A Network Neuroscience of Neurofeedback for Clinical Translation

Curr Opin Biomed Eng. 2017 Mar;1:63-70. doi: 10.1016/j.cobme.2017.03.003. Epub 2017 Apr 2.

Abstract

In the emerging field of network neuroscience, the brain is represented as a network of discrete yet functionally and structurally interconnected areas. Mathematical and computational tools to characterize the organization of this network can provide insights into the principles guiding brain structure and function, and can pinpoint differences between healthy individuals and individuals suffering from psychiatric disease or neurological disorders. The field is now faced with the question of how to devise clinical interventions that target these network alterations. Potential solutions to this question include the combination of emerging theories of network control with cutting-edge interventions such as neurofeedback. Each of these techniques may now be mature enough to combine to obtain a theoretically-motivated framework informing viable neuropsychiatric therapies.

Keywords: clinical therapies; control theory; graph theory; network science; neurofeedback; neuroimaging.