Open AccessThe influence of sham feedback on physiological processing during fear-driven stimulation
Author(s) -
Jan Ehlers,
Janine Grimmer,
Veronika Strack,
Anke Huckauf
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251211
Subject(s) - biofeedback , pupillary response , stimulus (psychology) , psychology , negative feedback , skin conductance , perception , cognition , cognitive psychology , stimulation , context (archaeology) , neuroscience , medicine , pupil , physical medicine and rehabilitation , biology , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , voltage , biomedical engineering
Biofeedback constitutes a well-established, non-invasive method to voluntary interfere in emotional processing by means of cognitive strategies. However, treatment durations exhibit strong inter-individual variations and first successes can often be achieved only after a large number of sessions. Sham feedback constitutes a rather untapped approach by providing feedback that does not correspond to the participant’s actual state. The current study aims to gain insights into mechanisms of sham feedback processing in order to support new techniques in biofeedback therapy. We carried out two experiments and applied different types of sham feedback on skin conductance responses and pupil size changes during affective processing. Results indicate that standardized but context-sensitive sham signals based on skin conductance responses exert a stronger influence on emotional regulation compared to individual sham feedback from ongoing pupil dynamics. Also, sham feedback should forego unnatural signal behavior to avoid irritation and skepticism among participants. Altogether, a reasonable combination of stimulus features and sham feedback characteristics enables to considerably reduce the actual bodily responsiveness already within a single session.