Neurotopia Neurofeedback and Memory Loss

The results announced in the International Journal of Psychophysiology show a link between neurofeedback training and improved memory in a 40 person trial. Dr. David Vernon from Imperial College London at the Charing Cross Hospital says: "Previous research has indicated that neurofeedback can be used to treat a number of conditions including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, epilepsy and alcoholism by training particular aspects of brain activity, but this is the first time we have shown a link between the use of neurofeedback, and improvements in memory."

Flexing the Brain

Neurofeedback is a learning procedure that has been involved in treatments enabling participants to normalize behavior, stabilize mood, and improve their cognitive performance. It works by allowing people to watch their brain activity, and through this find a way to correct or improve it.

Neurofeedback Trial

For the trial, the volunteers completed a number of neurofeedback sessions requiring them to enhance one aspect of brain activity while simultaneously inhibiting others. Participants completed two tests, both before and after the neurofeedback training had been completed, to see if neurofeedback would influence working memory performance. Working memory refers to the type of memory used to hold and manipulate information during the performance of a task, such as maintaining a telephone number in mind in order to recall it later.

Significant Results

In both tests, the volunteers were presented with a series of words from different categories, and following this were tested on how well they were able to recall all the words from a specific category. Across both tests those receiving neurofeedback increased their recall from 70.6 percent to 81.6 percent, while recall in the control group only increased from 72.5 percent to 75.1percent.