Emotion regulation in Schizophrenia: a comparison between implicit (EEG and fNIRS) and explicit (valence) measures during a Neurofeedback training

Previous research on Schizophrenia (S) revealed anomalies in brain responsiveness during emotion processing, as shown by neuroimaging and EEG measures. Nonetheless preserved capacities to explicitly evaluate the emotional significance of affective stimuli in term of valence have been assessed. The present work explored the usefulness of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and EEG to analyze the spatial and temporal expressions of emotion processing in the brain before (T0) and after (T2) an emotional Neurofeedback (NF) training of Schizophrenia patients, assigned to the control or the experimental group. Explicit measures revealed correct identifications of stimuli emotional valence before (T0) and after (T2) the treatment, while implicit measures (EEG and fNIRS) showed a modulation and increased competencies only after the NF (T2) training.