Neurofeedback
From Freepedia
Neurofeedback (NFB), also called neurotherapy, neurobiofeedback or EEG biofeedback, is a method which attempts to train brainwave activity, as measured by electrodes on the scalp, and is presented to an individual as feedback in the form of a video display, sound or vibration. If brain activity changes in the direction desired by the therapist, a positive "reward" feedback is given to the individual, and if it regresses, either a negative feedback or no feedback is given (depending on the protocol). Rewards can be as simple as a change in pitch of a tone or as complex as a certain type of movement of a character in a video game. A number of different brainwave goals have been proposed by different researchers in the field. Generally, these goals are based upon research describing abnormal EEG patterns or on results from a QEEG. A popular goal is the increase of activity in the 12–18 Hz band (beta1/SMR (sensori-motor rhythm)) and a decrease in the 4–8 Hz and/or 22–28 Hz bands (theta and/or beta2). Results from neurofeedback have consistently found to be inconclusive 13 [1], and neurofeedback does produce side effects such as sleep problems and emotional disturbance. However, some proponents labor to establish its scientific credibility in the disease model.
Neurotherapists, neurotherapy equipment manufacturers, and Scientologists claim that the various neurofeedback methods may benefit the treatment of patients with epilepsy, ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities, stroke/ischemia, removing traumas (scientology), raising IQ, and even traumatic brain injury and increased self esteem. It is claimed that patients will show a "slowing" pattern in their EEG—i.e., an abnormally high level of theta waves (4–8 Hz). It has been assumed that training these down over many sessions has been shown to increase one's ability to attend and focus, and highten spiritual powers. However, some of these proponents also claim that applications will become trivial as far more compelling results emerge in all areas of maximizing human capacities, such as undiscovered psychic abilities, and the enhancement of spiritual experience.
Related technologies include Scientology E-meter auditing, audio-visual entrainment (AVE), cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES), and hemoencephalography biofeedback (HEG).
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Training the brain
It is as yet unclear whether one can entrain one’s own brain to achieve a specific brainwave frequency by using various techniques, including visual (see Dreamachine) and auditory (see binaural beats) stimuli, and neurofeedback, and as yet the evidence suggests that it will not convey any benefits to consumers or patients. Neurofeedback equipment companies commonly make extraordinary claims based on the scientific appeal of electronics and the mysteries of the brain. For example, some brain training products are sold to consumers promising raising the IQ (scientology), self esteem, and to reach zen meditative and deep hypnotic states (note 15). Neurofeedback during clinical trials has attempted to remediate some mental problems, by conducting an assessment and then attempting to train specific changes in order to "normalize" the EEG. This sometimes results in improved function, although any benefit has often been attributed to the placebo effect, and as such the subject of brain training using brainwaves, is strongly associated with snakeoil, and the sale of dubious products.
It is claimed that the neurofeedback methods of scientology and auditing may entrain the brain, leading to the same benefits as proposed by neurofeedback researchers. These include heightened spiritual awareness, increased mental health, brain repair, reduced stress, and increased attention, IQ and memory. Scientologists claim that auditing can offer feedback to the subject and allow them to maintain healthier states of mind by entraining brainwave patterns and stimulating healthy activity of neurons while removing emotional blockages in addition to the claimed spiritual benefits of scientology. They use a combination of EEG and EDA (electro-dermal activity) using electroencephalographs and the E-meter, amongst other methods, for neurofeedback. The E-meter is a simple galvanometer type of instrument of the type used regularly in combination with EEG electroencephalographs, although in the UK, strict advertising laws require Scientology to state that this has no scientific merit and "does nothing" according to research.
The LENS system, or The Low Energy Neurofeedback System is a neurofeedback system that uses an electromagnetic field as the carrier wave for the feedback. With this method, the EEG leads serve as bi-directional conduits for both the brainwaves and the feedback signals. This neurofeedback method is distinct in that that the duration of treatment for ADD/ADHD, depression, PTSD, Tourette’s, and seizures is claimed to average a fewer amount of sessions, and the system settings and electrode site selection change from client to client, and for any client, change from time to time. In addition, the same range of side effects as occurring with traditional neurofeedback appear more rapidly.
However, one line of research concludes that there is no evidence to indicate that alpha or theta state is beneficial in any way, including for the purposes of thinking, balancing mental activity, relaxation, or creativity. Sala et al[2] suggest that brainwave training is based on mind myths and hype for the sale of expensive brainwave machines. This compilation of published research indicates that entrainment is generally not at all effective, although certain mental and physical activities are associated with certain brainwaves (eg, closing the eyes tends to result in a higher proportion of alpha rhythms). Brain function is highly complex and specific to various locations within the brain, so general entrainment to a single frequency or state will often be unsatisfactory. Indeed, there has been a successful legal action concerning a company who claimed that brain training machines increase IQ, extrasensory abilities, and learning[3].
Rhythmic stimuli
One method proposed for attempting to entrain EEG rhythms is through sensory prompting. Medical EEG testing commonly includes intense light stimulation at various frequencies (to test for seizures). It has been suggested that indigenous peoples for centuries have used drumming to enter specific states and that these may be beneficial in terms of attaining extraordinary states of mind, or hypnotic trances. Some research indicates that computer programs or hardware that generate various frequencies are able to stimulate the brain and alter the brain's frequency via a much more subtle audio or visual stimulus[4]. Other research counters these claims[5]. Probably the best summary at this time is that entrainment, or "following" does occur in many but not all individuals, and that the result may have a transitory influence on the dominant subjective state reported by that person. There is some small-group study research to suggest that light-sound stimulation is clinically useful[6] to some extent, however, this will not always induce relaxation, and no evidence of paranormal activity has ever been detected in trials.
Audio, binaural beat frequencies has also been suggested as a method by mind machine manufacturers, since the ears cannot hear sounds low enough to be useful for brain stimulation. They claim that if the left ear is presented with a steady tone of 500 Hz (21 cents sharp of B4) and the right ear a steady tone of 510 Hz (44 cents flat of C5), these two tones will combine in the brain. The difference, 10 Hz, is perceived by the brain as a beat frequency and it is claimed to be an effective stimulus for brainwave entrainment, although there is no scientific evidence that suggests balancing the left and right cerebral hemispheres will induce any benefit whatsoever.
History and application
In 1924, Hans Berger connected a couple of electrodes (small round discs of metal) to a patient's scalp and detected a small current by using a delicate galvanometer. He initially saw this equipment as a means of reconciling his spiritual beliefs with science. He even outlined his theory of how thoughts could be telepathically propagated by radiating brainwaves (Sala et al 1999). Unfortunately, brainwaves are subject to the inverse square law and jump to infinitesimally small amounts when moved away from the scalp. Nevertheless, using scalp measurements, Berger initiated a new and measurable connection between the body and the mind. As modern electronic amplifiers and delicate recording equipment came more into use, the brain signal - called an electroencephalogram (EEG) - became a significant clinical tool for neurologists.
In the 1940s and 1950s, these fundaments of neurofeedback were seen as a revolutionary way to look at the mind and its capabilities. They coincided with other dubiously regarded mental feedback revolutions such as scientology and other early neurofeedback concerns, and were adopted by people interested in mind expansion, using recreational drugs and meditation. Neurofeedback's association with scientology, Eastern mystics and parapsychology has earned it a crackpot reputation with the mainstream scientific community which remains strong to this day.
Later, Joe Kamiya popularized neurofeedback in the 1960s when an article about the alpha brain wave experiments he had been conducting was published in Psychology Today in 1968. Kamiya’s experiment had two parts. In the first part, a subject was asked to keep his eyes closed and when a tone sounded to say whether he thought he was in alpha. He was then told whether he was correct or wrong. Initially the subject would get about fifty percent correct, but some subjects would eventually develop the ability to distinguish between states and be correct a highly significant percentage of the time. In the second part of the study, subjects were asked to go into alpha when a bell rang once and not go into the state when the bell rang twice. Once again some subjects were able to enter the state on command. Others, however, could not control it at all. Nevertheless, the results were significant and very attractive. Alpha states were connected with relaxation, and alpha training had the possibility to alleviate stress and stress-related conditions. Neurofeedback appealed greatly to the social movements of the 1960s as well, when altered states were a lifestyle, and even some of the research on alpha brain waves appealed more to the pop-culture fascination than to the more conservative scientific community. For example, in 1973 Elmer Green took a portable psychophysiological lab to India to study Eastern holy men, all of whom possessed the incredible ability to control their heart rate, blood flow, and other autonomic functions, all of whom generated alpha waves continuously while doing so, according to Green’s EEG.
Furthermore, paranormal activities such as remote viewing, past life regression, remote seduction, wiccan magic, and other psychic phenomena and development have been associated with neurofeedback, especially concerning the sale of the equipment. It is claimed by some neurofeedback machine sellers that psychic phenomena are commonly experienced when using neurofeedback during any session.
Despite these highly dramatic and compelling claims, the universal correlation of high alpha density to a subjective experience of calm cannot be assumed. Visuomotor activity seems to be of primary importance in alpha neurofeedback, and the ability to generate alpha with the eyes open and the lights on could develop different skills and results if the procedure were carried out in total darkness or with the eyes closed. Alpha states do not seem to have the universal stress-alleviating power as the early expectations indicated. However, this is not cause to reject the concept of biofeedback entirely. Many other biofeedback treatments have emerged, since Kimaya’s alpha experiments.
The work of Barry Sterman, Joel F. Lubar and others has indicated a high efficacy for beta training, involving the role of sensorimotor rhythmic EEG activity. This training has been used in the treatment of epilepsy, attention deficit disorder and hyperactive disorder, and other mood disorders. The sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) is rhythmic activity between 12 and 16 hertz that can be recorded from an area near the sensorimotor cortex. SMR is found in waking states and is very similar if not identical to the sleep spindles that are recorded in the second stage of sleep. Studies have shown that enhancement of sensorimotor activity through operant conditioning designed to increase SMR is an anticonvulsant process and is therefore an effective treatment for epilepsy. For example Sterman has showed that both monkeys and cats who had undergone SMR training had elevated thresholds for the convulsant chemical monomethylhydrazine. These studies indicate that SMR is associated with an inhibitory process in the motor system and therefore increasing SMR through operant conditioning increases the ability to control seizures. Most of the individuals who have been treated with biofeedback in research studies are among the most severe epilepsy patients, where anticonvulsant drug therapy was unable to control their seizures. However, even in this most severe group of patients, research found that beta and SMR training on average produces a 70% reduction in seizures. In these severe cases of medically intractable epilepsy, biofeedback has been able to facilitate greater control of seizures in 82% of patients.
Lubar addressed attention disorders using essentially the same protocol. His research indicates that by inhibiting motor function, input function, which relates to attention, is also inhibited. Lubar’s protocol, which has been adopted by most practitioners as the standard protocol for treating patients with attention disorders, is to inhibit both 2-10 Hz slow waves (alpha and theta) as well as 19-22 Hz waves and encouraging activity in the 12-19 Hz range. This procedure has been supported since alpha activity is known to decrease during cognitive functions and to be inversely related to metabolism. Lubar’s hypothesis for what is happening in an ADD brain is that there is a decreased metabolism and decreased blood flow to the subcalossol cortex. Alpha is inhibited to counter these problems. Lubar has published 10-year follow-ups on cases and found that in about 80% of patients biofeedback can substantially improve the symptoms of ADD and ADHD, and these changes are maintained. Currently, treatment for attention disorders is the most common application of EEG biofeedback. However, the treatment is also effective in the treatment of traumatic head injuries and sleep disorders as well as epilepsy.
More recently, within the last 5-10 years, neurofeedback has taken a new approach, in taking a second look at deep states. Alpha-theta training has been used in the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, the dysphoric disorders of women-musicians, and psychopathic offenders. This low frequency training differs greatly 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 considered a more directly physiological approach, strengthening sensorimotor inhibition in the cortex and inhibiting alpha patterns, which slow metabolism. Alpha-theta training, however, derives from the psychotherapeutic model and involves accessing of painful or repressed memories through the alpha-theta state. The alpha-theta state is a term that comes from the representation on the EEG. During this therapy, when the alpha waves amplitude is crossed over by the rising amplitude of theta waves, the state is called the alpha-theta crossover state and is associated with resolution of traumatic memories.
The physiological mechanisms behind these therapies are very unclear, but the theory is that repressed memories and unresolved traumas exert a stress on the brain that interferes with normal operation. EEGs of alcoholics have revealed an inability to produce the alpha waves generally associated with feelings of relaxation and comfort. However, following the use of alcohol, theta and alpha waves increase. This can be expected considering the drowsiness and relaxation are common effects of alcohol. Therefore, alcoholics may be self-medicating their abnormal level of low frequency waves. Studies have demonstrated a high efficacy of alpha-theta therapy in treating alcoholism. Peniston and Kulkosky found that while alcoholics in a control group receiving standard treatment showed significant increases in beta-endorphin levels as a result of stress caused by abstinence from alcohol, alcoholics receiving the alpha-theta treatment did not. On four-year follow-ups only 20% of the traditionally treated group of alcoholics remained sober, compared with 80% of the experimental group who received neurofeedback training. Despite these results alpha-theta treatment remains relatively unexplained physiologically and must deal with the vagaries and bizarreness of the repressed memories and dreams. Therefore, it continues to straddle the boundary between psychotherapy and the more physiologically specific high frequency biofeedback.
Regardless of the failings of neurofeedback, the feedback cult continues to promote neurofeedback as a seeming panacea that has a solution for almost everyone, including government institutions and the consumer public. It has even been suggested that the shortcomings of neurofeedback can be covered up without further litigation scandals, by embedding the self-regulation strategy in a more encompassing model of religious or spiritual practice and further beyond the reach of the regulatory bodies.
Controversy
Neurofeedback has been proposed and tested for training the attainment of particular braiwave patterns. This technique has been proposed for the treatment of epilepsy, attention deficit disorder(ADHD), and other diseases and disorders. Some manufacturers and researchers have proposed that the operant conditioning of EEG ("neurofeedback") may produce lasting positive functional changes. (Current bibliography.) In fact, scientology advocates have actively and publicly lobbied against psychiatric medication in general, and Ritalin in particular, in favour of neurofeedback methods and auditing using e-meters for the treatment of narcolepsy and ADHD. However, many ADHD researchers, most notably Russell Barkley, state that any form of neurofeedback is ineffective. Barkley claims that there is no evidence that neurofeedback works in any way. He, and some in the neurology research community, maintain that the supporting research is sloppy and, to date, has not managed to successfully prove anything.
Brainwave training is both controversial and subject to the whims of marketeers, and the reader must keep in mind that the manufacturers are wed to their various own interests, and their financial futures may be at stake. Some members of the community make sweeping generalization statements but fail to make contributions within the professional medical community.
Measuring the brain's activity is a standard procedure in medicine, and can give interesting indicators of how the brain works. Whether EEGs can be used to balance the cerebral hemispheres, induce relaxation, improve mental functioning, improve spiritual awareness, or change or benefit the brain in any way is still inconclusive and can at best be considered controversial. Although brain training companies are likely to quote some studies that show some benefits, the overall view in neuroscience through meta analyses and thorough reviews of research is that electronic brain training is unreliable. More research is needed to determine whether neurofeedback can be considered as anything other than an unreliable treatment or dubious panacea 13 [7].
See also: Psychophysiology, the study of the connections between neurobiology and psychology, scientology and pseudoscience.
References
- Evans, R.J, and Abarnanel. An introduction to quantitative EEG and Neurofeedback. Academic press.
- Hubbard LR. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Los Angeles, 1992, Bridge Publications.
- Workbook on How to Use Dianetics. Los Angeles, 1992, Golden Era Productions.
- Hubbard LR. Scientoligy; The fundamentals of thought . Los Angeles, 1992, Bridge Publications.
- L.R,Hubbard Dianetics 55 . Los Angeles, 1984 Bridge Publications.
External links
The following are organizations involved in research and development:
- The International Society for Neuronal Regulation hosts annual professional conferences, and publishes a peer-reviewed journal that focus on neurofeedback.
- The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback hosts an annual and regional professional conferences on applied psychophysiology including neurofeedback. They have published a peer reviewed journal since about 1975.
- The EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society is a medical EEG society that includes the exploration of neurofeedback in its statement of intentions, and publishes relavent articles in its journal Clinical EEG.
- The Biofeedback Certification Institute of America is the recognized certification organization for licensed professionals competent in applied psychophysiology, including neurofeedback.
- The Brian Othmer Foundation is affiliated with the EEG Institute, and explore the Neurofeedback technologies in a variety of contexts.
The following are businesses associated with the industry:
- [8] Psychic and spiritual development
- [9] Psychic and spiritual development, and mind power
- [10] Neurofeedback and Psychic and spiritual development
- [11] Neurofeedback and Psychic and spiritual development
- [12] Neurofeedback and Psychic and spiritual development
- [13] Neurofeedback and Remote viewing and mind power
- [14] Neurofeedback and Remote viewing
- [15] Neurofeedback and past life regression
- [16] Neurofeedback and psychic states of conciousness
- [17] Neurofeedback and psychic states of conciousness
- [18] Neurofeedback and subliminal messages
- [19] Neurofeedback and Wiccan magic
- EEG Spectrum International, Inc. is a corporation whose pledge is to "promote the achievement of full human potential through brain-based self-regulation techniques, and to help evolve human consciousness through the exploration and development of advanced technologies for self-regulation, self-awareness and self-knowledge".[20]
- OpenEEG is an open source hardware and software project for amateur and professional neurofeedback practitioners alike.
- The Learning Curve, Inc. (TLC) is a private company who provides assessment and training services and equipment for individuals interested in adopting neurofeedback into their personal or professional practice.
- BioEra software that allows to create custom processing designs visually. Works on many operating systems (Windows, Linux, PDA) and supports variety of biofeedback devices.
- BioExplorer software works with many hardware platforms and provides a wide range of options for creating and modifying neurofeedback design protocols.
- The Drake Institute is one of the pioneers of this technology for a variety of disorders, though now provides treatment and research primarily on ADD/ADHD children.
- www.eeginfo.com is a website that is obviously linked to certain companies and products but lends much to the availability of internet resources on the subject, dubbing itself "The Complete Neurofeedback Resource".
