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Updated: Feb 16, 2026
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Decoding Natural Behavior from Neuroethological Embedding
Published on: October 3, 2025
735
[Modulation of Metacognition with Decoded Neurofeedback].
Ai Koizumi1, Aurelio Cortese, Kaoru Amano
1Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), NICT.
Brain and Nerve = Shinkei Kenkyu No Shinpo
|December 29, 2017
Summary
Researchers used decoded neurofeedback (DecNef) to show that the frontoparietal network influences how confident people feel about their perceptions. This suggests a specific brain region is key for metacognition, or thinking about thinking.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Psychology
Background:
- Humans possess metacognitive abilities, allowing them to assess confidence in their own perceptions.
- The neural underpinnings of metacognition, particularly the brain mechanisms for subjective confidence, remain an active area of research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms of perceptual confidence.
- To determine if the frontoparietal network plays a distinct role in metacognition.
Main Methods:
- Utilized decoded neurofeedback (DecNef) to manipulate neural activity.
- Focused on altering multivoxel activation patterns within the frontoparietal network.
- Assessed the impact of neural manipulation on perceptual confidence and performance.
Main Results:
- Successfully modulated subjective perceptual confidence using DecNef.
- Demonstrated that manipulating the frontoparietal network affects confidence without altering perceptual performance.
- Provided evidence for a dissociation between confidence and performance.
Conclusions:
- The frontoparietal network is critically involved in regulating perceptual confidence.
- This network plays a distinct role in metacognitive functions, separate from direct perceptual processing.
- Findings support a specialized neural basis for metacognition.
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