CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 272EEG and Brain-Computer InterfacesNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesTranscranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies

The self-regulating brain and neurofeedback: experimental science and clinical promise

Open access
Thibault, Robert T., Lifshitz, Michael, Raz, Amir·2016·Cortex
DOI 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.024
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Neurofeedback, one of the primary examples of self-regulation, designates a collection of techniques that train the brain and help to improve its function. Since coming on the scene in the 1960s, electroencephalography-neurofeedback has become a treatment vehicle for a host of mental disorders; however, its clinical effectiveness remains controversial. Modern imaging technologies of the living human brain (e.g., real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging) and increasingly rigorous research protocols that utilize such methodologies begin to shed light on the underlying mechanisms that may facilitate more effective clinical applications. In this paper we focus on recent technological advances in the field of human brain imaging and discuss how these modern methods may influence the field of neurofeedback. Toward this end, we outline the state of the evidence and sketch out future directions to further explore the potential merits of this contentious therapeutic prospect.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.024

Cites

136 of 137 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • By learning to self-upregulate isolated regions, participants learn to co-regulate other areas interconnected with the target region, suggesting modulation of entire networks.

    “Importantly, by learning to self-upregulate isolated regions, participants learn to co-regulate other areas interconnected with the target region, suggesting modulation of entire networks (Emmert et al., 2016; Thibault et al., 2016).”

    From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Thibault et al., 2016

    The Functional Connectivity section (page unavailable) reports that neurofeedback targeting the premotor cortex altered brain connectivity, and that other studies found post-training connectivity changes. This supports possible network-level effects, but the cited passages do not establish that participants learned to co-regulate interconnected areas when upregulating an isolated target; the Future Steps section treats concurrent regulation of multiple signals as a question for further study. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • BOLD self-regulation can be achieved in less than 40 min in healthy adults.

    “The BOLD self-regulation can be achieved in less than 40 min (Thibault et al., 2016) in healthy adults.”

    From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Thibault et al., 2016

  • In other psychiatric and neurological disorders, rtfMRI-NF has shown some clinical potential, showing generalization to NF-free transfer runs and longer-term beneficial effects on cognitive and behavior symptoms of up to several months.

    “In other psychiatric and neurological disorders rtfMRI-NF has shown some clinical potential (Thibault et al., 2015, 2016), showing generalization to NF-free transfer runs and longer-term beneficial effects on cognitive and behavior symptoms of up to several months (Zilverstand et al., 2015).”

    From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Thibault et al., 2016

  • The ability to learn to self-regulate brain activation appears to be much faster with rtfMRI-NF than EEG-NF.

    “the ability to learn to self-regulate brain activation appears to be much faster with rtfMRI-NF than EEG-NF (Thibault et al., 2016),”

    From Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Its Clinical Translation (2018) · cites this paper as Thibault et al., 2016

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 139 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Dworkin, B. R. (1988). Hypertension as a learned response: The baroreceptor reinforcement hypothesis. In T. Elbert, W. Langosch, A. Steptoe, & D. Vaitl (Eds.), Behavioral medicine in cardiovascular disorders (pp. 17-47). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
  2. Kanoh, S., Susila, I., & Miyamoto, K. (2011). The Effect of Neurofeedback Training on Cortical Activity during Motor Imagery Revealed by NIRS and fMRI. International Journal of Bioelectromagnetism, 13(2), 82-83.
  3. Shapiro, A. K., & Shapiro, E. (1997). How Blind is Blind. In The Powerful Placebo: From Ancient Priest to Modern Physician (pp. 190-216). John Hopkins University Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Thibault, R. T., Lifshitz, M., & Raz, A.
Affiliations
  • McGill University (CA)
  • Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (CA)
Corresponding author
Raz, Amir
ORCID
Venue
Cortex
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-01
Volume
74
Pages
247-261
ISSN
0010-9452 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.024
OpenAlex
W2217885751
Cited by
272
References
139
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 2
FWCI
2.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Cortex (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship@McGill (McGill) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Canada Research Chair program (950-226108)
  • Discovery (386156-2010)
  • Discovery Acceleration (396050-2010)
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MPE-117645)
  • BIAL Foundation (118/14)
  • Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT)
  • Mind and Life Institute (2011-01-005)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
Keywords
neurofeedback, self-regulation, EEG, neuroimaging, mental illness, clinical effectiveness, brain training
MeSH terms
Self-Control, Brain, Brain Mapping, Humans, Neurofeedback, Neuroimaging

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review