Enhancing Inhibitory Control in Older Adults: A Biofeedback Study

Abstract

Multidomain interventions based on bio-/neurofeedback have proven useful in improving executive functions. The present study aimed to explore the potential efficacy and feasibility of an intervention that combined Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRV-BF) and Near Infrared Hemoencephalography Neurofeedback (nirHEG-NF) on inhibitory control (IC) of healthy older adults. Thirty-four participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the biofeedback group (received a 10-week combined intervention of HRV-BF and nirHEG-NF) and the active control group (received a similar protocol without real-time biofeedback). Besides cognitive outcomes, the study examined pre- and post-changes in autonomic regulation and prefrontal blood oxygenation at rest and during training. Results revealed training-induced inhibitory control gains in one of the two interference tasks, whereas no effect was found on response inhibition. After the intervention, HRV increased in participants with the lowest levels of HRV at baseline. Although older adults increased blood oxygenation during training, no significant pre- and post-changes were found in blood flow oxygenation. These findings not only suggest that HRV-BF and nirHEG-NF potentially improve performance in certain subcomponents of inhibition (i.e., interference vs. response inhibition), but it may also be beneficial for parasympathetic activity in participants with low HRV and for increasing blood flow oxygenation on prefrontal areas during training.

Integrated use of biofeedback and neurofeedback techniques in treating pathological conditions and improving performance: a narrative review

“…Relative to memory ( Meeuwsen et al, 2021 ), the BF and NF interventions were embedded within a larger program that also included behavioral change strategies, such as diet modification, physical activity, a cognitive training, meditation, and sleep monitoring, so it would not have been possible to determine whether the study results were attributable solely to the combined BF + NF treatment. Regarding inhibitory control ( Tinello et al, 2023 ), the reason lies in the fact that the NF intervention used in the study (the Near Infrared Hemoencephalography Neurofeedback) was different from the NF intervention (EEG-NF) used in the studies included in the review by Viviani and Vallesi (2021) , which we took into account to get a complete picture of the last 10 years on the effectiveness of NF in improving inhibitory control. In addition, with regard to anxiety disorders and depression ( White et al, 2017 ), only one retrospective study with an integrated BF + NF approach was found, which was not included given the inherently less reliable nature of this type of study, the same reason why we did not consider the study by Groeneveld et al (2019) conducted on subjects with ADHD.…”