Investing EEG Biomarkers for Efficient Learning

Focused attention for learning is a crucial skill, required for academic and professional success. Individuals and programs use a variety of strategies for improving learning, including repetition, mnemonics, visualization, movement, breathing, and meditation. While such interventions have previously been studied using behavioral instruments, we do not understand the biophysical mechanisms by which a proposed technique supports a human brain for enhanced learning. In order to identify universally effective and efficient learning strategies with connection to a physical mechanism, recent neuroscience findings assert that behavioral outcomes must be linked to measurable brain biomarkers that are common across all humans. Here, we report on the outcomes of particular learning interventions, using both behavioral and neurophysiological measurement tools to probe possible mechanisms for how focusing strategies impact the brain. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings before and after intervention are compared with post-task memory tests which measure focusing ability. We report on the viability of alpha power (8-12 Hz brainwaves), as a learning intervention biomarker, and discuss how EEG measurements can be incorporated into testing of learning strategies to support human performance.