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The main areas of laboratory work today are associated with various aspects of the phenomenon of neuronal plasticity.

   The first area is devoted to the study of central neurodynamics of cognitive operations of various complexity in the adaptive feedback. In particular, in our works of 2019 methods of prevention and correction of psycho-emotional stress in the extreme professions were studied, the changes of the stress resistance were tested using the biofeedback methods using stress-induced and uncertain tasks, on the basis of modeling a virtual environment that initiated the emotional stress development, controlled by physiological characteristics. For these tasks the experimental stress models developed in the laboratories were selected, such as competitive game biofeedback where the success depends on players’ ability to control their physiological characteristics, cardio intervals duration in particular, which is an integral indicator of the level of stress; a set of maze tasks that simulated a situation of uncertainty based on immersion into virtual reality, where an avatar is also controlled using the biofeedback algorithm.

            In 2019 these methods and models were tested during psycho-physiological training of the staff of hazardous professions (firefighters at the Training Center of the Federal Fire Service, Novosibirsk, military personnel of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Ministry of Defense), diagnostic protocols and training protocols for optimal functioning were developed, as well as an individual scheme for building a course of stress-induced disorders prevention (in stress management tasks) based on biofeedback technology and synthesis of stressful situations using virtual reality and game competition.

   The second direction of our work is related to the neuroimaging of the central mechanisms of self-regulation. On-line brain mapping during the game biofeedback was carried out using fMRI technology. It was shown that the immersion in a virtual competitive game controlled by physiological characteristics resulted into a large involvement of cortical areas, induced a significant activation in the mid-temporal, occipital and frontal areas, as well as in the cuneus and precuneus. Functionally, the activation of these areas indicated an involvement of complex analytical and synthetic functions. Identification, analysis and grouping of the structures that underlie the effective mechanisms of self-regulation can provide new opportunities for a comprehensive description of the self-regulation phenomenon and understanding of its mechanisms.

   The third and, perhaps, the most important direction of our work which is connected with the so-called “trimodal” fMRI-EEG system built into the feedback loop opened up the territory of macrocerebral neural networks and the phenomenon of functional connectivity, which made it possible to quantify the strength, direction, and stability of the intracerebral connections formed in the neural networks. Neuroplasticity has acquired a numerical measure. This allowed us to fundamentally reinterpret the mechanisms of training the skills of self-rehabilitation and confirm the technology for interactive brain stimulation - a new generation of neurotherapy.

   Studies of the relations of brain metabolism and its bioelectric activity expressed in fMRI and EEG signals, respectively, are one of the most difficult topics in neurophysiology, medicine, and biophysics, as well as one of the “hot” modern trends. We assess the significance of the results for the subject area as high, and the results as relevant to the current world level.