Neurofeedback
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Contents |
Definition
Neurofeedback is a comprehensive training system that promotes change in brain wave patterns and growth at the cellular level of the brain. It is applied to psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy practices and is becoming increasingly popular due to its non-drug rehabilitation and high rate of success among patients in recovery for substance abuse or mental disorders. Neurofeedback—a specific form of biofeedback that deals with the brain rather than the body—involves the measuring of electric signals (brain waves) by attaching electrodes to the patient’s scalp, and generating an electroencephalogram (EEG) that amplifies and records electrical activity in the brain. The electric signals are classified as different types of brain waves—high-frequency beta waves which deal with concentration, motor skills, and signify a state of alertness/arousal; alpha waves that relate to a resting state of non-arousal; low-frequency theta waves which deal with relaxation and ideation; and delta waves which relate to deep sleep. Patients are taught how to control these electrical patterns in their own brains by responding to cues like images on a screen or sounds from surrounding speakers. Patients learn to manipulate the screen display or frequency of the sound emissions by achieving the mental state that increases production of the desired brain wave. Neurofeedback, also known as neurotherapy, is effective in aiding the treatment of substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), impulse disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, personality disorders, emotional disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Asperger’s disorder, seizure disorders, epilepsy, age-related cognitive decline, and closed-head injury victims.
History of Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback was preceded by two scientific investigations that studied the consciousness—how the mind knows the brain, and how applying operant conditioning strategies (i.e., reward) can allow individuals to control the production of brain waves. During the 1950s, psychologist Joseph Kamiya successfully demonstrated how individuals can recognize their own mental states that relate to certain brain wave frequencies, particularly alpha wave frequencies. Kamiya’s study initiated research into the brain’s cortex region where alpha frequencies take place and cause rhythmic brain activity. By the end of the century, researchers had discovered that increasing the occurrence of alpha waves improved the symptoms of individuals suffering from an anxiety disorder, and that decreasing the amount of alpha waves while increasing the amount of high-frequency beta waves improved other mental conditions such as ADHD. However, biofeedback was initially only used to treat physical conditions such as headaches, high blood pressure, and incontinence until its application in mental health became more apparent.
During the 1960s, sleep researcher M. Barry Sterman demonstrated how to train individuals to produce specific brain wave patterns, known as sensorimotor rhythm (SMR). Sterman also established that EEG operant conditioning was effective in improving symptoms in patients suffering from epilepsy and seizure disorders by training them how to control particular brain wave frequencies. By the 1970s, psychologist Joel Lubar discovered that neurofeedback’s EEG techniques improved behavior, cognitive thinking, and other symptoms caused by hyperactivity or ADHD by producing changes in neural circuits in the brain. Since these studies, neurofeedback’s efficacy has been scrutinized and investigated extensively, and eventually became integrated into standard treatment modalities at several mental health clinics, rehabilitation centers, and therapeutic practices across the country, sometimes as the primary application of treatment for mental and behavioral disorders. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has increased its funding of neuroscience for the 2010 fiscal year which has increasingly incorporated neurofeedback into its research programs due to neurofeedback’s impact on understanding behavioral, hereditary, and neurobiological factors that cause drug abuse and addiction.
Disorders Treated with Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback has proven to be just as effective as medication or even surgery in the treatment of such conditions as epilepsy and ADHD. These psychological disorders, as well as personality disorders, were thought to be caused by early childhood learning or psychological processes. Neuroscience has proven that more takes place in the brain than just memory and cognition, such as self-consciousness, emotional processing, behavior, and personality traits. In a 1999 study published in the Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology, epileptic patients were able to control the intensity, duration, and frequency of their seizures after receiving neurofeedback therapy. In Lubar’s studies, ADHD patients, especially children, displayed more attentiveness, improved academically, and increased their cognitive functions and memory after they successfully adjusted their theta-beta wave ratio.
Future of Neurofeedback
Researchers support the integration of neurofeedback into standard treatment since it can reduce patients’ dependence on powerful drugs to cope with their illnesses. Not only does neurotherapy avoid the need for medication, but it tends to produce lasting effects for patients in recovery. According to a 2005 study reported in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, patients recovering from substance abuse addictions have an 80% abstinence rate after completing neurotherapy treatment. Normally, substance abuse addicts have a 70% relapse rate after completing treatment. The study accredits the success of its subjects to the training they received from neurotherapy which taught them to better manage emotional symptoms experienced during recovery such as anxiety, pressure, and stress. The goal of neurofeedback is to allow the brain to heal itself and equip the individual with self-regulation capabilities. By learning to control impulses, compulsions, and emotions, individuals with addiction or mental illnesses can overcome their conditions with a sense of empowerment. Neurofeedback can literally track a patient’s emotional and metabolic improvement through EEG recording. Combined with cognitive therapeutic techniques, patients can successfully reduce or eliminate the use of their medications to treat their illnesses and retain their learned cognitive skills post-treatment to help lead to more stable lives.
References
electroencephalogram. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Retrieved April 28, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/electroencephalogram
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/alternative/02/17/neuro.feedback.wmd/
http://www.pr-inside.com/neurofeedback-therapy-allows-addiction-sufferers-r1842899.htm
http://www.drugabuse.gov/Funding/Budget10.html
Demos, John N. (2005). Getting started with neurofeedback. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Lehrer, Paul M., Robert L. Woolfolk, and Wesley E. Sime. Principles and practice of stress management.
