Neurofeedback (NF) is an electroencephalographic (EEG) biofeedback technique for training individuals to alter their brain activity via operant conditioning. Research has shown that NF helps reduce symptoms of several neurological and psychiatric disorders, with ongoing research currently investigating applications to other disorders and to the enhancement of non-disordered cognition. The present article briefly reviews the fundamentals and current status of NF therapy and research and illustrates the basic approach with an interim report on a pilot study aimed at developing a new NF protocol for improving cognitive function in the elderly. EEG peak alpha frequency (PAF) has been shown to correlate positively with cognitive performance and to correlate negatively with age after childhood. The present pilot study used a double-blind controlled design to investigate whether training older individuals to increase PAF would result in improved cognitive performance. The results suggested that PAF NF improved cognitive processing speed and executive function, but that it had no clear effect on memory. In sum, the results suggest that the PAF NF protocol is a promising technique for improving selected cognitive functions.
Background. Little research has addressed cognitive rehabilitation and changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) following training of traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients suffering from attention deficits because of their injury. This study focuses on changes in relative and absolute power in frontal, central and posterior regions of the TBI patients' brain following training on attention skills using a software program called Captain's Log.Methods. The five participants-aged 20 to 45 years-received 22 sessions of training on their attention skills. Their attention skills were assessed at the beginning and end of the research study through a variety of psychometrics as well as through scaled self-reports. Their EEG was also recorded before and after training, during eyes-open resting baseline, eyes-closed resting baseline, eight cognitive tasks and a post-tasks eyes-open resting condition. Only the first two baselines were analyzed in the present study. (The rest of the conditions will be analyzed in another study.) The hypotheses that the participants' delta, theta, and alpha relative and absolute power would decrease and that their beta power would increase following training were analyzed.Results. Although there were significant post-task changes in four out of the five case studies in relative and absolute power, both in eyes-closed Please note that this electronic prepublication galley may contain typographical errors and may be missing artwork, such as charts, photographs, etc. Pagination in this version will differ from the published version.Stamatina Stathopoulou received Masters and PhD degrees in Experimental Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, where she worked under the supervision of Joel F. Lubar, Professor of Psychology.
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