Studies
Know some of the studies related to Neurofeedback
A complete bibliography of scientific studies can be found at ISNR.org:
https://www.isnr.org/isnr-comprehensive-bibliography
Research articles by Dr. Tomas Ros, expert in neuroscience and neurofeedback:
https://www.tomasros.com
Questions and Answers from Neurofeedback Experts:
https://www.researchgate.net/topic/Neurofeedback
Here are some studies and research articles about the conditions which neurofeedback helps:
Many people think that addiction is due to a lack of self-discipline, but addiction is physiological, not psychological. People with addiction are often called “weak” by their family and friends, but addiction is a disease and it is very difficult to change. Addicts struggle with emotions like guilt and shame, anger and frustration. Addiction is a brain disease, a mental health disorder that seriously makes a person weaker in all aspects of his life. Besides that, people with addiction often suffer from other mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety.
Neurofeedback treats the brain disorder of addiction by retraining the addict’s brain. By teaching the brain to be calm, focused, and relaxed, it helps the addict think more clearly. Neurofeedback training provides a solid foundation on which to build recovery and prevent relapse. It helps teach the tools one needs to cope in the long run.
A stroke is a condition in which brain cells suddenly die due to lack of oxygen. A stroke can be caused by a blockage in blood flow or by a rupture of an artery that feeds the brain. The patient may suddenly lose the ability to speak, there may be memory problems, or one side of the body may become paralyzed.
Neurofeedback training is a highly effective method of increasing human performance. Access to self-control to the states of attention, relaxation and concentration is specifically trained with neurofeedback.
This training is suitable for athletes, creative people, managers or people who need to maintain or achieve a high level of performance even in situations with high levels of stress. The effectiveness of neurofeedback training has been proven in many studies.
Applied Research Using Alpha/Theta Training for Enhancing Creativity and Well-Being (2001)
EEG applications for sport and performance (2008)
Neurofeedback training for peak performance (2014)
Simultaneous EEG and EMG biofeedback for peak performance in musicians (2008)
Dementia is a generic term that encompasses a series of conditions that involve a loss of cognitive functioning. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia. Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease in which brain cells die; tissue has fewer and fewer nerve cells and connections, causing memory loss and cognitive decline. Symptoms are mild at first, but become more severe over time.
Other types of dementia include Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. People can have more than one type of dementia.
For more information on Alzheimer’s and a visualization of its development process, go here: Medicals News Today
Tuning Up the Old Brain with New Tricks: Attention Training via Neurofeedback (2017)
Those who suffer from anxiety often feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed. Some are unable to concentrate due to their intense inner focus. Others become obsessed with specific things. Anxiety is easily detected if someone appears to be nervous on the outside. At other times, anxious people may appear calm, but their brain never seems to calm down. They can’t stop thinking. The constant internal chatter can get so bad that it interrupts your sleep and robs your quality of life. They don’t live in the present, they constantly worry about the future, or they live in the past. Helping people learn to calm down or shut up is by far the best and most effective solution to anxiety. Learning to decrease anxiety gives hope to those who suffer from it when they take control of their lives. Biofeedback and neurofeedback are two of the fastest ways to teach people to learn to help themselves, and it’s easy to learn. These technologies have been used for many years with solid and proven results. It is proven that you can learn to reduce anxiety and remain calmer with neurofeedback.
QEEG Guided Neurofeedback Treatment for Anxiety Symptoms (2017)
Neurofeedback training has been used by hundreds of clinicians with several thousand children on the autism spectrum over the past 15 years. Several research studies have been published to support these efforts. What’s the first thing parents report when their kids start training? They usually notice that their son is calmer, handles her emotions better, and is not so easily overwhelmed. There are many other changes, but these are the most common.
A pilot feasibility study of neurofeedback for children with autism (2014)
Feeling depressed or down from time to time happens to most people. Usually these feelings pass, and a person can improve their mood naturally. However, some people cannot come out of a depressed state for a long period of time. In those cases, a person is considered to have clinical depression. However, there are many studies that show that depression is neurological, not psychological. Certain brain patterns are frequently linked to depression. Therefore, brain training through neurofeedback has a powerful ability to treat depression. With neurofeedback training, the brain practices a healthy pattern of mood regulation. Sometimes people with depression notice improvement after just a few sessions. However, for the brain to learn fully, more training is required. Over time, the brain learns to regulate mood on its own.
Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback in Depression: Three case studies (2018)
Real-Time self-Regulation of emotion networks in patients with depression (2012)
Brain training through neurofeedback teaches the brain to maintain a consistent state. Learning self-regulation allows the person to achieve mood stabilization. After starting therapy, patients report that they can “trust their brain” again. What does this mean? Bipolar clients who undergo neurofeedback training report less susceptibility to mood swings, greater ability to concentrate, and less anger. Their ability to function increases as they are less reactive and increasingly able to respond and act appropriately.
Pain is one of the sensory systems that keeps us informed of the state of our body. We generally see pain as a major inconvenience, but thanks to it and our pain sensors, we receive warnings that we must stop and take care of ourselves. Neurofeedback can help reduce pain even in severe cases.
A seizure disorder can be explained as a brain that has lost stability. People with seizures can regulate and stabilize their brains through neurofeedback training. Eighteen well-conducted research studies show how effective training can be in reducing seizures. Interestingly, this research began with studies conducted on cats. In an experiment to determine the efficacy of neurofeedback in combating seizures, it was found that cats with neurofeedback training, when exposed to a chemical, experienced far fewer seizures than those that had not had neurofeedback training.
A model of feedback control for the charge-balanced suppression of epileptic seizures (2010)
Electroencephalogram Neurofeedback: Application in ADHD and Epilepsy. Mayer, K., & Arns, M. (2016)
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that usually appears in late adolescence or early adulthood; however, it can appear at any time in life. It is one of many brain diseases that can include delusions, loss of personality (flat affect), confusion, agitation, social withdrawal, psychosis, and strange behavior. It can be difficult to understand what a person with schizophrenia is talking about. In some cases, the individual can spend hours completely still, without speaking. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMN), neurofeedback treatment can help alleviate many of the symptoms of schizophrenia.
QEEG guided neurofeedback therapy in personality disorders: 13 case studies (2009)
Schizophrenia and the efficacy of qEEG-guided neurofeedback treatment: a clinical case series (2012)
Although a neurofeedback session can stop a migraine while it is occurring, stopping individual migraines is not the main goal. Neurofeedback training can be very effective in reducing the intensity and frequency of migraines in the long term, providing real relief to people suffering from migraines. Deborah Stokes, Ph.D, neurofeedback specialist in Alexandria, VA. published a study entitled “Neurofeedback and biofeedback with 37 migraineurs: a clinical outcome study”, which showed a significant improvement in migraines using neurofeedback. The study concluded that 70% of patients have a significant reduction in the frequency of their migraines after neurofeedback training,
Neurofeedback and biofeedback with 37 migraineurs: a clinical outcome study (2010)
The word fibromyalgia comes from the Greek “myos” which means muscle, “algos” which means pain, and “fibro” which means fibrous tissue. Fibromyalgia is a common and chronic disorder. When a disease or health condition is chronic, it means that it is long-lasting. It is a common syndrome of chronic pain in the soft tissues accompanied by weakness, fatigue and sleep disorders; the cause is unknown. Although fibromyalgia is frequently referred to as an arthritis-related condition, it does not cause damage or inflammation in the joints, as arthritis does. Fibromyalgia also does not cause damage to muscles and other tissues. However, it is similar to arthritis in that it causes severe pain and fatigue and can undermine the patient’s ability to perform daily activities. Fibromyalgia is considered a rheumatic condition. A rheumatic condition is one that causes pain in the joints and soft tissues.
One in three people in Switzerland complains of sleep disorders. Neurofeedback is a powerful tool to help people fall asleep and stay asleep. More than 3,000 healthcare professionals, such as psychologists, therapists and physicians, currently use this new technology with their patients, reporting significant and consistent improvements for their patients’ sleep problems. Other options can help, such as lifestyle changes and changes in sleep “hygiene”. An experienced neurofeedback clinician can review many different options with patients to help them assess what is most appropriate for their problem, including various brain regulation technologies.
Neurofeedback for Insomnia: A Pilot Study of Z-Score SMR and Individualized Protocols (2011)
Neurofeedback exercises the specific areas of the brain affected by the injury. A qEEG mapping or quantitative electroencephalogram will determine which areas to train. A variety of symptoms can be improved, such as speech, movement, mood regulation, behavior control, and headaches reduction. Neurofeedback works because the brain regulates each of these functions. For people recovering from injury, neurofeedback training can be particularly helpful in improving speech, as specific areas of the brain related to speech are treated, strengthened, and enhanced. In fact, some neuropsychologists claim that neuroeedback is actually rehabilitating speech-impaired areas of the brain.
People with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD can have a variety of symptoms. They can be easily distracted, impulsive, and inattentive. However, ADHD is not laziness or a psychological problem, but rather a brain disorder. Doctors know that ADD is not laziness; that’s why they prescribe drugs. Unlike medications, neurofeedback trains the brain, resulting in a significant improvement in ADHD symptoms, increasing self-control and attention. According to health professionals who use neurofeedback, many ADHD patients learn to focus, reduce impulsivity, and control their behavior when they consistently train.
EEG Biofeedback in the Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (2007)
Efficacy of Neurofeedback Versus Pharmacological Support in Subjects with ADHD (2016)
Electroencephalogram Neurofeedback: Application in ADHD and Epilepsy. Mayer, K., & Arns, M. (2016)
Evaluation of neurofeedback in ADHD: The long and winding road. Arns et al. (2014)
Evidence-Based Information on the Clinical Use of Neurofeedback for ADHD (2012)
A person with tinnitus often hears “ringing in the ears,” but may also hear hissing or clicking. It can be temporary, or it can be chronic and persistent. More than 25% of the world’s population is affected by tinnitus during their lifetime. It usually occurs after age 50, but children and teens can experience it too. Common causes are excessive or cumulative exposure to noise, head and neck injuries, and ear infections. Occasionally it can indicate an underlying serious medical condition.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious type of anxiety caused by an extremely stressful lived event or series of events. People with PTSD are looking for a method to treat their symptoms, and unfortunately, many people experience only limited benefit after trying various therapies and medications. Neurofeedback trains the brain to produce a state of calm and regulate the response to stress. Also, specific areas of the brain affected by PTSD can be treated. Often the first sign of improvement is better sleep. Then other symptoms start to improve. After enough training, someone with PTSD can maintain a calm state on their own. When a person has reached this stable state, neurofeedback treatments can be tapered off until no further training is necessary.
The long-term costs of traumatic stress: intertwined physical and psychological consequences (2010)
Neurofeedback improves learning skills by training areas of the brain relevant to or performing tasks such as math, reading, auditory and visual processing. Research studies show that various areas of the brain coordinate in the learning process. These separate parts of the brain communicate with each other at extremely fast speeds. If these connection times are not synchronous, there may be an impairment in the ability to learn. New research shows that this “connectivity training” consistently improves learning difficulties. Neurofeedback training improves coordination and communication between different areas of the brain. The improvement of synchronization in the brain has a significant impact on the ability to learn as it targets areas of the brain directly, improving the speed of signals and therefore the learning process.
A person with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) cannot stop repeating specific behaviors or prevent their brain from repeating certain thoughts. Research shows that problems with OCD are related to functioning of the areas in the front of the brain. If that part of the brain is working too slowly or too quickly, the person is unable to stop repeating certain thoughts or behaviors. Many therapists and other healthcare professionals who use neurofeedback notice a marked reduction in OCD symptoms in their patients after training. OCD patients report that after neurofeedback training, they really don’t need to make an effort to stop unwanted repetitive thoughts and behaviors. They say their minds are much calmer. With neurofeedback training, the brain learns to respond to situations in a more conventional and healthy way.