Neuroscientists at MIT have developed a powerful new class of tools to reversibly shut down brain activity using different colors of light. When targeted to specific neurons, these tools could potentially lead to new treatments for the abnormal brain activity associated with disorders such as chronic pain, epilepsy, brain injury, and Parkinson’s disease. The tools [...]
Pioneering research using human brain tissue removed from people suffering from epilepsy has opened the door to new treatments for the disease. Scientists at Newcastle University have for the first time been able to record spontaneous epileptic activity in brain tissue that has been removed from patients undergoing neurosurgery. Led by Newcastle University’s Dr Mark [...]
Brain stimulation therapies have received increased attention as of late. These treatments involve activating or touching the brain directly with electricity, magnets, or implants to treat depression and other disorders. One type of brain stimulation, Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES), was previously detailed in “What is CES?” Part 1 and Part 2. BMED Report even created [...]
In a soon-to-be published meta-analytic study*, researchers report that neurofeedback benefits people with treatment refractory (resistant) epilepsy. The authors’ review of current research revealed that almost 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, or 0.8% of the general population, and that approximately 33% of patients with this unfortunate medical condition do not benefit from traditional medical [...]
The September 23rd edition of The Scientist Research News Update brings about news and research from a wide range of topics. These include that Nature (Journal) will launch an open access journal, the NIH calls for risky research to push the envelope of knowledge, a highly regarded epilepsy paper is retracted to due researcher errors, [...]
The ISNR (International Society for Neurofeedback and Research) Research Foundation seeks to fund large scale, high quality quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) and neurofeedback studies. They encourage researchers to immediately submit grant proposals for ADHD, Epilepsy, Autistic, and mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) populations. The ISNR Research Foundation further released a one page document with [...]
There has been increasing interest of late in very slow electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. While this sort of activity has been recorded and studied for many years, and used in biofeedback protocols in several applications, it is only recently gaining popularity as another tool with potential mainstream application to clinical neurofeedback. Whatever the tool, before embarking on a new clinical path, a general understanding of the existing research, as well as the technical and neuro-physiological basics is crucial to a successful experience. While there is no need to get overly carried away by the technical issues, a little knowledge can help avoid misunderstandings and common pitfalls, while hopefully leading to better clinical outcomes.
What is neurofeedback? Neurofeedback, also as “neurotherapy” and “EEG biofeedback,” has been around since 1960′s. In short, neurofeedback teaches self-regulation of deviant brainwave activity. Media attention over the past few years increased due to interest from parents who seek drug free solutions for child behavior problems, especially attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
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