Self-empowerment & neurocognitive enhancement research
Trough the SDA Bocconi, I was participating in a neurocognitive enhancement research in collaboration with:
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore,
- Associazione Facilitatori Risorse Umane.
The neurocognitive enhancement interventions used in the study combine breathing exercises and water-breathing interruptions (experimental intervention), or mindfulness practices supplemented by a neurofeedback device/gadget (active control) to support individuals who have been in managerial roles in the labor market for some time. These interventions aim to improve their self-management, control, and enhancement of executive and self-regulation skills.
The project focused on the following areas of self-empowerment:
- Improving stress management.
- Increasing self-awareness and self-regulation skills.
- Improving attention focus.
- Optimizing executive functions (attentional regulation, executive control, interference inhibition).
The effectiveness of the two interventions was evaluated through a series of tests (neuroassessment) performed before and at the end of interventions. The assessments was a mix of PC “games” (i.e., If you see the letter ‘W’ press SPACE as soon you see it, if you see the letter ‘M’ no action needed. Time duration: 2 minutes), video recording, logic test writing and verbal questionnaire.
All participants underwent the same assessment and were divided into two groups based on the adopted protocol:
- Mind~theDeep – apnea/breathing training in the pool (6 sessions in 3 months).
- Mindfulness-Neurofeedback – an active control with known effectiveness, which was applied daily by participants independently for four consecutive weeks. This protocol involved a one-time exercise (meditation, not specifically goal-oriented) repeated every day at the same time with increasing training period (from 5 to 20 minutes, with an additional 5 minutes every week with the total duration of 4 weeks).
I participated in the Mindfulness-Neurofeedback protocol, using a wearable device that was connected via Bluetooth to an app (Muse) on my smartphone. The device provided immediate feedback on my concentration and breathing by changing the sounds in the app (i.e. tropical rain simulation with thunders or birds singing). At the beginning, 5 minutes seemed like an eternity, but by the end, even 20 minutes were completely manageable. In just one month, I noticed improvements in attention focus and self-regulation skills. I performed this exercise in the evening before going to sleep.
We received the results that showed a qualitative and quantitative improvement in both groups (Mind~theDeep and Mindfulness-Neurofeedback), even with a relatively small sample size.
While the positive findings of the Mindfulness-Neurofeedback protocol were expected due to previous validations and a standardized application (with a defined duration of intervention and final neuroassessment), the effects of the Mind~theDeep protocol were found to be well above expectations for some objectives and statistically highly significant, despite a limited number of sessions and spacing out in time.
I underestimated the power of meditation and the importance of breathing. The secret in my case was the use of the gadget, which provided instant feedback on my exercise. This meant that it corrected me all the time, and doing it the correct way meant that I improved faster.
