title: Testing the Benefits of Neurofeedback on Selective Attention Measured Through Dichotic Listening.
abstract: The electrophysiological changes after a single session of neurofeedback training (↑SMR/↓Theta) and its effects on executive attention during a dichotic listening test with forced attentional procedures were measured in a sample of 20 healthy women. A pre-post moment test double blind design, with the inclusion of a group receiving sham neurofeedback, allowed for minimization of alien influences. The interaction of Moment × Group was significant, indicating an enhancement of SMR band after the real neurofeedback. The dichotic listening scores were correlated with the amplitude of Beta band in baseline conditions. The performance on the forced left attentional condition in dichotic listening was significantly improved and correlated positively with the post-training enhancement of the SMR band. The sham neurofeedback group also improved DL scores, so a clear affirmation about the benefits of neurofeedback training over cognitive performance could not be unambiguously established. It is concluded that the protocol showed a good independence and acceptable trainability in modifying the EEG results, but there was limited interpretability regarding cognitive outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Psicobiologia, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez 21, 46010, Valencia, Spain. Marien.Gadea@uv.es.
authors.forename: Marien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gadea
authors.affiliation: Departament de Psicobiologia, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez 21, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aliño
authors.affiliation: Departament de Psicobiologia, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez 21, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Evelio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garijo
authors.affiliation: Departament de Psicobiologia, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez 21, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Espert
authors.affiliation: Departament de Psicobiologia, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez 21, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salvador
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D058765:Neurofeedback
keywords: Beta; Dichotic listening; EEG; Executive attention; Neurofeedback; SMR; Sham procedures; Theta