Improving short-term memory performance of healthy young males using alpha band neurofeedback

Abstract

To examine whether it was possible to improve short-term memory performance of healthy participants by increasing relative alpha band power (7–11.5 Hz) using neurofeedback, we first converted a commercial EEG device (EmotivEpoc) to a neurofeedback tool and collected data from 11 healthy Turkish male graduate students in five neurofeedback sessions. Before and after neurofeedback training, a memorization task using 10 English words and their Turkish meanings was applied to all participants. The results indicated that 6 out of 11 participants were able to enhance their relative alpha band power with respect to other bands in the frequency spectrum during neurofeedback sessions. Although there was no obvious improvement in their short-term memory performance, we may conclude that neurofeedback training was beneficial for the participants to focus their minds consciously. However, it is not easy to mention that neurofeedback training certainly improved or was irrelevant with short-term memory performance. This study is important in the sense that for such a focused group the use of a commercial, customized low-cost EEG device was shown to be feasible for neurofeedback training sessions.