Neurofeedback therapy helps train the brain to respond differently and is considered a natural way to treat and reduce symptoms of various ailments.
Neurofeedback utilizes a computer-based program to record and assess a person’s brainwave activity, also known as an EEG (electroencephalogram). The program then provides immediate feedback and records the results.
Neurofeedback has been used to help treat epilepsy, ADHD, insomnia, anxiety, depression, PTSD, migraines, and many other disorders.
Dr. Pamela Bell, a neurotherapist trained in psychophysiology, counseling, psychology, and bioenergetic therapy, is a board-certified neurofeedback senior fellow with the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA).
She spoke with The Dallas Express about neurofeedback and how the brain reacts to certain activity and stimuli.
“We get auditory and visual feedback that’s really rewarding the brain every time it’s moving in the direction that’s going to reduce someone’s symptoms,” said Dr. Bell.
She explained that the treatment can be effective in mitigating a variety of adverse symptoms.
“We absolutely help people’s negative symptoms reduce,” she claimed. Furthermore, Bell suggested, “Their positive behavior and emotion that they want to see in their life begins to get better and better and increase.”
Neurofeedback has been linked to symptom reduction in people experiencing insomnia, ADHD, PTSD, and other ailments. It reportedly helps patients attempt to control their brainwaves subconsciously.
“It’s about training,” Bell claimed. “it’s about repetition, repetition, repetition, giving the brain the same messages over and over again, and then the brain becomes solidified in this new pattern so that it’s going to be a lot healthier for someone.”
Neurofeedback has been compared to working out; the more you go and train properly, the stronger you will be and the more endurance you have. In the same way, neurofeedback strengthens neuroplasticity.
“Brain neuroplasticity, from a neurofeedback perspective, is the glue that holds everything together,” Bell continued.
The cellular-level technology reportedly “allows long-term changes within the nervous system to occur. Neurofeedback offers a way of encouraging the process of neuroplasticity to enable healthy changes in neural patterns.”
Through neurofeedback, “Over time, the brain physically rearranges itself and its activity to accommodate the rewarded brain activity,” according to Armine Zarayelyan, founder and director of Biofeedback Center.
Ultimately “maladaptive psychological and behavioral patterns in the individual” are alleviated, Zarayelyan explained.
Neurofeedback therapy has also produced positive results in patients who experience epilepsy.
A research study on neurofeedback in epilepsy treatment by Dr. Barry Sterman and other colleagues in 1968 at UCLA discovered that cats could be trained through operant conditioning to self-regulate and increase their “sensorimotor rhythm” (SMR), an EEG rhythm over the sensorimotor cortex.
“The benefits of neurofeedback can be summed up as the brain gaining control over emotional, behavioral, and cognitive function,” Kim Brown, the director of clinical services and owner of Brain Code Centers in Dallas, explained to The Dallas Express.
“For a lot of people, that is controlling impulses, stress response, improving focus and executive function, regulating sleep, stabilizing mood, and so on,” she said.
“We know that the brain is capable of learning and has the ability to change (neuroplasticity). Therefore, by providing the brain with real-time feedback/information on how it is functioning, it is learning to self-regulate and change state,” Brown added.
Testimonials of neurofeedback therapy have been generally positive. However, according to the National Library of Medicine, there is allegedly not a large enough sample size to conclude it has verifiable physiological benefits.
The Library of Medicine also pointed to non-reproducible study designs, inadequate outcome measures, and insufficient reported results as factors preventing the claims of neurofeedback benefits from being confirmed. As it stands, insurance companies do not support neurofeedback.
People seeking neurofeedback therapy can search for BCIA-certified and licensed neurotherapists.
