The Behavioral Medicine Report

Numerous neurofeedback topics will be covered very soon in The Behavioral Medicine Report so an introduction to this unique and exciting treatment method is required. Neurofeedback is known also as “neurotherapy” and “EEG biofeedback.” Although neurofeedback has been around since at least the 1970′s, media attention over the past few years increased due to interest from parents who seek drug free solutions for child behavior problems, especially ADHD.

Realize first that humans are electrical-chemical beings (governed through action potentials and neurotransmitters).  Humans literally create and emit electricity from their bodies. This is amazing if you stop to think about it.  Every thought, physical movement, or emotion has an underlying physical and, many times, measurable electrical event.  Happiness, laughter, depression, excitement, and even a fleeting thought require certain electrical brain states.  What would happen if electrical events in the brain (called brainwaves or EEG) were somehow altered?  Would changes in emotion, thought, and behavior follow?  Many researchers and clinicians believe this to be true, and this is the underlying premise of neurofeedback.  Many years of neurofeedback training have provided personal validation of this treatment and its concepts, though researchers have not discovered its mechanism of action (how it exactly works).

Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback used to treat a variety of disorders in children and adults, such as ADHD, anxiety, epilepsy, depression, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Neurofeedback developed after years of EEG research that demonstrates that symptoms common to many disorders are associated with specific patterns of abnormal brain wave activity. Brainwave activity is not typically under a person’s voluntary control, but with training most can reliably and significantly alter their brainwaves.  Computer generated graphics and audio act as rewards (operant conditioning) to signal positive changes in brain states.  Trainees play games or even watch their favorite DVD movie (this is a new and very nice development in reward procedures) during neurotherapy.  For example, a trainee must maintain certain brainwave states as defined by their neurotherapist to keep the DVD video and audio from fading.  A typical training session lasts 30 to 60 minutes and is performed multiple times per week. Remember that neurofeedback is a passive treatment and no electricity is delivered to the brain; rather, the neurotherapy hardware/software work together to provide a mirror of your own brain processes.

There is an excellent free article called “What is Neurofeedback?” that was written for the general public by a renowned EEG biofeedback clinician and researcher.  This is a good place to start for additional information.

CFisher

Additional Resources:

International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (iSNR)

Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB)