TY - CONF

T1 - Get in the endurance zone! EEG neurofeedback improves cycling time to exhaustion

AU - Mottola, Francesca

AU - Blanchfield, Anthony

AU - Hardy, James

AU - Cooke, Andrew

PY - 2019/7

Y1 - 2019/7

N2 - Electroencephalographic (EEG)-neurofeedback training is a non-invasive approach for modifying brain activity. Promisingevidence endorses EEG-neurofeedback as an intervention to enhance performance in tasks requiring fine motor control (e.g.golf, archery, shooting). However, no study has examined EEG-neurofeedback interventions for whole-body enduranceperformance. Our experiment addresses this gap in the literature. We adopted a randomised single-blind, placebo-controlledparallel design. Forty subjects were recruited and randomly allocated to three groups (increase relative left cortical activity, NFL,N = 13, increase relative right, NFR, N = 13 and passive control, CON, N = 14). They performed a depleting cognitive task followedby either EEG-neurofeedback training (NFL and NFR), consisting of 6 × 2 min sessions, or time matched-videos of theneurofeedback display (CON). Next, they performed a time to exhaustion test on a cycle-ergometer (TTE). Measures of moodand state self-control were obtained at baseline and after each task. Results confirmed that our brief EEG-neurofeedbackintervention modified brain activity in the expected way. Importantly, the NFL group performed for over 30 % longer than the othergroups in the TTE (mean ± S.E. NLF = 1382 ± 252, NFR = 878 ± 167, CON = 963 ± 117 sec, contrast tests p = .05). There wereno group-differences in mood, self-control or rate of perceived exertion measured during the TTE, suggesting that the mechanismunderlying neurofeedback benefits was a neurophysiological shift towards approach motivation. Our results show that EEGneurofeedbackcan be used to modulate frontal hemispheric asymmetry, and greater relative left frontal activity may enhanceendurance performance.

AB - Electroencephalographic (EEG)-neurofeedback training is a non-invasive approach for modifying brain activity. Promisingevidence endorses EEG-neurofeedback as an intervention to enhance performance in tasks requiring fine motor control (e.g.golf, archery, shooting). However, no study has examined EEG-neurofeedback interventions for whole-body enduranceperformance. Our experiment addresses this gap in the literature. We adopted a randomised single-blind, placebo-controlledparallel design. Forty subjects were recruited and randomly allocated to three groups (increase relative left cortical activity, NFL,N = 13, increase relative right, NFR, N = 13 and passive control, CON, N = 14). They performed a depleting cognitive task followedby either EEG-neurofeedback training (NFL and NFR), consisting of 6 × 2 min sessions, or time matched-videos of theneurofeedback display (CON). Next, they performed a time to exhaustion test on a cycle-ergometer (TTE). Measures of moodand state self-control were obtained at baseline and after each task. Results confirmed that our brief EEG-neurofeedbackintervention modified brain activity in the expected way. Importantly, the NFL group performed for over 30 % longer than the othergroups in the TTE (mean ± S.E. NLF = 1382 ± 252, NFR = 878 ± 167, CON = 963 ± 117 sec, contrast tests p = .05). There wereno group-differences in mood, self-control or rate of perceived exertion measured during the TTE, suggesting that the mechanismunderlying neurofeedback benefits was a neurophysiological shift towards approach motivation. Our results show that EEGneurofeedbackcan be used to modulate frontal hemispheric asymmetry, and greater relative left frontal activity may enhanceendurance performance.

M3 - Paper

T2 - 15th European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology

Y2 - 15 July 2019

ER -