The efficacy of neuromodulatory techniques for enhancing episodic memory

Jackson, Lucy 2024. The efficacy of neuromodulatory techniques for enhancing episodic memory. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

The ability to recollect the personal past, known as episodic memory, is a fundamental aspect of everyday life and is critical to the sense of self. This capacity declines with age and is also affected by several conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease. There is therefore a need to investigate interventions which might enhance memory. This thesis investigates whether electroencephalography neurofeedback (EEG-NF), which involves self-regulation of a target brain state via real-time feedback of an individual’s own brain activity; and audio-visual entrainment (AVE), whereby the brain naturally synchronises its dominant frequency with the rhythm of flickering lights and auditory tones, can enhance different aspects of episodic memory. In Chapter 2, a systematic review on episodic memory in healthy and clinical adult populations revealed that protocols varied considerably, and many studies had inadequate design features. The meta-analysis, conducted on studies with an active control group and randomisation/counterbalancing of participants to conditions, revealed a small beneficial effect of EEG-NF on episodic memory. Empirical studies were conducted using EEG-NF (Chapter 3) and AVE (Chapter 5), during the consolidation period between study and test phases, with the experimental group focused on theta and the active control group on low beta. There was tentative evidence that EEG-NF might be beneficial for episodic memory, once non-responders were excluded, but no evidence for positive effects of AVE. Chapter 4 explored responder characteristics from the EEG-NF experiment. The results from this thesis suggest that, as interventions to enhance episodic memory, AVE is not effective with the experimental design and parameters used, but EEG-NF has potential. EEG-NF seemed to selectively enhance free recall and the recovery of contextual information from the study phase, but not old/new item recognition or confidence judgements. However, further research is required to work out the optimal parameters and who might be responsive to this technique.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 May 2025
Last Modified:	23 May 2025 14:40
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/178474

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