Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback that is focused on brain activity. During biofeedback therapy, monitors are placed on different parts of the body while sensors monitor its physiological functions such as heart rate and muscle tension. The monitors alert the patients regarding their body’s functions through audio or sound cues, gradually training them to relax the correct parts of the body and alleviate certain conditions such as urinary problems or pain.
Neurofeedback applies similar principles to the brain and nervous system. As with biofeedback, repeated training sessions can allow a patient to exert more control over their own functions — in this case, brain activity. During a session, the scalp is connected to monitors that measure, stimulate and record brain activity. As the feedback is provided, the patient is subject to learning and guidance techniques intended to bring the signals from the brain within desired boundaries of activity. Part of the process includes quantitative electroencephalography, which is also known as brain mapping. This provides a basis for marking progress in individual subjects. For example, neurofeedback has been used in studies involving attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While the results are not conclusive, many researchers consider them promising. In one study, which was published in 2014, researchers studied 104 children with ADHD from 19 public elementary schools in the Boston area. They were divided into three groups — one group received no treatment and the other two participated in three 45-minute sessions each week of either attention training through games designed to strengthen attention or neurofeedback involving computer games based on attention-related activities. During the sessions, the group receiving neurofeedback training were asked to focus when their attention wavered according to the signals on the monitors. These children showed greater improvement regarding their ADHD symptoms than the other group. However, researchers involved in the study cautioned that more studies are needed.
There is research suggesting that neurofeedback may also benefit epileptics. During a 2000 review of several studies, researchers determined that 82 percent of 174 subjects suffering from almost uncontrolled seizures showed at least a 50 percent improvement in controlling them. About 5 percent of them reported no seizures for up to a year following training.
Neurofeedback and Chronic Pain Relief
Neurofeedback is also used to treat chronic pain, sometimes in conjunction with biofeedback. This is considered a relatively recent development in chronic pain research. According to online information, certain types of brain waves are associated with pain. Intense pain is linked with increased beta brain wave activity and decreased alpha wave activity, while strong pain relief has been associated with the opposite. By reducing the perception of pain in the brain, chronic pain can be reduced provided there is not a continuing injury.
Neurofeedback training for chronic pain involves enhancing alpha wave activity, decreasing beta activity and altering other brain wave patterns associated with pain and relief. The training is used to treat arthritis, back pain, cancer-related pain, complex regional plan, fibromyalgia, muscle pain, migraine headaches and trigeminal neuralgia.