Biofeedback

From Free net encyclopedia

Biofeedback is a field that has been in existence since the 1950's. There are a number of ways to conceive of biofeeback, but overall, it is a coaching and training approach which usually uses technology to monitor changes in psychophysiology. The information is used to help clients or patients to learn, first greater awareness of subtler changes, and then voluntary self regulation of the psychophysiological behavior being measured, such as EEG (brainwaves) muscle activity, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, sweat gland activity, even stomach acidity.

There are two main approaches to biofeedback.

One is an optimal functioning model, in which biofeedback is used to empower people to reach towards functioning at a more optimal, peak level. This approach is used by teachers, coaches, trainers and individuals to attain greater performance, optimal health, creativity, deeper meditative and or relaxation states, to compete more effectively.

The second approach is a more medical, symptom and treatment oriented approach to biofeedback. Different disorders are identified and specific biofeedback "treatments," really training and coaching regimes, are defined and implemented. Often, this more medical approach to biofeedback is integrated with psychotherapy or medical treatment.

If you are considering seeking biofeedback training, you will find people who work with both of the above models.

Some applications are now considered a part of mainstream healthcare and some applications are still considered a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) which involves measuring a subject's bodily processes such as blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, galvanic skin response (sweating), and muscle tension and conveying such information to him or her in real-time in order to raise his or her awareness and conscious control of the related physiological activities. Applications of biofeedback for incontinence, stroke and spinal cord rehabilitation, stress and pain management have been shown to be effective by multiple, replicated scientific studies, many funded by the military or NIH.

Devices as simple as mirrors and bathroom scales can be considered rudimentary biofeedback devices, insofar as the information they provide can help a person with issues related to posture and weight; more complex biofeedback devices have been used therapeutically with several conditions, including epilepsy, asthma, incontinence, irritable bowel syndrome, Raynaud's disease, chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, headaches, high blood pressure, and cardiac arrhythmias [1]. Electraencephalogram-based biofeedback, which measures brainwaves and is usually called neurofeedback, has gained popularity in recent years as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and is being studied as a potential treatment for anxiety, depression, and drug addiction.

By providing access to physiological information about which the user is generally unaware, biofeedback allows users to gain control over physical processes previously considered automatic.

Interest in biofeedback has waxed and waned since its inception in the 1960s; currently it is undergoing a bit of renaissance, which some ascribe to the general upswing of interest in complementary and alternative medicine modalities. Neurofeedback has become a popular treatment for ADHD, electromyogram (muscle tension) biofeedback has been widely studied and accepted as a treatment for incontinence disorders, and small home biofeedback machines are becoming available for a variety of uses.

1 Origins of biofeedback
2 Types of biofeedback
3 Criticisms
4 Possible beneficial side effects
5 References

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Origins of biofeedback

Neal Miller, a psychology Ph.D and neuroscientist who worked and studied at Yale University, is generally considered to be the father of modern-day biofeedback. He came across the basic principles of biofeedback when doing animal experimentation conditioning the behavior of rats. His team found that, by stimulating the pleasure centers of the rats' brains with electricity, it was possible to train rats to control phenomena ranging from their heart rates to their brainwaves. Until that point, it was believed that bodily processes like heart rate were under the control of the autonomic nervous system and not responsive to conscious effort[2].

Dr. James S. Gordon, of the Washington DC-based Center for Mind-Body Medicine, testified before a House committee that "In 1961 when Neal Miller first suggested that the autonomic nervous system could be as susceptible to training as the voluntary nervous system, that people might learn to control their heart rate and bowel contractions just as they learned to walk or play tennis, his audiences were aghast. He was a respected researcher, director of a laboratory at Yale, but this was a kind of scientific heresy. Everyone 'knew' that the autonomic nervous system was precisely that: automatic, beyond our control."[3]

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Types of biofeedback

One variety of biofeedback is EEG feedback, which uses electrodes placed on the scalp to garner information about the user's brainwaves. This type of biofeedback is discussed in the article neurofeedback.

The "other" variety of biofeedback covers all non-brain, or central nervous system modalities of biofeedback, also called "peripheral biofeedback."

Other types of biofeedback include the following:

electromyogram biofeedback, which uses sensors and electrodes to measure muscle tension, and which is used to treat stress-related illnesses.
galvanic skin tension biofeedback, which measures the minute activities of sweat glands and which is used to treat anxiety-related illnesses, such as phobias and stuttering
temperature biofeedback, which measures skin temperature and has been used to treat migraine headaches and circulatory disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, manic depression, allergies that effect behavior, enuresis and incopresis (bed wetting and soiling) and any situation where anxiety is part of the disorder.

The above list of applications are virtually all described from the perspective of the medical or pathology model of biofeedback.

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Criticisms

While there is ample information about the use of neurofeedback for ADHD or electromyogram biofeedback for incontinence disorders, limited research has been done on some of biofeedback's other uses. [4] Additionally, some believe that the use of biofeedback for stress and anxiety is an expensive treatment for difficulties which could be addressed with relaxation training, meditation, and self-hypnosis.

Others would argue that the most research supporting biofeedback has been done for pain, stress, stress disorders, incontinence, muscular rehabilitation (reimbursed by medicare-- a gold standard for accepted health care) while Neurofeedback, which is more recent, is less accepted.

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Possible beneficial side effects

Possible beneficial side effects attested by biofeedback supporters include improved ability to relax and concentrate, and either controlling or reducing levels of stress and pain.

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