Effects of Self-Control, Temporal Uncertainty, and Neurofeedback on Vigilance Performance

Salim Adam Mouloua

Advisor: Tyler H. Shaw, PhD, Department of Psychology

Committee Members: William S. Helton, Gerald Matthews

Online Location, Online
April 17, 2026, 02:00 PM to 04:00 PM

Abstract:

Predicting changes in performance using neurophysiological methods has yielded complex findings.  One underexplored avenue is accounting for an operator’s dispositional ability to withhold base impulses and energize themselves to succeed on a diverse range of tasks – self-control.  Here we utilized a three-stage approach for discovering 1) where neural resources are consumed during vigilance in low and high self-control operators’ brains, 2) how this mechanism changes through neurofeedback interventions, and 3) whether meta-analytic brain changes truly map to vigilance decrements across the landscape of scientific literature.  In study one, we conducted an experiment (Mouloua, Helton, Matthews, & Shaw, 2024) on the effects of unidimensional trait self-control and temporal uncertainty on vigilance performance as well as co-activation in the frontoparietal networks via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).  Results revealed that during a more difficult vigilance task, high self-control participants committed less false alarms, had better perceptual sensitivity, and reduced activation in right superior (rSPL; sustained attention to targets) and inferior parietal lobule (rIPL; mind-wandering and distractions).   In study two, we sought to train that mechanism through neurofeedback and multidimensional self-control profiles better corresponding to inhibition-activation systems relevant for interoceptive control of brain areas (inhibitory and initiatory self-control components).  We successfully trained participants to reduce rSPL activation through real-time fNIRS-neurofeedback, as compared to sham fNIRS-neurofeedback or a break before the same temporally uncertain vigilance task.   In study three, we conducted a meta-analysis of all vigilance studies employing fNIRS, electroencephalography (EEG), and functional transcranial doppler (fTCD), to deliver the verdict on whether mobile brain imaging methods utilized in Human Factors research have operational validity in assessing performance.  We found that across the field, declines in brain activity do correspond to vigilance decrements, though fNIRS is inherently more multidimensional (activation as well as deactivation).  This research suggests that mobile neurophysiological methods such as fNIRS are not only useful for revealing the mechanisms by which people fail to maintain their attention over time - they are critical for doing so.    Broadly, our findings indicate that a mixed-methods approach grounded in objective physiological techniques tells us who will pay attention, how we can improve people's attention, and in which contexts that works.