International Journal of Psychophysiology 93 (2014) ix–xii

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International Journal of Psychophysiology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpsycho

Editorial

Applied Neuroscience: Functional enhancement, prevention, characterisation and methodology. (Hosting the Society of Applied Neuroscience)

This special issue on Applied Neuroscience was invited by Elsevier and the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Psychophysiology (IJP) to promote the field of Applied Neuroscience and Psychophysiology. It also raises the profile of the Society of Applied Neuroscience (SAN). SAN (www.applied-neuroscience.org) was established in Europe as an international society to investigate the potential of neurofeedback, to promote research on validation and to encourage cross fertilisation in applied neuroscience. The initiative of special issues was first proposed to the SAN membership and attendees at the Society's biennial meeting in Thessaloniki in May, 2011 (see www. applied-neuroscience.org). The favourable response led to this IJP issue focussing on empirical contributions on functional enhancement, characterisation and methodology, and illustrative of its broad range of interests. It also led to two other special issues, one solely on theoretical, methodological and literature reviews in Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews (in press) and the other a themed issue on neurofeedback, in Biological Psychology (2014, 95, 1-134). It is a particular pleasure to publish a SAN issue in the International Journal of Psychophysiology. The first co-editor was one of the original three editors-in-chief of the Journal, along with Albert Ax and Natalia Bechtereva both now deceased, when it was launched in 1982 at the first meeting of the International Organisation of Psychophysiology (IOP). Gruzelier has also served IOP by hosting its second international conference in London in 1984, the year the Journal was first published, and served as a member of the Board of Directors and later the Board of Governors, standing down as Journal co-editor in 2004. As with IOP, the foundational interest of SAN was brain electrophysiology. This is seen in the larger picture of cognitive and affective neuroscience, while SAN also promotes the translation of electrophysiological models in applied fields via feedback techniques, or via the application of external electrical or magnetic stimuli. Beginning with functional enhancement and the prevention of pathology, developmental implications are especially pertinent. Of relevance to ageing, Frantzidis et al., 2014 in "Cognitive and physical training for the elderly: Evaluating outcome efficacy by means of neurophysiological synchronization" approach healthy and pathological ageing from the perspective of an altered co-operative capacity between neuronal populations. This also opens the door for neuroplasticitybased training aimed at facilitating coherent interaction between distant brain regions and concomitantly improving cognition. The authors posit that in order to assess the efficacy of potential interventions neurophysiological synchronization is a valid outcome index. Towards this purpose, by adopting Relative Wavelet Entropy, they offer an objective, synchronization-based tool in the form of a parameter-free synchronization metric that computes a distance value quantifying the proximity 0167-8760/$ – see front matter http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8760(14)00129-9

of an individual profile to the mean group increase in synchronization. The focus is not on a specific frequency band but rather on the relative energy distribution of the EEG signal, here examined across four electrode pairs interhemispherically. Empirical support was forthcoming from an elderly group receiving combined physical and cognitive training when compared with a control intervention group. This is a first demonstration of enhanced function in the elderly with a synchronisation outcome measure. They go on to contrast this with a method having potential for characterisation of cognitive decline, - "Eye blink rate as a biological marker of mild cognitive impairment." Ladas et al., 2013 in a controlled study of elderly participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) explore the transition from MCI to dementia along with cognitive assessments, regarding eye blink rate as a putative index of dopamine activity. The higher blink rate found in MCI patients was observed to correlate with cognitive impairment, in line with dopaminergic hyperactivity and with the implication that blink rate may provide a marker of the transition from healthy aging to dementia. Turning to early development, Fitzpatrick et al., 2012 in "Parental bad habits breed bad behaviours in youth: Exposure to gestational smoking and child impulsivity" provide another exemplar of Pagani's involvement with the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (Pagani, 2013). Here, when compared with children of non-smokers and after adjustment for potential confounding variables, children of mothers who were heavy smokers during pregnancy had higher impulsivity ratings by their fourth grade teachers and were less engaged in the classroom. Another contribution also has developmental implications for impulsive behaviour. Stankovic et al., 2013 investigated neuroendocrine and neuropsychological function in boys with conduct disorder in "Effects of psychosocial stress on psychophysiological activity during risky decision-making in male adolescents". They demonstrated that induced psychosocial stress, validated by endocrine and autonomic responses, attenuated psychophysiological differentiation overall between wins and losses. However, while under stress it was trait impulsivity that predicted reduced differentiation, as disclosed by electrodermal responsiveness. Stress-related compromise that is reflected in psychophysiological response attenuation was also the outcome of "Cardiac reactivity and preserved performance under stress: Two sides of the same coin?" (Pattyn et al., 2013) investigate whether cognitive performance evaluated immediately before a simulated flight for trainee military pilots, utilised as a naturalistic and validated stressor and shown to increase cardio-respiratory reactivity would adversely affect cognition. through incorporating emotional stimuli specific for student-pilots, would impact on the cognitive stressor. Pilots were found to be less able to suppress irrelevant student-specific emotional stimuli if they were

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ecologically salient. Furthermore this compromise of cognitive control went on to be associated with reduced reactivity to the flight stressor, in line inter alia with the widely reported advantages for high over low heart rate variability. Performance enhancement from the perspective of reduced workload is considered by Reiner and Gelfeld, 2013 in "Estimating mental workload through event-related fluctuations of pupil area during a task in a virtual world", one of two of Reiner's contributions utilising virtual reality (VR; see also Christ and Reiner, 2014). They utilise the frequency of pupil fluctuations extracted from power spectrum density in order to estimate mental workload in a VR immersive system. With task repetition, which accompanied decreased workload, pupillary fluctuations decreased. An operational mode was reached whereby the brain acts as an automatic controller, one that is fundamental to the transfer of skills from highly predictable to motor tasks with low predictability. "Our results suggest a potentially applicable method to brain-computer- interface systems that adapt to human mental workload, and provide intelligent automated support for enhanced performance (page number to be inserted)." In a second contribution "Natural stimuli from three coherent modalities enhances behavioural responses and electrophysiological cortical activity in humans" Sella et al., 2013 employed a multimodal auditory-haptic-visual environment in order to enhance perceptual performance. Not only was performance facilitated by multiple modality cues, but event-related potential recording showed that this facilitation was underpinned by shorter latency components. In the perceptual domain and in the clinic Macefield et al., 2014 in "Disturbances in affective touch in heredity sensory and autonomic neuropathy type III" examine patients who are characterised by elevated thermal thresholds together with and an indifference to pain. Having previously disclosed an absence of muscle spindles and a reduced density of C-fibres in the skin, here they examine the relation between Ctactile afferent function and pleasant touch perception. In contrast to controls the patients' pleasantness ratings to stroking did not fit the profile for C-tactile afferents. This was interpreted as absent or reduced Ctactile afferent density in the skin. Clinical characterisation is also the subject of Cortoos et al., 2013 "Excitatory versus inhibitory impairments in insomnia patients: an ERP study." Through comparison with an ERP oddball procedure of patients with insomnia and good sleepers, they conclude that two processes are involved that parallel the two branches of the autonomic nervous system. There are implications for both insomnia subtyping and for understanding the arousal mechanisms underlying the disability. Characterisation of ten year old children with learning deficits was also facilitated by ERP recording in a report by Liu et al., 2014 in "N450 as a candidate neural marker for interference control deficits in children with learning disabilities." ERP recording was carried out during an executive control task disclosing late component abnormalities through comparison with control children, and abnormalities were validated through correlations with both cognitive task and exam performance. Bogdanowicz et al., 2013 in "Characteristics of cognitive deficits and writing skills of Polish adults with developmental dyslexia" set out to raise the profile of the dyslexic problems that persist into adulthood. In fact a diversity of cognitive anomalies is described in adult dyslexia, and these for the most part could not easily be tied simply to a range of specific difficulties in written text. Turning to enhancement with EEG-neurofeedback, this has been a central interest of SAN as indicated in the two other special issues. Empirical evidence on neurofeedback is extended here in five contributions. Firstly in a clinical report "EEG-neurofeedback and psychodynamic psychotherapy in adolescent anhedonia with substance misuse: A single case study," Unterrainer et al., 2013 document progressive improvement in a first year humanities student presenting with cognitive impairment and anhedonia following prolonged recreational drug misuse. Improvement followed a course of ten sessions of EEG-neurofeedback combined with dynamic psychotherapy,

benefits which were sustained at three month follow-up. Of broader relevance in elucidating the cognitive/affective correlates of the theta rhythm, and the practical issue of whether to train theta up or down, the improvement ratings correlated strongly with the reductions in theta amplitude during sensory-motor rhythm (SMR)/theta ratio Cz training and not SMR amplitude, and there was no such relation with posterior (Pz) theta amplitude during eyes closed alpha/theta (A/T) training. As part of a programme of optimal performance studies in the performing arts (Gruzelier, 2014a; Gruzelier et al., 2014) applications for music and dance performance were extended with one important design change in the music report when compared with the other performing arts studies. The post-training performances were conducted within the tenth final session instead of on a subsequent occasion. The proximity to training of the music performances within the last session likely compromised gains from A/T learning, but perhaps reinforced the impact of SMR training efficacy through hypothetical impact on lower-order abilities required in novice performance such as sustained attention and memory. The A/T outcome was markedly discrepant from previous studies and should dispel any impression that the hypnogogic state itself is transferred to the performance context. Turning to dance we set out to replicate a ballroom dance study (Raymond et al., 2005) in which alpha/theta (A/T) neurofeedback and heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback enhanced performance in competitive ballroom dancers compared with controls (Gruzelier et al., 2013). In this study first year contemporary dance conservatoire students were randomised to the same two psychophysiological interventions or to a choreology instruction comparison group or to a notraining control group. Whereas there was demonstrable neurofeedback learning, there was no impact of the three interventions on dance performance as assessed by four experts. However, HRV training reduced anxiety and the reduction in anxiety correlated with improved technique and artistry in performance. Consistent with the putative impact of hypnogogic training on creativity the A/T training increased cognitive creativity. Two further neurofeedback reports have inter alia implications for methodology. Gruzelier in "Differential effects on mood of 12 - 15 (SMR) and 15 - 18 (beta 1) Hz neurofeedback" with a mood adjective activation-deactivation check-list reports the phenomenological changes within ten sessions of sensory-motor rhythm (SMR) and beta1 ratio neurofeedback training. Whereas after 15 minutes tiredness ratings increased with both protocols, SMR training also induced calmness which was not found with beta1 training. The increase in calmness was consistent with reduced impulsiveness in continuous performance following training reported earlier in the participants (Egner and Gruzelier, 2001). Fatigue after 15 minutes of training has important implications for the design of schedules of learning. The implication, not widely appreciated in the neurofeedback field, is that "less-is-more"' with regard to the efficacy of neurofeedback learning within sessions, an issue elaborated further is the companion issue (Gruzelier, 2014b,c,d). Peeters et al., 2013 in "Validation of a neurofeedback paradigm: manipulating frontal EEG alpha-activity and its impact on mood" utilised single-session neurofeedback training, a convenient experimental approach which by avoiding the contingencies of longitudinal testing enables a quick investigation of the viability of a protocol and can allow for increased statistical power (Gruzelier, 2014d). They set out to examine whether frontal (F3,4) broad band alpha (7.8 - 13.1 Hz) asymmetry, an asymmetry that has been associated with mood valence could be increased or decreased in separate groups of female participants (N = 40). They found that frontal alpha asymmetry could be changed in both directions, in support of Hardman et al. (1997) who demonstrated this in a within subject design with slow cortical potential asymmetry. There was no carry-over to the post-training assessment nor were there any mood changes on a positive and negative affect scale; likely consequences of a single session. Curiously both groups

Editorial

showed inexplicable, initial changes of asymmetry that were opposite to the ones intended, contributing to a body of evidence disclosing difficulties of initial adjustment to feedback learning (Gruzelier, 2014d), and one which may distort feedback learning indices. There was for the most part evidence of topographical specificity when considering central and parietal locations, however, there was no frequency band specificity with effects spreading frontally to flanking theta and beta1 bands. Lateralisation and mood were also relevant to a contribution by Styliadis et al., 2013: "Amygdala responses to valence and its interaction by arousal revealed by MEG". They set out to disentangle the role of the amygdala and its subdivisions in emotion by differentiating between arousal and valence. They disclosed a distinct functional regional specificity within the amygdala in the processing of emotions. Lateralisation and subdivision proved central to clarification, with the right laterobasal region mediating negative valence and the left centromedial region mediating positive valence when stimuli were arousing, i.e., a valence/ arousal interaction. Turning to reports focussing primarily on methodology, a validation study on the entraining effects of binaural beats is long overdue given the promotion of the technique in non-scientific circles. In "Tracking EEG changes in response to alpha and beta binaural beats" Vernon et al., 2012 compared two frequencies for entrainment characteristics in the temporal cortices - 10Hz alpha and 20Hz beta frequencies. There was no evidence of entrainment in amplitudes, whether broad or narrow frequency bands were examined. In a controlled study "Music-dynamically controlled by physiological measures for use in biofeedback" Bergstrom et al., 2013 compared feedback training of heart rate conveyed by musical modulation with music alone and with sonification of heart rate. They conclude that biofeedback was superior to music alone in modulating arousal, with participants using respiration as a guide to lower their arousal, though efficacy could not be attributed to the modulation of breathing per se. Of relevance to clinical methodology, Mairesse et al., 2013 in "Sleepiness phenomics: Modelling individual differences in subjective sleepiness profiles." collected sleepiness profiles every two hours during a thirty-six hour waking period while monitoring salivary cortisol. Individual profile characterisation reflected different regulatory processes influencing sleep, and allowed quantification of phenotypes. Tenev et al., 2013 in "Machine learning approach for classification of ADHD adults" demonstrate the application of "support vector machine" modelling as an effective EEG power spectral method for discriminating between adults with ADHD and controls. With measures taken during rest and cognitive performance, providing four data sets in all, the method was especially successful in discriminating between DSM-IV ADHD inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive subtypes. In "The effect of head and coil modelling for the calculation of induced electric field during transcranial magnetic stimulation" Tachas and Samaras, 2013 report advantages with finer model resolution as well as by taking account of coil geometry in view of the individual variation in brain tissue volume, and by acknowledging secondary magnetic field effects. In conclusion, this issue has focused on some of the many themes that are important to SAN: the enhancement of function and prevention of pathology; characterisation of individual differences; innovative methodology and validation. The broad range of topics here and in the companion special issues, but especially in this IJP issue of empirical investigations, exemplifies the Society of Applied Neuroscience's ethos in facilitating communication and cross fertilisation across disciplines, along with the application of rigorous scientific research. The co-editors thank Elsevier and in particular the Editor-in-Chief, Dr Connie Duncan, for fostering the special issue initiative in IJP, and we thank the authors for their contributions and support.

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References Bergstrom, I., Seinfeld, S., Arroyo-Palacios, J., Slater, M., Sanchez-Vives, M.V., 2013. Using music as a signal for biofeedback. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 140–149 (this issue). Bogdanowicz, K.M., Łockiewicz, M., Bogdanowicz, M., Pąchalska, M., 2013. Characteristics of cognitive deficits and writing skills of Polish adults with developmental dyslexia. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 78–83 (this issue). Christ, O., Reiner, M., 2014. Perspectives and possible applications of the rubber hand and virtual hand illusion in non-invasive rehabilitation: Technological improvements and their consequences. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.neubiorev.2014.02.013. Cortoos, A., De Valck, E., Pattyn, N., Mairesse, O., Cluydts, R., 2013. Excitatory versus inhibitory impairments in insomnia patients: An ERP study. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 62–69 (this issue). Egner, T., Gruzelier, J.H., 2001. Learned self-regulation of EEG frequency components affects attention and event-related brain potentials in humans. Neuroreport 12 (18), 4155–4159. Fitzpatrick, C., Barnett, T.A., Pagani, L.S., 2012. Parental bad habits breed bad behaviors in youth: Exposure to gestational smoke and child impulsivity. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 17–21 (this issue). Frantzidis, C.A., Ladas, A.-K.I., Vivas, A.B., Tsolaki, M., Bamidis, P.D., 2014. Cognitive and physical training for the elderly: Evaluating outcome efficacy by means of neurophysiological synchronization. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 1–11 (this issue). Gruzelier, J.H., 2014a. EEG-neurofeedback for optimising performance II: A review ofcreativity. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.11.004 (SAN special issue, AppliedNeuroscience). Gruzelier, J.H., 2014b. Differential effects on mood of 12-15 (SMR) and 15-18 (beta1) Hz neurofeedback. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 112–115 (this issue). Gruzelier, J.H., 2014c. EEG-neurofeedback for optimising performance I: A review of cognitive and affective outcome in healthy participants. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.015. Gruzelier, J.H., 2014d. EEG-neurofeedback for optimising performance. III: A review of methodological and theoretical considerations. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.03.015. Gruzelier, J.H., Hirst, L., Holmes, P., Leach, J., 2014. Immediate effects of alpha/theta and sensory-motor rhythm feedback on music performance. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 96–104 (this issue). Gruzelier, J.H., Thompson, T., Redding, E., Brandt, R., Steffert, T., 2013. Application of alpha/ theta neurofeedback and heart rate variability training to young contemporary dancers: State anxiety and creativity. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 105–111 (this issue). Hardman, E., Gruzelier, J., Cheesman, K., Jones, C., Liddiard, D., Schleichert, H., Birbaumer, N., 1997. Frontal interhemispheric asymmetry: self regulation and individual differences in humans. Neurosci. Lett. 221 (2–3), 117–120. Ladas, A., Frantzidis, C., Bamidis, P., Vivas, A.B., 2013. Eye Blink Rate as a biological marker of Mild Cognitive Impairment. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 12–16 (this issue). Liu, C., Yao, R., Wang, Z., Zhou, R., 2014. N450 as a candidate neural marker for interference control deficits in children with learning disabilities. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 70–77 (this issue). Macefield, V.G., Norcliffe-Kaufmann, L., Löken, L., Axelrod, F.B., Kaufmann, H., 2014. Disturbances in affective touch in hereditary sensory & autonomic neuropathy type III. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 56–61 (this issue). Mairesse, O., De Valck, E., Quanten, S., Neu, D., Cortoos, A., Pattyn, N., Hofmans, J., 2013. Sleepiness phenomics: Modeling individual differences in subjective sleepiness profiles. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 150–161 (this issue). Pagani, L.S., 2013. Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and brain development: The case of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.03.008. Pattyn, N., Mairesse, O., Cortoos, A., Morais, J., Soetens, E., Roelands, B., Kolinsky, R., 2013. Cardiac reactivity and preserved performance under stress: Two sides of the same coin? Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 30–37 (this issue). Peeters, F., Ronner, J., Bodar, L., van Os, J., Lousberg, R., 2013. Validation of a neurofeedback paradigm: Manipulating frontal EEG alpha-activity and its impact on mood. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 116–120 (this issue). Raymond, J., Sajid, I., Parkinson, L.A., Gruzelier, J.H., 2005. Biofeedback and dance performance: a preliminary investigation. Appl. Psychophysiol. Biofeedback 30 (1), 64–73. Reiner, M., Gelfeld, T.M., 2013. Estimating mental workload through event-related fluctuations of pupil area during a task in a virtual world. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 38–44 (this issue). Sella, I., Reiner, M., Pratt, H., 2013. Natural stimuli from three coherent modalities enhance behavioral responses and electrophysiological cortical activity in humans. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 45–55 (this issue). Stankovic, A., Fairchild, G., Aitken, M.R.F., Clark, L., 2013. Effects of psychosocial stress on psychophysiological activity during risky decision-making in male adolescents. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 22–29 (this issue). Styliadis, C., Ioannides, A.A., Bamidis, P.D., Papadelis, C., 2013. Amygdala responses to valence and its interaction by arousal revealed by MEG. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 121–133 (this issue). Tachas, N.J., Samaras, T., 2013. The effect of head and coil modeling for the calculation of induced electric field during transcranial magnetic stimulation. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 167–171 (this issue). Tenev, A., Markovska-Simoska, S., Kocarev, L., Pop-Jordanov, J., Müller, A., Candrian, G., 2013. Machine learning approach for classification of ADHD adults. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 162–166 (this issue).

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Unterrainer, H.F., Chen, M.J.-L., Gruzelier, J.H., 2013. EEG-neurofeedback and psychodynamic psychotherapy in a case of adolescent anhedonia with substance misuse: Mood/theta relations. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 84–95 (this issue). Vernon, D., Peryer, G., Louch, J., Shaw, M., 2012. Tracking EEG changes in response to alpha and beta binaural beats. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 93 (1), 134–139 (this issue).

John Gruzelier Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, LewishamWay, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK Panos Bamidis Laboratory of Medical Physics, Department of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Linda Pagani Centre de Recherche de l'Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Canada Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, United States Miriam Reiner The Virtual Reality and NeuroCognition Laboratory, Technion, Israel Institute of Science, Israel Tomas Ros Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Applied neuroscience: functional enhancement, prevention, characterisation and methodology. (Hosting the Society of Applied Neuroscience).

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