Brainwave Training Boosts Network for Cognitive Control and Predicts Mind Wandering
A breakthrough study conducted in Canada has found that training of the well-known brainwave in humans, the alpha rhythm, enhances a brain network responsible for cognitive-control which correlates with reductions in mind-wandering. The training technique, termed neurofeedback, is being considered as a promising method for restoring brain function in mental disorders. Using several neuroimaging methods, a team of researchers working at the University of Western Ontario have now uncovered that functional changes within a key brain network occur directly after a 30-minute session of noninvasive, neural-based training. Dysfunction of this cognitive-control network has previously been implicated in a range of brain disorders including attentional deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
