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REVIEW article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Performance Science
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412289
This article is part of the Research Topic Enhancing Resilience in Military Personnel: Insights into Physiological, Physical, Psychological Dimensions View all articles

Interest of neurofeedback training in the military context

Provisionally accepted
Clementine Jacques Clementine Jacques 1,2,3,4*Michael Quiquempoix Michael Quiquempoix 1,3*Fabien Sauvet Fabien Sauvet 1,3Michel Le Van Quyen Michel Le Van Quyen 4Danielle Gomez-merino Danielle Gomez-merino 1,3MOUNIR Chennaoui MOUNIR Chennaoui 1,3
  • 1 EA7330 Sommeil-Vigilance-Fatigue et Santé Publique (VIFASOM), Paris, France
  • 2 Thales Group (France), Paris, Île-de-France, France
  • 3 Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA), Bretigny sur Orge, France
  • 4 INSERM U1146 Laboratoire d'Imagerie Biomédicale, Paris, Île-de-France, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Operational environments are characterized by a range of psycho-physiological constraints that can degrade combatants' performance and impact on their long-term health. Neurofeedback training (NFT), a non-invasive, safe and effective means of regulating brain activity, has been shown to be effective for mental disorders, as well as for cognitive and motor capacities and aiding sports performance in healthy individuals. Its value in helping soldiers in operational condition or suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTSD) is undeniable, but relatively unexplored. The aim of this narrative review is to show the applicability of NFT to enhance cognitive performance and to treat (or manage) PTSD symptoms in the military context. It provides an overview of NFT use cases before, during or after military operations, and in the treatment of soldiers suffering from PTSD. The position of NFT within the broad spectrum of performance enhancement techniques, as well as several key factors influencing the effectiveness of NFT are discussed. Finally, suggestions for the use of NFT in the military context (pre-training environments, and during and post-deployments to combat zones or field operations), future research directions, recommendations and caveats (e.g. on transfer to operational situations, inter-individual variability in responsiveness) are offered. This review is thus expected to draw clear perspectives for both researchers and armed forces regarding NFT for cognitive performance enhancement and PTSD treatment related to the military context.

    Keywords: Neurofeedback Training, Military context, cognitive capacities, Mental Health, human performance

    Received: 05 Apr 2024; Accepted: 11 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jacques, Quiquempoix, Sauvet, Le Van Quyen, Gomez-merino and Chennaoui. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Clementine Jacques, EA7330 Sommeil-Vigilance-Fatigue et Santé Publique (VIFASOM), Paris, France
    Michael Quiquempoix, EA7330 Sommeil-Vigilance-Fatigue et Santé Publique (VIFASOM), Paris, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.