Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback based on signals collected from the brain. Brainwave information is provided in real time to the user so they can learn how to self-regulate brain electrical activity. This technique proves effective in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sleep disorders, and in the self-regulation of emotional behavior.
Emotion regulation (ER) is the ability to recognize one’s emotions and manage the intensity and duration of emotional experience. Impairment of the ability to regulate affects leads to emotional vulnerability: a high sensitivity to experience emotions with high degrees of intensity and for a long time. Various cognitive and behavioral strategies can be employed for ER. A typical cognitive strategy is cognitive reappraisal. It consists in changing the way the person thinks and evaluates the emotionally critical situation in order to modify their emotional impact.
Thanks to the association between emotions and the diverse brain activation patterns, neurofeedback can be used for the treatment of emotion regulation disorders. Neurofeedback for ER has been successfully applied to treat schizophrenia, stress, depression, and anxiety.
The goal of the present study is to explore potential differences between a VR- based and a traditional 2D neurofeedback system, aimed to strengthen the ER capacity. Specifically, three subjects already carried out three sessions with the 2D neurofeedback system and three sessions with the VR neurofeedback system. In both systems, feedback training exploited standardized stimuli to elicit specific emotions and EEG signals to provide the feedback.
The aims of this thesis are to: (i) enlarge the experimental sample, (ii) process the acquired EEG data in order to identify possible correlations between EEG signal changes and neurofeedback training.