Neurofeedback , also called neurotherapy or neurobiofeedback , is a type of biofeedback that uses real-time display of brain activity - the most common electroencephalography (EEG), to teach the self-regulation of brain function. Typically, sensors are placed on the scalp to measure activity, with measurements being displayed using a video or sound display.
Video Neurofeedback
Definitions
Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback that measures brainwaves to produce signals that can be used as feedback to teach self-regulating brain function. Neurofeedback is generally provided using video or sound, with positive feedback for desired brain activity and negative feedback for undesirable brain activity. Associated technologies include hemoencephalography biofeedback (HEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) biofeedback.
Maps Neurofeedback
Usage
ADHD
Clinical guidelines on neurofeedback as a treatment for ADHD are mixed. Biofeedback was assessed by the American Academy of Pediatrics with their Level 2 evidence-based treatment for ADHD. The NICE guide for ADHD leaves the biofeedback efficacy of open questions (p.412). On page 202 states "Biofeedback has been used as a non-invasive treatment for children with ADHD since the 1970s but may not be used as a significant intervention in clinical practice in the UK". But this is not surprising because in the UK, NICE evaluates whether care should be recommended based on the cost of the life year that is tailored to the quality. The SIGN Guideline No. 112 on page 24 mentions "Neurofeedback is now considered an experimental intervention in children and young people with ADHD/HKD No standard intervention". The Institute for Guidelines for Clinical System Improvement on Diagnosis and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Management in Primary Care for School and Adolescent Children on page 41 says neurofeedback does not have enough research evidence for efficacy in ADHD.
Overall research into neurofeedback is considered to be limited and of poor quality, although others disagree.
There has been some debate about the effectiveness of biofeedback for ADHD but that is not conclusive: some studies have yielded positive results, but the best designed ones have either shown a non-existent or diminished effect. Other experts have proposed that standard neurofeedback protocols for ADHD, such as theta/beta, SMR and potential cortical potential neurofeedback are slowly investigated well and have demonstrated specificity. No serious adverse effects of neurofeedback were reported.
QEEG has been used to develop EEG models of ADHD. According to this model, people with ADHD often have too much slow-theta brainwaves (associated with relaxation) and insufficient fast-wave activity (associated with mental focus). Neurofeedback therapy for ADHD generally attempts to increase the production of betawaves and decrease the number of brain waves that are slower. This can be done by allowing patients to see their brainwave levels on screen and try to change them, or by integrating brainwaves into video games.
Other medical uses
Research suggests neurofeedback can be a potentially beneficial intervention for a variety of brain-related conditions. It has been used for pain, addiction, aggression, anxiety, autism, depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, headaches, insomnia, Tourette syndrome, and brain damage from stroke, trauma, and other causes.
It is also used to treat other lesser known disorders, such as auditory processing disorders and working memory deficits.
Non-medical
The application of neurofeedback to improve performance extends to art in areas such as music, dance, and acting. A study with conservatoire musicians found that alpha-theta training benefits the three domains of musicality, communication, and technique. Historically, alpha-theta training, a form of neurofeedback, was created to help creativity by encouraging hypnagogia, a "boundary state associated with creative insights", through the facilitation of neural connectivity. Alpha-theta training has also been shown to improve children's singing. Alpha-theta neurofeedback, along with training in heart rate variability, a form of biofeedback, has also resulted in a dance benefit by improving performance in competitive ballroom dancing and enhancing cognitive creativity in contemporary dancers. In addition, neurofeedback has also been shown to implant a superior flow state on actors, probably due to greater immersion while performing.
However, randomized controlled trials have found that neurofeedback training (using sensorimotor rhythm or theta/beta ratio training) does not improve performance on tasks related to attention or creative tasks. It has been argued that claims made by proponents of alpha wave neurofeedback training techniques have not been validated by randomized, double-blind, controlled studies, views that even some advocates of alpha neurofeedback training have also been disclosed.
History and apps
In 1924, the German psychologist Hans Berger connected several electrodes (small round metal discs) to the scalp of the patient and detected a small current using a ballistic galvanometer. During 1929-1938 he published 14 reports on his studies of EEG, and much of our modern knowledge of the subject, especially in the intermediate frequency, was due to his research. Berger analyzed EEG qualitatively, but in 1932 G. Dietsch applied Fourier analysis to seven EEG records and became the first researcher to be called QEEG (quantitative EEG).
Later, Joe Kamiya popularized his neurofeedback in the 1960s when an article on his alpha brainwave experiment was published in Psychology Today in 1968. The Kamiya experiment has two parts. In the first part, the subject is asked to close his eyes and when a tone is heard to say whether he thinks he is in the alpha. He was then told whether he was right or wrong. Initially the subject will get about fifty percent correct, but some subjects will eventually develop the ability to differentiate between countries better. In the second part of the study, subjects were asked to enter the alpha when the bell rang once and did not enter the country when the bell rang twice. Again some subjects can enter the state on the command. The alpha state is associated with relaxation, and alpha training has the possibility of reducing stress and stress-related conditions.
Apart from these claims, the universal correlation of high alpha densities to a quiet subjective experience can not be assumed. The alpha state does not seem to have universal stress-reducing power shown by initial observations. At one point, Martin Orne and others challenged the claim that alpha biofeedback actually involves training an individual to voluntarily regulate brainwave activity. James Hardt and Joe Kamiya, then at the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute at UC San Francisco published a paper supporting biofeedback.
In the late sixties and early seventies, Barbara Brown, one of the most effective Biofeedback proponents, wrote several books on biofeedback, making the public more aware of the technology. His books include New Mind New Body, with the introduction of Hugh Downs, and Stress and the Art of Biofeedback. Brown takes a creative approach to neurofeedback, connecting the self-regulation of brain waves to a switching relay that turns on an electric train.
The work of Barry Sterman, Joel F. Lubar and others has been relevant in the study of beta training, which involves the role of rhythmic EEG sensorimotor activity. This training has been used in the treatment of epilepsy, attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity disorder. The sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) is a rhythmic activity between 12 and 16 hertz which can be recorded from the region near the sensorimotor cortex. SMR is found in a wake state and is very similar if not identical to the sleeping logs recorded in the second stage of sleep.
For example, Sterman has shown that both monkeys and cats who have undergone SMR training have a high threshold for conventional monomethylhydrazine chemistry. These studies show that SMR can be associated with inhibition processes in the motor system.
In the last 5-10 years, neurofeedback has taken a new approach in looking at the deep state. Alpha-theta training has been tried with patients with alcoholism, other addictions and anxiety. This low-frequency training is very different from the high-frequency beta and SMR training that has been practiced for over thirty years and is reminiscent of the original alpha training of Elmer Green and Joe Kamiya. Beta and SMR training can be regarded as a more direct physiological approach, strengthening sensorimotor inhibition in the cortex and inhibiting alpha patterns, which slows down metabolism. The alpha-theta training, however, is derived from the psychotherapeutic model and involves painful or suppressed memory access through the alpha-theta state. The alpha-theta state is a term derived from a representation of the EEG.
The latest development in the field is a conceptual approach called Coordinate Allocation of the Resource Model (CAR) brain function which states that specific cognitive abilities are a function of certain electrophysiological variables that can overlap in different cognitive tasks. The activation database was guided by the EEG biofeedback approach initially involving evaluating the subject on a number of academically relevant cognitive tasks and comparing subject values ​​on the QEEG measurements to the normative database, particularly on the variables associated with success on the task.
Organization
The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) is a nonprofit scientific and professional community for biofeedback and neurofeedback. The International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR) is a nonprofit scientific and professional community for neurofeedback. The Biofeedback Federation of Europe (BFE) sponsors international education, training, and research activities in biofeedback and neurofeedback.
Certification
The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (formerly American Biofeedback Certification Institute) is a non-profit organization that is a member of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE). BCIA certifies individuals who meet educational and training standards in biofeedback and neurofeedback and gradually certify those who meet the requirements of continuing education. BCIA offers biofeedback certification, neurofeedback (also called EEG biofeedback) certification, and biofeedback certification of pelvic floor dysfunction. The BCIA certification has been supported by the Mayo Clinic, the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB), the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR), and the Washington State Legislature.
BCIA's didactic education requirements include a 36-hour course from a regionally accredited academic institution or BCIA-approved training program that includes the complete Neurofeedback Knowledge Print and anatomy and human physiology studies. The Blueprint Neurofeedback areas of Knowledge include: I. Orientation to Neurofeedback, II. Basic Neurophysiology and Neuroanatomy, III. Instrumentation and Electronics, IV. Research, V. Psychopharmacology Considerations, VI. Treatment Planning, and VII. Professional Behavior.
Applicants may demonstrate their knowledge of human anatomy and physiology by completing courses in biological psychology, human anatomy, human biology, human physiology, or neuroscience provided by a regionally accredited academic institution or training program approved by BCIA or by successfully completing the Anatomy and Physiological Exam covering the organization of the human body and its systems.
Applicants should also document practical skills training covering 25 contact hours supervised by BCIA-approved mentors designed for them to teach how to apply their clinical biofeedback skills through self-organizing training, 100 patient/client sessions, and case conference presentations. Distance learning allows applicants to complete didactic course work via the internet. Mentoring distance of train candidates from their residence or office. They must re-certify every 4 years, complete 55 hours of continuing education (30 hours for Senior Fellows) during each review period or complete a written exam, and prove that their licenses/credentials (or their supervisor/credentials license) have not been suspended, investigated, or revoked.
Neuroplasticity
In 2010, a study provided some evidence of neuroplastic changes that occurred after brainwave training. Half an hour of voluntary brain rhythm control led in this study for perpetual shifts in cortical stimuli and intracortical functions. The authors observed that the cortical response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was significantly improved after neurofeedback, persisting for at least 20 minutes, and correlated with EEG time indications of activity-dependent plasticity.
See also
- Brainwave sync
- Comparison of neurofeedback software
- The mind machine
- Stained error logic
References
Further reading
- Evans, J.R., and Abarbanel, A. Introduction to EEG and Quantitative Neurofeedback. Academic Press: San Diego, 1999.
- Steinberg, Mark, and Othmer, S. ADD: A 20 Hour Solution. Robert Reed Publisher: Bandon OR, 2004.
- Hill PhD, Robert W. and Eduardo MD, C. Healing the Young Brain: Neurofeedback Solutions. Publishing Hampton Roads; 1 issue (May 15, 2009).
- Robbins, Jim "A Symphony in the Brain - The Evolution of New Brainwave Biofeedback." Grove Atlantic 1st Edition 2000; 2nd Edition 2008
External links
- The BBC article on neurofeedback improves the performance of musicians
- The FacebookForex Biofeedback Society of California page
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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