Through the use of electronic instruments a person can learn to exert control over bodily processes which are normally controlled automatically and unconsciously. Some
examples of biofeedback are being able to increase or decrease skin temperature, lower blood pressure, decrease the tension of specific muscles, and influence brainwave
patterns. The electronic device senses very small changes in activity and provides the person with this information in the form of a signal on a continuous, moment to
moment basis. By paying attention to the signal, a person can learn to increase or decrease the firing of the signal and, hence, learns to increase or decrease the bodily
function which the signal represents.
NEUROFEEDBACK THERAPY (also called Brainwave Biofeedback or EEG Biofeedback)
In neurofeedback a sensor placed on the surface of the scalp monitors brainwave activity and this information is converted into an electric signal. By paying attention to
this signal, a person can learn to exert control over his or her brainwave patterns.
HISTORY
Neurofeedback has been used since the 1960’s when Dr. Joe Kamiya at the University of Chicago demonstrated that brainwave activity could be deliberately
influenced by an individual who received brainwave feedback. Early investigations focused on using brainwave biofeedback to facilitate entering states of deep relaxation
and meditative states.
In the late 60’s, Dr. M. Barry Sterman of the UCLA School of Medicine
serendipitously discovered another, and dramatically effective, use of neurofeedback.
While studying the toxicity of a rocket fuel additive for NASA, he noted that a group of
cats used in the experiment had very high seizure thresholds. On closer examination, he
realized that the cats resistant to seizure activity were from a previous, unrelated study
he had done in which he had trained the cats to increase a specific brainwave pattern. Dr.
Sterman repeated the brainwave training in cats, then later in monkeys and in humans, and
he found a consistent, significant protection in the subjects from seizure activity. He
launched a number of studies which began to elucidate the apparent underlying mechanisms
and he and others began treating patients with intractable seizure disorders.
After several years of treating patients with intractable seizures with
neurofeedback, clinicians and researchers noted that the hyperactive children not only had
decreased seizure activity, but their behavior improved as well. In the mid 70’s, Dr.
Joel Lubar at the University of Tennessee did the first systematic study of neurofeedback
on hyperactivity without a history of seizures. He found that brainwave training was
superior to Ritalin in improving behavior and attention. In a subsequent study, he found
that, unlike medications, the benefits of brainwave training continued after treatment was
terminated. In the 80’s and 90’s, Lubar and others, including Michael Tansey,
demonstrated improvements in some of the learning disabilities, with documented increases
in IQ.
As more patients were treated for seizures and for hyperactivity, clinical
information began to accumulate on the increasing number of conditions which were
benefited by treatment with neurofeedback. It became clear that two other major areas were
sleep disorders and many of the aftereffects of head injury.
Most people treated with neurofeedback reported peaceful sleep whether they had had
sleep problems or not, and many with problems such as insomnia, sleep walking, night
terrors, enuresis, bruxism and sleep walking reported significant improvements.
Those people who had sustained traumatic brain injuries reported improvements in a
host of problems, including headaches, dizziness, fatigue, poor concentration and memory,
irritability, mood swings, slurred speech, anxiety, and depression. Margaret Ayers
pioneered neurofeedback treatment and research of more severely head injured people,
including open head injuries and stroke victims, and has documented improvements in the
patient’s EEG consistent with clinical improvements in motor and cognitive
functioning. The implications for future work in this area are staggering.
Dr. Siegfried Othmer has accumulated a wealth of information as to the effectiveness
of neurofeedback for the remediation of the physiological and emotional symptoms
associated with Premenstrual Syndrome. Preliminary results in a study currently underway
are quite dramatic as to the effectiveness of treatment, even among the cases which had
been most resistant to treatment of any kind previously.
In a series of groundbreaking studies on severe alcoholics, Dr. Eugene Penniston has
consistently been achieving 70-80% success rates using neurofeedback. His earliest study
is now over five years since completion and the success rate for total abstinence in that
group is 70%. Others using his protocol are reporting similar results.
QUESTIONS COMMONLY ASKED ABOUT NEUROFEEDBACK:
Q.) If neurofeedback is so good, why doesn’t my family doctor know about it?
A.) Despite a record of proven effectiveness in a variety of conditions, neurofeedback
remains relatively unknown. There are a number of reasons for this. One of the main
reasons appears to be that most of the studies done have been relatively small, outcome
studies. These are not the kind of investigations which find their way to publication in
the large, prominent medical journals where much information on cutting edge technology is
disseminated. This does not detract from the fact that the studies published on
neurofeedback in the smaller journals are scientifically sound and reproducible, but it
does significantly limit the numbers who access the information. Though there have been no
large, lavishly funded, controlled, double blind studies on neurofeedback as yet, for
those who do find their way to the information thus far compiled, the work is quite
impressive in its consistency and reproducibility over a wide range of clinical settings
and patient populations.
Q.) How long does treatment with neurofeedback take? Does it last?
A.) After the initial evaluation, feedback sessions are 30 minutes in length. As with
any form of treatment, there are individuals who will respond extremely rapidly and some
who will require protracted treatment, but for the majority, 20 to 40 sessions will be
required to complete treatment. Thirty percent of those treated for ADHD will complete
treatment at 20 sessions. Those with significant head injuries often require approximately
40 sessions. Ninety percent of women with PMS will complete treatment in 24 sessions.
Q.) What are the risks of treatment with neurofeedback?
A.) The medical risks of treatment with neurofeedback are few, rare, and almost always
quickly remediable. In some individuals who are highly susceptible, neurofeedback may
precipitate a migraine headache, hot flash, or anxiety. Almost all potential problems can
be averted by obtaining an adequate medical history prior to initiating treatment.
Problems which do arise are quickly remediable and patients may continue with treatment.
Q.) Might this treatment change me into a way I do not like?
A.) First of all it is important to remember that in biofeedback nothing is done to the
patient; there is no relinquishing of control of any kind. The equipment used simply
provides the person with information about what is occurring in his or her body on a
moment to moment basis. If a person chooses, he or she can use the information to learn to
exert a level of self-regulation which would otherwise be almost impossible to achieve.
Second, the changes which occur as a result of treatment are invariably experienced as a
return to a natural state of physiological and emotional balance and personal harmony,
even if that state had not been common or consistent prior to treatment. It is significant
to consider that most practitioners who specialize in neurofeedback use it themselves and
for their families, whether troubled by symptoms or not, to obtain the benefits it offers.
People who use brainwave biofeedback and do not have symptoms report feeling sharper,
clearer, calmer, more energetic, and much more resilient to internal or external
stressors.
RELATED RESEARCH/ARTICLES & WEBSITES OF INTEREST:
EEG Info
Society for Neuronal Regulation
EEG Spectrum
Questions or comments? Click Here
Copyright © 2005
by Eduardo Castro, M.D. All Rights Reserved.
Mount
Rogers Clinic
Trout Dale, Virginia
Phone:
(276)
677-3631
