On the need to better specify the concept of control in brain-computer-interfaces/neurofeedback research

• Main Authors: Guilherme eWood, Silvia Erika Kober, Matthias eWitte, Christa eNeuper
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-09-01
• Series: Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
• Subjects: Neurofeedback; executive functions; BCI; meta-cognition; Cognitive Strategies; rumination
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00171/full

Aiming at a better specification of the concept of control in brain-computer-interfaces (BCI) and neurofeedback research, we propose to distinguish self-control of brain activity from the broader concept of BCI control, since the first describes a neurocognitive phenomenon and is only one of the many components of BCI control. Based on this distinction, we developed a framework based on dual-processes theory that describes the cognitive determinants of self-control of brain activity as the interplay of automatic vs. controlled information processing. Further, we distinguish between cognitive processes that are necessary and sufficient to achieve a given level of self-control of brain activity and those which are not. We discuss that those cognitive processes which are not necessary for the learning process can hamper self-control because they cannot be completely turned-off at any time. This framework aims at a comprehensive description of the cognitive determinants of the acquisition of self-control of brain activity underlying those classes of BCI which require the user to achieve regulation of brain activity as well as neurofeedback learning.