ABSTRACT
Neuromodulation in the bioelectrical domain is an attractive option for the remediation of functionally based deficits. Most of the interest to date has focused on exogenous methods, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transient direct current stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, and deep brain stimulation. Much less attention has been given to endogenous methods of exploiting latent brain plasticity. These have reached a level of sophistication and maturity that invites attention. Over the last 7 years, the domain of infralow frequencies has been exploited productively for the enhancement of neuroregulation. The principal mechanism is putatively the renormalization of functional connectivity of our resting-state networks. The endogeneous techniques are particularly attractive for the pediatric population, where they can be utilized before dysfunctional patterns of brain behavior become consolidated and further elaborated into clinical syndromes.
Subject(s)
Brain Waves/physiology , Brain/physiology , Neurotransmitter Agents/metabolism , Brain/blood supply , Electroencephalography , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Nervous System Diseases/pathology , Nervous System Diseases/physiopathology , Nervous System Diseases/therapy , Transcranial Magnetic StimulationABSTRACT
Trends in alternative medicine use by American health care consumers are rising substantially. Extensive literature exists reporting on the effectiveness of neurofeedback in the treatment of autism, closed head injury, insomnia, migraine, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy, and posttraumatic stress disorder. We speculated that neurofeedback might serve as a therapeutic modality for patients with medically refractory neurological disorders and have begun referring patients to train with clinical neurofeedback practitioners. The modality is not always covered by insurance. Confident their child's medical and neurological needs would continue to be met, the parents of 3 children with epilepsy spectrum disorder decided to have their child train in the modality. The children's individual progress following neurofeedback are each presented here. A proposed mechanism and practice implications are discussed.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Palsy/therapy , Combined Modality Therapy/methods , Epilepsy/therapy , Neurofeedback/methods , Neurology/methods , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Pediatrics/methods , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Treatment Outcome , Young AdultABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: This study examined whether an EEG biofeedback protocol could improve outcome measures for a mixed substance abusing inpatient population. METHOD: One hundred twenty-one volunteers undergoing an inpatient substance abuse program were randomly assigned to the EEG biofeedback or control group. EEG biofeedback included training in Beta and SMR to address attentional variables, followed by an alpha-theta protocol. Subjects received a total of 40 to 50 biofeedback sessions. The control group received additional time in treatment equivalent to experimental procedure time. The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), and MMPI, were administered with both tester and subject blind as to group placement to obtain unbiased baseline data. Treatment retention and abstinence rates as well as psychometric and cognitive measures were compared. RESULTS: Experimental subjects remained in treatment significantly longer than the control group (p <0.005). Of the experimental subjects completing the protocol, 77% were abstinent at 12 months, compared to 44% for the controls. Experimental subjects demonstrated significant improvement on the TOVA (p<.005) after an average of 13 beta-SMR sessions. Following alpha-theta training, significant differences were noted on 5 of the 10 MMPI-2 scales at the p<.005 level. CONCLUSIONS: This protocol enhanced treatment retention, variables of attention, and abstinence rates one year following treatment.
