Neurofeedback: information for doctors and scientific evidence

As part of our service here at BrainTrainUT if requested, we will ask our clients for their primary care physician’s details. We will then contact that physician advising them that one of their patients is undertaking a Neurofeedback program. Additionally, if a potential client identifies they are under medical treatment for a condition whose reaction to medication could be affected by Neurofeedback, we will insist that their physician is informed before agreeing to a training program. Further down this page we have information about other users of Neurofeedback and a reference resource for you for some of the key scientific literature on the subject. Initially, BrainTrainUT focused on offering an alternative approach to treating learning difficulties. However Neurofeedback training can assist with many more conditions, as described here.

The scientific evidence supporting Neurofeedback

For your convenience we have compiled a list of further reading of the scientific literature on Neurofeedback. This list also contains the references for any scientific claims made on this website. For a comprehensive collection of Neurofeedback research, see this page from the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research.

In October 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional body for US paediatricians, published an independently-written report that declared EEG Biofeedback as a ‘Level 1′ Evidence-Based Intervention for Attention and Hyperactivity behavioral problems in children and adolescents. If you want to learn about how they reached this conclusion and some other recent research on Neurofeedback for ADHD you can download our free report. One of Barry Sterman’s original studies following his accidental discovery that cats who had been ‘brain-trained‘ at a particular frequency were less susceptible to seizures when injected with rocket fuel in research sponsored by NASA. This is one of the studies we often quote when asked if Neurofeedback’s success could be due to a placebo effect:

Once Barry Sterman had replicated this effect in monkeys he then demonstrated he could suppress epileptic seizures in humans:

• Sterman, M. B., & Friar, L. (1972). Suppression of seizures in epileptics following sensorimotor EEG feedback training. Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 33, 89–95.

Other relevant studies:

• Beau­re­gard, M., & Levesque, J. (2006). Func­tional mag­netic res­o­nance imag­ing inves­ti­ga­tion of the effects of Neurofeedback train­ing on neural bases of selec­tive atten­tion and response inhi­bi­tion in chil­dren with attention-deficit/hyperactivity dis­or­der. Applied Psy­chol­ogy and Biofeed­back, 31, 3–20.
• Gevensleben, H., Holl, B., Albrecht, B., Vogel, C., Schlamp, D., et al. (2009). Is Neurofeedback an effi­ca­cious treat­ment for ADHD? A ran­dom­ized con­trolled clin­i­cal trial. Jour­nal of Child Psy­chol­ogy and Psy­chi­a­try, 50, 780–789.
• Levesque, J., Beau­re­gard, M., & Men­sour, B. (2006). Effect of Neurofeedback train­ing on the neural sub­strates of selec­tive atten­tion in chil­dren with atten­tion deficit/hyperactivity dis­or­der: A func­tional mag­netic res­o­nance imag­ing study. Neu­ro­science Let­ters, 394, 216–221.
• Omizo, M. M., & Michael, W. B. (1982). Biofeedback-induced relax­ation train­ing and impul­siv­ity, atten­tion to task, and locus of con­trol among hyper­ac­tive boys. Jour­nal of Learn­ing Dis­abil­i­ties, 15, 414–416.
• Rivera, E., & Omizo, M. M. (1980). The effects of relax­ation and biofeed­back on atten­tion to task and impul­siv­ity among male hyper­ac­tive chil­dren. The Excep­tional Child, 27, 41–51.

To read more about this, please read the next page on Other Conditions that Neurofeedback Supports.