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Objective. Neurofeedback (NF) is a cognitive training procedure based on real-time feedback (FB) of a participant's brain activity that they must learn to self-regulate. A classical visual FB delivered in a NF task is a filling gauge reflecting a measure of brain activity. This abstract visual FB is not transparently linked-from the subject's perspective-to the task performed (e.g., motor imagery (MI)). This may decrease the sense of agency, that is, the participants' reported control over FB. Here, we assessed the influence of FB transparency on NF performance and the role of agency in this relationship. Approach. Participants performed a NF task using MI to regulate brain activity measured using electroencephalography. In separate blocks, participants experienced three different conditions designed to vary transparency: FB was presented as either (1) a swinging pendulum, (2) a clenching virtual hand, (3) a clenching virtual hand combined with a motor illusion induced by tendon vibration. We measured self-reported agency and user experience after each NF block. Main results . We found that FB transparency influences NF performance. Transparent visual FB provided by the virtual hand resulted in significantly better NF performance than the abstract FB of the pendulum. Surprisingly, adding a motor illusion to the virtual hand significantly decreased performance relative to the virtual hand alone. When introduced in incremental linear mixed effect models, self-reported agency was significantly associated with NF performance and it captured the variance related to the effect of FB transparency on NF performance. Significance . Our results highlight the relevance of transparent FB in relation to the sense of agency. This is likely an important consideration in designing FB to improve NF performance and learning outcomes., (Creative Commons Attribution license.)

Introduction: The health context with COVID-19 pandemic has led to fast development of many vaccines against the SarS-Cov-2 virus. Four of them are currently available in France and contain polyethylene glycol (PEG) or polysorbate 80 as excipients, already described as causing anaphylaxis. French recommendations have been suggested by allergology authorities and proposed a course of action in the event of a suspected allergy to these vaccines. Thus, allergies to excipients were the only contraindication to COVID-19 vaccination. Our main objective was to determine the impact of these allergology vaccine recommendations on the management of these patients. Our secondary objective was to determine prevalence of true allergies to these vaccines., Materials and Methods: We conducted a unicentric descriptive retrospective study with all patients over 18 years of age referred for an allergological opinion before or after an injection of one of the anti-COVID-19 vaccines. Nineteen patients were classified into different interest groups, based on french recommendations., Results: The vast majority of patients did not require a pre-vaccination allergological assessment. Indeed, only 25 patients received skin tests prior to vaccination. The rest of patients were able to be vaccinated without allergological assessment. Patients not vaccinated due to allergy to excipients represent less than 1% of the population ( n  = 3/320)., Conclusion: French recommendations made it possible to vaccinate the vast majority of patients included in our study. Allergy to PEG, polysorbate or their derivatives, the only contraindication to anti-COVID vaccination, according to the recommendations of February 2021, remains rare. Today, several authors propose tolerance inductions allowing the vaccination of patients allergic to PEGs or their derivatives with good tolerance., (© 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)