Seizure rate
Research Papers
EEG operant conditioning in intractable epileptics
Eight epileptic patients with mixed seizures refractory to medical control participated in a double-blind crossover study to determine the effectiveness of operant conditioning of the EEG as an anticonvulsant procedure. Baseline levels of seizures were recorded for four months prior to the beginning of treatment. participants then received false (noncontingent) feedback for two months followed by an ABA-patterned training program lasting a total of ten months. Subjects were assigned to three treatment groups based on different schedules of EEG feedback. They were first trained (A1, phase) either to suppress slow activity (3 to 8 Hz), to enhance 12- to 15-Hz activity, or to simultaneously suppress 3- to 8-Hz and enhance 11- to 19-Hz activity. This was followed by a B phase, in which patients were trained to enhance slow activity (3 to 8 Hz). In the final phase (A2), the initial training contingencies were reinstated. Neuropsychological tests were performed before and after training, and changes in EEG activity as determined by Fast Fourier spectral analyses were analyzed. Five of eight patients experienced a decrease in their mean monthly seizure rate at the completion of feedback training as compared with their initial baseline level.
View Full Paper →Effects of sham feedback following successful SMR training in an epileptic
After 1 year of SMR biofeedback training of a severe epileptic teenage male, incidence of atonic seizures decreased from 8/hr to less than 1/3 hr. SMR increased from 10% to 70%. Epileptiform discharges decreased from 45% to 15%. Unknown to the patient, his family, or certain members of our research staff, noncontingent feedback was introduced on 7/22/74, ending 9/11/74. A significant decrease occurred for SMR(down 8%), and a significant increase for epileptiform discharges(up 4%). Rate of seizures increased, but was not statistically significant over preceding months of contingent feedback. Incidence of seizures associated with urine loss increased from approximately 6/month to 23/month during noncontingent feedback, a significant increase. Urine-loss results suggest that although seizures did not become more frequent, those the patient did experience were “harder,” i.e., more severe. Contingent feedback was reinstituted following the 7-wk sham, and recovery of all variables to their former levels(prior to sham) occurred.
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