Aristotle's Psychological and Biofeedback Services.
About Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback (or EEG Biofeedback) is a method that uses feedback of the
electrical activity of the brain (the EEG) in order to retrain and recondition
brainwave patterns. The EEG activity can be observed in several frequency bands
whose activity correlate with states of attention, alertness, drowsiness and
sleep. Numerous studies have indicated that by training the brainwave activity
directly, the level of attention or mental states such as relaxation and anxiety
can be changed or positively conditioned.
Neurofeedback is based on the so called "operant conditioning" which involves
immediate reward of desirable behavior or states and discouragement of
undesirable behavior or states. Essentially therefore it is a learning process
where the state of the EEG is constantly monitored and fed-back. Because it is a
learning process, there are no known negative side effects and is generally
considered a safe method.
How does it work?
Neurofeedback is traditionally based on feedback of brainwave activity in the
Theta (4-8), Alpha (8-12), SMR (12-15) and Beta (16-30) frequency bands. A
number of electrodes are placed on the head (using standardized locations) and
the amplitude or power of these frequency bands are fed back with a graphical
display or auditory feedback. Slow brainwave activity may indicate a state of
inattention or drowsiness. If that is undesirable, the slow wave activity may
trained 'down' and 'faster' brainwave activity is rewarded.
Neurofeedback has been tested and tried for many types of applications but only
a few applications have been backed up by sufficient research. These
applications include:
- Attention disorders & Learning Disabilities
- Epilepsy and seizure disorders
- Alcoholism and drug abuse
There are indications that Neurofeedback (NFB) is also useful for treatment of
anxiety, depression and sleep disorders, but we believe these areas require more
research before anything more definitive can be said. Neurofeedback is very
promising for some applications, but we always tell people not to expect
miracles. Since it is essentially a learning process, using the state of the
EEG, it requires time and motivation in order to be effective.
Neurotherapy is effective for:
-Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)
-Anxiety & phobic disorders
-Depression
-Addiction treatment & recovery
-Smoking cessation
-Migraine & tension headaches
-PMS
-Hyperactivity in children & adults
-Insomnia & other sleep problems
-Chronic pain, FMS, CFS
-Eating disorders, weight loss
-Digestive disorders (IBS, etc.)
-High blood pressure
-Stress related conditions &