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Poster D in Poster Session D: Wednesday, August 5, 2:00 – 3:45 pm, Kimmel Center, Shorin & Rosenthal Rooms

Generalized Attention Benefits that Outlast Neurofeedback Training

Vishesh Choudhary¹, Devarajan Sridharan¹; ¹Indian Institute of Science

Presenter: Vishesh Choudhary

Paying sustained attention produces rapid and specific changes in the neural state. Whether sustained attention abilities can be improved by making participants aware of these changes -- neurofeedback -- remains an open question. Here, we designed an EEG-based neurofeedback paradigm using steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) to provide continuous readouts of attention levels in real time. To test improvements in sustained attention, participants performed a cued continuous performance “search” task (CPST), before and after neurofeedback training. Behavioral sensitivity (d’) increased after a single training session, compared to control participants, with generalized improvements across trained and untrained hemifields. Behavioral gains were correlated with increases in attentional modulation during neurofeedback. Furthermore, a linear classifier trained on evoked neural responses decoded the attended location more accurately post-neurofeedback, indicating better separability of attention-related neural states. These findings suggest that SSVEP-based neurofeedback can produce rapid and generalized attentional benefits across space and time, with potential therapeutic applications for attention disorders.

Topic Area: Methods, Tools, Theory & Neural Coding