Alpha/theta neurofeedback
Research Papers
The effects of alpha/theta neurofeedback on personality and mood
Alpha/theta neurofeedback has been shown to be successful both in treating addictions and in enhancing artistry in music students. How its effects are mediated are not yet clear. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that alpha/theta neurofeedback works inter alia by normalising extreme personality and raising feelings of well being. 12 participants with high scores for Withdrawal (as measured by the PSQ) were given either alpha/theta neurofeedback or mock feedback and their personality and mood were assessed. Withdrawal scores on the PSQ-80 were not found to change in either group but significant effects were found for the Profile Of Mood States (POMS), with real feedback producing higher overall scores than mock feedback (P = 0.056). Real feedback caused participants to feel significantly more energetic (P < 0.01) than did mock feedback. Sessions of real feedback made participants feel more composed (P < 0.01), agreeable (P < 0.01), elevated (P < 0.01) and confident (P < 0.05), whilst sessions of mock feedback made participants feel more tired (P < 0.05), yet composed (P < 0.01). These findings suggest that, whilst 9 sessions of alpha/theta neurofeedback was insufficient to change personality, improvements in mood may provide a partial explanation for the efficacy of alpha/theta neurofeedback.
View Full Paper →EEG Signature and Phenomenology of Alpha/theta Neurofeedback Training Versus Mock Feedback
Alpha/theta (a/t) neurofeedback training has in the past successfully been used as a complementary therapeutic relaxation technique in the treatment of alcoholism. In spite of positive clinical outcomes, doubts have been cast on the protocol's specificity when compared to alternative relaxation regimes. This study investigated the basic tenet underlying the a/t training rationale, that accurate a/t feedback representation facilitates the generation of these frequency components. Two groups of healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to either (a) real contingent a/t feedback training or (b) a noncontingent mock feedback control condition. The groups were compared on measures of theta/alpha (t/a) ratios within and across training sessions, as well as activational self-report scales after each session. The contingent a/t feedback group displayed significant within-session t/a ratio increments not evident in the mock control group, as well as higher overall t/a ratios in some but not all of the training sessions. No differences were found between the groups in terms of subjective activational phenomenology, in that both groups reported significantly lower levels of activation after training sessions. The data demonstrate that irrespective of considerations of clinical relevance, accurate a/t neurofeedback effectively facilitates production of higher within-session t/a ratios than do noncontingent feedback relaxation.
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