often leading to a viscous circle of relapse. Although the empirical evidence of a neurophysiological basis of AUD is solid and increases even further, clinical interventions based on neurophysiology are still rare for individuals with AUD. This randomized controlled trial investigates changes in emotional competences, alcohol-related cognitions, and drinking behavior before and after an established alcohol rehabilitation treatment (control group: nCG = 29) compared to before and after an optimized, add-on neurofeedback (NF) training (experimental group: nEG = 27). Improvements on the clinical-psychological level, i.e. increases in emotional competences as well as life satisfaction, were found after the experimental electroencephalography (EEG) NF training. Neurophysiological measurements via resting-state EEG indicate decreases in low beta frequency band, while alpha and theta bands remained unaffected.

Musical Neurofeedback Advancements, Feedback Modalities, and Applications: A Systematic Review.

The field of EEG-Neurofeedback (EEG-NF) training has showcased significant promise in treating various mental disorders, while also emerging as a cognitive enhancer across diverse applications. The core principle of EEG-NF involves consciously guiding the brain in desired directions, necessitating active engagement in neurofeedback (NF) tasks over an extended period. Music listening tasks have proven to be effective stimuli for such training, influencing emotions, mood, and brainwave patterns. This has spurred the development of musical NF systems and training protocols. Despite these advancements, there exists a gap in systematic literature that comprehensively explores and discusses the various modalities of feedback mechanisms, its benefits, and the emerging applications. Addressing this gap, our review article presents a thorough literature survey encompassing studies on musical NF conducted over the past decade. This review highlights the several benefits and applications ranging from neurorehabilitation to therapeutic interventions, stress management, diagnostics of neurological disorders, and sports performance enhancement. While acknowledged for advantages and popularity of musical NF, there is an opportunity for growth in the literature in terms of the need for systematic randomized controlled trials to compare its effectiveness with other modalities across different tasks. Addressing this gap will involve developing standardized methodologies for studying protocols and optimizing parameters, presenting an exciting prospect for advancing the field.

Co-morbid sleep apnea and chronic insomnia (COMISA), positive airway pressure (PAP) adherence and feasibility of EEG neurofeedback training in COMISA patients- Data from the Akershus Sleep Apnea Clinical Cohort

Co-morbid sleep apnea and chronic insomnia (COMISA), positive airway pressure (PAP) adherence and feasibility of EEG neurofeedback training in COMISA patients- Data from the Akershus Sleep Apnea Clinical Cohort

A new EEG neurofeedback training approach in sports: the effects function-specific instruction of Mu rhythm and visuomotor skill performance.

Achieving optimal visuomotor performance in precision sports relies on maintaining an optimal psychological state during motor preparation. To uncover the optimal psychological state, extensive EEG studies have established a link between the Mu rhythm (8-13 Hz at Cz) and cognitive resource allocation during visuomotor tasks (i.e., golf or shooting). In addition, the new approach in EEG neurofeedback training (NFT), called the function-specific instruction (FSI) approach, for sports involves providing function-directed verbal instructions to assist individuals to control specific EEG parameters and align them with targeted brain activity features. While this approach was initially hypothesized to aid individuals in attaining a particular mental state during NFT, the impact of EEG-NFT involving Mu rhythm on visuomotor performance, especially when contrasting the traditional instruction (TI) approach with the FSI approach, underscores the necessity for additional exploration. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the FSI approach on modulating Mu rhythm through EEG-NFT in the context of visuomotor performance. Thirty novice participants were recruited and divided into three groups: function-specific instruction (FSI, four females, six males; mean age = 27.00 ± 7.13), traditional instruction (TI, five females, five males; mean age = 27.00 ± 3.88), and sham control (SC, five females, five males; mean age = 27.80 ± 5.34). These groups engaged in a single-session EEG-NFT and performed golf putting tasks both before and after the EEG-NFT. The results showed that within the FSI group, single-session NFT with augmented Mu power led to a significant decrease in putting performance (p = 0.013). Furthermore, we noted a marginal significance indicating a slight increase in Mu power and a reduction in the subjective sensation of action control following EEG-NFT (p = 0.119). While there was a positive correlation between Mu power and mean radial error in golf putting performance (p = 0.043), it is important to interpret this relationship cautiously in the context of reduced accuracy in golf putting. The findings emphasize the necessity for extended investigation to attain a more profound comprehension of the nuanced significance of Mu power in visuomotor performance. The study highlights the potential effectiveness of the FSI approach in EEG-NFT and in enhancing visuomotor performance, but it also emphasizes the potential impact of skill level and attentional control, particularly in complex visuomotor tasks.

Estimation of the functional connectivity-based biomarkers for schizophrenia and depression using machine learning and simultaneous EEG-fMRI; towards to EEG-neurofeedback training

Estimation of the functional connectivity-based biomarkers for schizophrenia and depression using machine learning and simultaneous EEG-fMRI; towards to EEG-neurofeedback training

The efficacy of neurofeedback for alcohol use disorders - a systematic review

Background Alcoholism is a serious social, economic, and public health problem. Alcoholism can affect the gastrointestinal, neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, and it can be fatal, costing the healthcare system huge amounts of money. Despite the availability of cognitive-behavioral and psychosocial therapies, alcoholism has a high recurrence rate and a dismal prognosis, with a wide inter-individual variation. As a result, better or adjuvant therapies that improve or facilitate alcoholism therapy are required. We conducted a systematic review to look into the published studies that reported the effectiveness of non-pharmacological neurofeedback interventions in patients with alcohol use disorders. Methods PubMed, Google Scholar, The Cochrane Library, Science Direct, and Clinicaltrial.gov were searched until April 04, 2022. Original articles of any design reporting on the use of neurofeedback approaches in the treatment of alcohol use disorders were included. Information related to study design, participants, control group, neuromodulation therapy, number of sessions, and key findings of the study were extracted. The Joanna Briggs Institute’s (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies was used to assess the quality of studies. Results 20 research articles (including 618 participants) were retrieved and included for qualitative analysis. The sample size ranged from one (case report) to eighty, with years of publication ranging from 1977 to 2022. Nine of the 20 articles included in the study were conducted in the United States, followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, India, the Netherlands, and South Korea. Out of the 20 studies included, 8 (40%) had a moderate risk of bias, while the other i.e., 60% had a low risk of bias. The effectiveness of various neurological treatments in the treatment of alcohol use disorders was established in these 20 studies. There have been 11 studies on EEG neurofeedback training, three studies on real-time FMRI neurofeedback, two studies each on transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation, and one study each on deep brain stimulation and theta burst stimulation. These alternative neurological therapies have been demonstrated to lower alcohol cravings and consumption temporarily, reduce anxiety and depression scores, reduce relapse rates, and increase control of brain activity. Conclusion: The use of various neuromodulation approaches to the treatment of alcohol use disorder shows promise. However, more research with larger sample size is required.

An Exploration of Eye Artifacts and Learning Within an Acute EEG Neurofeedback Training Session

An Exploration of Eye Artifacts and Learning Within an Acute EEG Neurofeedback Training Session

Classification of Complex Emotions Using EEG and Virtual Environment: Proof of Concept and Therapeutic Implication.

During the last decades, neurofeedback training for emotional self-regulation has received significant attention from scientific and clinical communities. Most studies have investigated emotions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), including the real-time application in neurofeedback training. However, the electroencephalogram (EEG) is a more suitable tool for therapeutic application. Our study aims at establishing a method to classify discrete complex emotions (e.g., tenderness and anguish) elicited through a near-immersive scenario that can be later used for EEG-neurofeedback. EEG-based affective computing studies have mainly focused on emotion classification based on dimensions, commonly using passive elicitation through single-modality stimuli. Here, we integrated both passive and active elicitation methods. We recorded electrophysiological data during emotion-evoking trials, combining emotional self-induction with a multimodal virtual environment. We extracted correlational and time-frequency features, including frontal-alpha asymmetry (FAA), using Complex Morlet Wavelet convolution. Thinking about future real-time applications, we performed within-subject classification using 1-s windows as samples and we applied trial-specific cross-validation. We opted for a traditional machine-learning classifier with low computational complexity and sufficient validation in online settings, the Support Vector Machine. Results of individual-based cross-validation using the whole feature sets showed considerable between-subject variability. The individual accuracies ranged from 59.2 to 92.9% using time-frequency/FAA and 62.4 to 92.4% using correlational features. We found that features of the temporal, occipital, and left-frontal channels were the most discriminative between the two emotions. Our results show that the suggested pipeline is suitable for individual-based classification of discrete emotions, paving the way for future personalized EEG-neurofeedback training.

EEG NEUROFEEDBACK IN THE TREATMENT OF COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTIONS AFTER THE INFECTION OF SARS-COV-2 AND LONG COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is likely to have long-term mental health effects on individuals who have recovered from COVID-19. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 can see a range of long-term side effects. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of neurotherapy (EEG neurofeedback and goal-oriented cognitive training) in the treatment of neurocognitive dysfunctions in a patient after the infection of SARS-CoV-2 and the long long-term side effects after the contraction of COVID-19. The 48-year-old woman ZR, an accountant by profession, an employee of the administration of the Municipal Board of Municipal Resources, fell ill on October 13, 2020. The disease began with very severe burning headache, eyeballs pain, muscle aches. Ten days later more symptoms joined: loss of smell (anosmia) and loss of taste (ageusia), hearing disorders, shortness of breath and chest pains. The symptoms were associated with SARS-CoV-2 coron- avirus infection confirmed by an rt-PCR genetic test. Brain MRI with intravenous paramagnetic contrast medium injection did not show either lesions of acute microischemic significance or areas of pathological enhancement after paramagnetic contrast medium ad- ministration. The patient was treated at home. In mid-November 2020, about a month after the infection of SARS-CoV-2 and con- tracting NeuroCOVID-19, neurocognitive impairment developed and after half a year she was deteriorating and not able to live in- dependently in society because of her condition. She called her problem "brain fog", and was referred for further diagnosis and therapy to the Reintegration and Training Center of the Polish Neuropsychological Society. We diagnosed a range of long-term side effects and introduced neurotherapy (EEG neurofeedback and goal-oriented cognitive training) in the treatment of neurocognitive dysfunctions. It was found that almost all the long-term side effects were reduced in magnitude. The patient improved and she was able to return to work. EEG neurofeedback and goal-oriented cognitive training might be helpful in the reduction of neurocognitive dysfunctions in patients following the infection of SARS-CoV-2 and long-term side effects after the contraction of COVID-19.

EEG neurofeedback improves cycling time to exhaustion

ObjectiveThe role of the brain in endurance performance is frequently debated; surprisingly, few investigations have attempted to improve endurance performance by directly targeting brain activity. One promising but untested approach to modifying brain activity is electroencephalogram (EEG) neurofeedback. Consequently, our experiment is the first to examine an EEG neurofeedback intervention for whole-body endurance performance. MethodWe adopted a two-part experiment. The first consisted of a randomized parallel controlled design. Forty participants were allocated to three experimental groups; increase relative left cortical activity (NFL), increase relative right (NFR), and passive control (CON). They performed a depleting cognitive task, followed by either six 2-min blocks of EEG neurofeedback training (NFL or NFR) or time-matched videos of the neurofeedback display (CON). Next, they performed a time-to-exhaustion (TTE) test on a cycle-ergometer. We then tested participants of NFL and NFR groups in an additional experimental visit and administered the opposite neurofeedback training within a fully repeated-measures protocol. ResultsEEG neurofeedback modified brain activity as expected. As hypothesized, the NFL group cycled for over 30% longer than the other groups in the parallel controlled design, NFL: 1382 ± 252 s, NFR: 878 ± 167, CON: 963 ± 117 s. We replicated this result in the repeated-measures design where NFL: 1167 ± 831 s performed 11% longer than NFR: 1049 ± 638 s. There were no differences in pre-exercise fatigue, vigor or self-control; area under the curve group-differences for perceived effort were interpreted within a goal persistence framework. ConclusionThe brief EEG neurofeedback intervention elicited greater relative left frontal cortical activity and enhanced endurance exercise performance.

Design of a Neurofeedback Training System for Meditation Based on EEG Technology

Meditation is a form of mental training that has therapeutic potential and cognitive benefits that may enhance attention, mental well-being, and neuroplasticity. However, the learning process is not easy because meditators do not receive immediate feedback that lets them know if they are correctly doing the activity. EEG Neurofeedback training is one of the techniques to train brain self-regulation and it has the potential to increase the effectiveness of meditation. However, the benefits greatly differ between subjects with a high percentage of inefficacy. In this work, an EEG Neurofeedback Training System is proposed based on user-centered design methodology to provide real-time performance feedback to meditators to increase levels of attention and relaxation through a visual, sound and smell stimuli interface. Levels of attention and relaxation of nine participants were measured with a mobile Neurosky EEG headset biosensor during meditation practice to analyze the incidence of each type of stimuli during activity. Visual stimuli feedback was able to increase attention levels of 78% of the participants by 11.8% compared to a meditation session without any stimuli. The sound stimuli feedback was able to increase the relaxation levels of 44.4% of the participants by 16% compared to a session without any stimuli. These results might bring new insights for the design of a neurofeedback system interface for meditation. Further research on neurofeedback training interfaces for meditators is suggested to validate these results with more participants.

MRI correlates of cognitive improvement after home-based EEG neurofeedback training in patients with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study

ObjectiveNeurofeedback training may improve cognitive function in patients with neurological disorders. However, the underlying cerebral mechanisms of such improvements are poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to investigate MRI correlates of cognitive improvement after EEG-based neurofeedback training in patients with MS (pwMS).MethodsFourteen pwMS underwent ten neurofeedback training sessions within 3–4 weeks at home using a tele-rehabilitation system. Half of the pwMS (N = 7, responders) learned to self-regulate sensorimotor rhythm (SMR, 12–15 Hz) by visual feedback and improved cognitively after training, whereas the remainder (non-responders, n = 7) did not. Diffusion-tensor imaging and resting-state fMRI of the brain was performed before and after training. We analyzed fractional anisotropy (FA) and functional connectivity (FC) of the default-mode, sensorimotor (SMN) and salience network (SAL).ResultsAt baseline, responders and non-responders were comparable regarding sex, age, education, disease duration, physical and cognitive impairment, and MRI parameters. After training, compared to non-responders, responders showed increased FA and FC within the SAL and SMN. Cognitive improvement correlated with increased FC in SAL and a correlation trend with increased FA was observed.ConclusionsThis exploratory study suggests that successful neurofeedback training may not only lead to cognitive improvement, but also to increases in brain microstructure and functional connectivity.

The Road Less Traveled: Integrating Neurotherapy with Holistic Neuropsychological Rehabilitation After Severe Head Injury

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disturbances. The cognitive deficits are common after TBI, and a holistic approach to neuropsychological rehabilitation is recommended in these patients. EEG neurofeedback training (EEG-NFT) is a state-of-the-art technique for neuropsychological rehabilitation. There is a paucity of studies exploring the use of EEG-NFT integrated with holistic neuropsychological rehabilitation. Method: Single case design was adopted for the present study. A 25-year-old single male, diagnosed with severe TBI, presented with physical, cognitive, and emotional-behavioral disturbances after 17 months of injury. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was carried out. The neuropsychological rehabilitation using EEG-NFT along with psychosocial interventions with the patient and the parents was carried out for 9 months. Results: The patient showed significant improvement in cognitive deficits such as attention, executive functions, and visuospatial ability. Emotional-behavioral problems such as irritability, sadness, and overall dysfunction also improved significantly. Conclusion: The present case study highlights that integrating EEG-NFT along with holistic neuropsychological rehabilitation helps to improve cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disturbances after TBI.

Changes in EEG Recordings in COVID-19 Patients as a Basis for More Accurate QEEG Diagnostics and EEG Neurofeedback Therapy: A Systematic Review.

Introduction and purpose: The SARS-CoV-2 virus is able to cause abnormalities in the functioning of the nervous system and induce neurological symptoms with the features of encephalopathy, disturbances of consciousness and concentration and a reduced ability to sense taste and smell as well as headaches. One of the methods of detecting these types of changes in COVID-19 patients is an electroencephalogram (EEG) test, which allows information to be obtained about the functioning of the brain as well as diagnosing diseases and predicting their consequences. The aim of the study was to review the latest research on changes in EEG in patients with COVID-19 as a basis for further quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) diagnostics and EEG neurofeedback training. Description of the state of knowledge: Based on the available scientific literature using the PubMed database from 2020 and early 2021 regarding changes in the EEG records in patients with COVID-19, 17 publications were included in the analysis. In patients who underwent an EEG test, changes in the frontal area were observed. A few patients were not found to be responsive to external stimuli. Additionally, a previously non-emerging, uncommon pattern in the form of continuous, slightly asymmetric, monomorphic, biphasic and slow delta waves occurred. Conclusion: The results of this analysis clearly indicate that the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes changes in the nervous system that can be manifested and detected in the EEG record. The small number of available articles, the small number of research groups and the lack of control groups suggest the need for further research regarding the short and long term neurological effects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the need for unquestionable confirmation that observed changes were caused by the virus per se and did not occur before. The presented studies described non-specific patterns appearing in encephalograms in patients with COVID-19. These observations are the basis for more accurate QEEG diagnostics and EEG neurofeedback training.

A Single Case Feasibility Study of Sensorimotor Rhythm Neurofeedback in Parkinson's Disease.

Electroencephalographic activity over the sensorimotor cortex has been one of the best studied targets for neurofeedback therapy. Parkinson’s disease patients display abnormal brain rhythms in the motor cortex caused by increased synchrony in the basal ganglia-cortical pathway. Few studies have examined the effects of sensorimotor-based neurofeedback therapy in humans with PD. In this pilot study, one patient, diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 10 years prior, participated in two consecutive days of EEG neurofeedback training to increase sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) power over the motor cortex. Using a visual display connected to ongoing EEG, the patient voluntarily manipulated SMR power, and he/she was awarded with points to positively reinforce successful increases over a predefined threshold. Recorded EEG data were source localized and analyzed for the occurrence of high amplitude bursts of SMR activity as well as bursts in the beta frequency band in the precentral cortex. The rate of SMR bursts increased with each subsequent training session, while the rate of beta bursts only increased on the final session. Relative power in the beta band, a marker of PD symptom severity, decreased over the motor cortex in the later session. These results provide first evidence for the feasibility of SMR neurofeedback training as a non-invasive therapy for reducing Parkinson’s disease related activity and upregulating SMR in the human motor cortex.

EEG Neurofeedback Training Among Adult with Attention Deficit: A Review Article

Neurofeedback is considered a promising therapy for boosting cognitive skills, which 10% of the US medical sector is using as a new training method among patients. Attention is a significant mechanism for learning and is essential for life in general. As the person grows up the level of responsibilities also increases, which needs high concentration in doing normal activities. To succeed in any activity, neurofeedback therapy needs to check brain waves to locate the problem in the brain and train it. This paper aims to review the attention deficit treatment based on neurofeedback using a systematic review method. The results found that the common features are the area of EEG (Frontal, central) in the brain, type of tools and software, time of training and the impact upon the trainer. Neurofeedback showed improvement of brain attention-ability for a longer time as well as reduction in recovery time in case of a disturbance interruption.

A-189 Exploring the Effects of EEG Neurofeedback Training on Verbal Episodic Memory in a TBI Sample

Abstract Objective Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are commonly characterized by neural changes that impair physical, behavioral, and cognitive functioning across diverse ages and demographics. Cognitive complaints frequently include memory difficulties, with deficits in episodic memory greatly impairing daily functioning and future planning. Although various interventions and rehabilitation techniques have been implemented for TBI, limited treatment options are available for TBI-driven memory complaints. Recent research has explored the use of neurofeedback training (NFT) to improve cognitive functioning in TBI patients, yet it remains unclear whether this intervention may be successful in improving these memory deficits. Method In this double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study, the use of EEG neurofeedback training (NFT) on verbal episodic memory was explored in 12 veterans with TBI. Participants were randomized to active treatment or sham treatment, and they completed 20 sessions of NFT. Clinical assessments and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected pre and post treatment to measure any changes in resting-state functional connectivity or cognitive functioning. Results Findings suggest that immediate recall scores improved following active NFT, as measured by the California Verbal Learning Task-II. We also observed increased resting-state functional connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the inferior temporal lobe following NFT (Fig. 1), which may represent an underlying mechanism of memory improvement. Conclusions These exploratory findings may hold promise for future research on the use of NFT for memory enhancement in various populations.