Neurofeedback is a treatment method that brings about change, regulation and greater efficiency in brain cells. It is a form of training using feedback from recordings of the brain’s electrical activity (EEG), and it helps patients who need psychotherapy and perceptual and cognitive rehabilitation, as well as people with weaknesses in mental skills.
Neurofeedback is in fact a type of biofeedback: by recording the brain’s electrical activity, it can use it as a kind of visual feedback to encourage local changes in brainwaves.
During neurofeedback, a person gradually learns to master how their brain works during mental activity, using visual feedback generated by a computer from their own brainwave recordings. Neurofeedback is therefore the learning of a self-regulation skill that strengthens self-awareness.
The most important point of this method is that the client learns how to reach an advanced level of focus and mental goal-directedness in future without the device.
Which disorders can neurofeedback help with?
Neurofeedback is widely used in the effective treatment of epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and depression. It has also been shown to help people with dementia and obsessive–compulsive disorder, and to improve attention in everyone. It is also effective in improving everyone’s mental performance.
How neurofeedback training works
In a session, the person sits in front of a monitor, and the therapist begins once electrodes have been attached to their head. The therapist then runs programmes and protocols set according to the psychiatrist’s or psychologist’s diagnosis, and the client is asked to try to complete a game. The games are built around encouragement and reward.
Maryam Bahmani, BSc in biomedical engineering
What is biofeedback?
Biofeedback is a technique in which a person is trained to take control of their physiological functions — a process of learning. In biofeedback training, sensors are attached to the body to record signals from the muscles, sweat glands, body temperature and heart rate.
Feedback of these biological signals helps the learner gain mental control over unconscious biological processes. The learner receives moment-by-moment information about changes beneath the sensors, as sounds, digital displays or computer graphics.
Biofeedback builds a stronger self-image, and the client knows that responsibility for their mental and physical health lies with them. The learner knows that the feedback signals they receive reflect their own biology; they are not the psychotherapist’s diagnoses and explanations, for the client to resist. In biofeedback the client comes face to face with themselves, and the blame for failure in treatment does not fall on the therapist, family members or the outside world. Biofeedback leaves the client free to explore their own inner world. Biofeedback is also considered a non-invasive method with no side effects, and in particular its effects are lasting and stable.
Neurofeedback is also a type of biofeedback, usually used for brain functions. To learn more about neurofeedback, see: What is neurofeedback?
Uses of biofeedback
Biofeedback can be used for the following illnesses and physical problems, among others:
- Asthma
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Crohn’s disease
- Urinary incontinence
- Chronic pain in the legs, neck and back
- Lower back pain
- Stomach ulcers
- Muscle spasms
- Neuromuscular problems
- Teeth grinding (bruxism)
- Temporomandibular joint (jaw) problems
- Hot flushes
- Movement problems
- Brain injuries
- Problems caused by whiplash
- Insomnia
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- High blood pressure
- Low blood pressure
- Raynaud’s disease
- Side effects of chemotherapy, especially nausea and vomiting
- Headaches, including migraine
- Cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
Maryam Bahmani, BSc in biomedical engineering
Adapted from Getting Started with Neurofeedback by John N. Demos