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    Differential subjective experiences in learners and non-learners in frontal alpha neurofeedback: piloting a mixed-method approach

    Davelaar, Eddy J. and Barnby, Joseph and Almasi, Soma and Eatough, Virginia (2018) Differential subjective experiences in learners and non-learners in frontal alpha neurofeedback: piloting a mixed-method approach. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience , ISSN 1662-5161.

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    Abstract

    In a neurofeedback paradigm, trainees learn to willfully control their brain dynamics. How this is realized remains an open question. We evaluate the hypothesis that learning success is associated with a specific phenomenology. To address this proposal, we combined quantitative and qualitative analyses of a short neurofeedback training session during which participants enhanced mid-frontal alpha power and were then subsequently interviewed about their experiences. We analyzed the electrophysiological data to determine learning success and classify trainees as learners and non-learners. The subjective experiences differed between the two groups and are best described along a trying-sensing continuum, with non-learners engaging effortfully with the task (e.g. “I will it [the bar] to move”) whereas learners reported more sensing of their inner (e.g. “Something inside my stomach”) and outer environment (e.g. “I was aware of the sound of the beeps”). In the process of piloting this mixed-method approach, we developed a classification system for the verbal reports. This system provides an explicit analytic framework which might guide future studies that aim to investigate the association between subjective experiences and neurofeedback training protocols.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): EEG neurofeedback, qualitative analysis, neurophenomenology, subjective experience, alpha oscillations
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Depositing User: Virginia Eatough
    Date Deposited: 12 Oct 2018 12:52
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:44
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/24549

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