Multi-brain neurofeedback: what are we training for?

Yafeng Pan, Xiaojun Cheng, Guillaume Dumas, Suzanne Dikker

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in Trends in cognitive sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Yafeng PanDepartment of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; The State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Neurocognitive Development and Mental Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Xiaojun ChengSchool of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: chengxiaojun@szu.edu.cn.

Guillaume DumasCHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Université deMontréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Mila - Quebec AI Institute, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: guillaume.dumas@ppsp.team.

Suzanne DikkerDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: suzanne.dikker@ugent.be.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Multi-brain neurofeedback offers new possibilities for guiding social interaction by capturing and modulating interpersonal neural dynamics in real time. We propose a hierarchical framework where neurofeedback targets shared sensory dynamics (signal), socio-cognitive processes (functional), or social outcomes (system). We highlight key methodological challenges and potential real-world therapeutic and pedagogical applications.

Indexed as

BrainInterpersonal RelationsNeurofeedbackAnimalsHumanscollective computationinterbrain plasticityinterbrain synchronymulti-brain neurofeedbackreal-world applicationsocial biofeedback

Identifiers

PMID42362449

DOI10.1016/j.tics.2026.05.007

PMCPMC13460243

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY-NC

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.