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Affective Neurofeedback Under Naturalistic Conditions: A Mini-Review of Current Achievements and Open Challenges
Lucas R Trambaiolli1, Abhishek Tiwari2, Tiago H Falk2
1Basic Neuroscience Division, McLean Hospital-Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, United States.
Frontiers in Neuroergonomics
|January 18, 2024
Summary
Affective neurofeedback training helps self-regulate emotion circuits, showing promise for psychiatric disorders. This review explores real-world applications and challenges for "in-the-wild" neurofeedback, moving beyond the lab.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Affective neurofeedback (ANF) enables self-regulation of emotion circuits.
- ANF shows positive effects as an adjunctive treatment for psychiatric disorders.
- Transferring learned strategies outside the lab is crucial for sustained benefits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current state of affective neurofeedback in naturalistic settings.
- To explore advancements toward "in-the-wild" ANF protocols.
- To identify challenges for real-world ANF implementation.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on affective neurofeedback protocols.
- Discussion of virtual reality as a bridge to naturalistic settings.
- Examination of mobile neurotechnology for "in-the-wild" applications.
Main Results:
- Affective neurofeedback shows potential for real-world emotion regulation.
- Virtual reality and mobile neurotechnology are key enablers for naturalistic ANF.
- Progress has been made in adapting ANF for non-controlled environments.
Conclusions:
- Transitioning ANF from laboratory to real-world settings is feasible but presents challenges.
- Convenience, reliability, and environmental factors need addressing for widespread adoption.
- Further research is needed to optimize "in-the-wild" affective neurofeedback protocols.
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