Researchers at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science have once again shown that neurofeedback can be used for performance enhancement.  Their work, which was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was summarized in Science Daily, is, despite the article headline, a first only in its use of virtual reality.  It is not the first to show that helping people to get into what is known as the zone or a state of flow helps improve performance.

The engineers’ work instead builds on a sizable body of work showing that neurofeedback can help performers of many tasks still their head chatter and allow their bodies to do what they’ve been trained to do. Elite athletes and the Olympic and professional level have long used neurofeedback for performance enhancement. Musicians also like to get into that zone, and professor emeritus John Gruzelier of the University of London has done extensive research on the impact of neurofeedback on measures of musicality. Researchers have also worked with Top Gun pilots and Navy Seals.

You can read more details about the research at Science Daily.