Fibromyalgia is “A common syndrome of chronic widespread soft-tissue pain accompanied by weakness, fatigue, and sleep disturbances; the cause is unknown.” The word fibromyalgia comes from the Greek myos meaning “muscle”, Greek algos meaning “pain”, and New Latin fibro meaning “fibrous tissue”. Fibromyalgia is a common and chronic disorder. When a health illness or condition is chronic it means it is long-lasting. Even though fibromyalgia is frequently referred to as an arthritis-related condition, it does not cause joint damage or inflammation, as arthritis does. Neither does fibromyalgia cause damage to muscle and other tissues. However, it is similar to arthritis because it causes severe.

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Efficacy of EMG- and EEG-Biofeedback in Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis and a Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials [link] by Julia Anna Glombiewski, Kathrin Bernardy and Winfried Häuser www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3776543/

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Abstract: Biofeedback (BFB) is an established intervention in the rehabilitation of headache and other pain disorders. Little is known about this treatment option for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). The aim of the present review is to integrate and critically evaluate the evidence regarding the efficacy of biofeedback for FMS. Methods. We conducted a literature search using Pubmed, clinicaltrials.gov (National Institute of Health), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, and manual searches. The effect size estimates were calculated using a random-effects model. Results. The literature search produced 123 unique citations. One hundred sixteen records were excluded. The meta-analysis included seven studies (321 patients) on EEG-Biofeedback and EMG-Biofeedback. In comparison to control groups, biofeedback (BFB) significantly reduced pain intensity with a large effect size (g = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.22–1.36). Subgroup analyses revealed that only EMG-BFB and not EEG-BFB significantly reduced pain intensity in comparison to control groups (g = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.11–1.62). BFB did not reduce sleep problems, depression, fatigue, or health-related quality of life in comparison to a control group. Discussion. The interpretation of the results is limited because of a lack of studies on the long-term effects of EMG-BFB in FMS. Further research should focus on the long-term efficacy of BFB in fibromyalgia and on the identification of predictors of treatment response.

Many of the methods used and promoted to help people with learning disabilities are intended to help a person compensate for, or work around, their learning difficulties. Neurofeedback actually improves learning skills by training the areas of the brain relevant to learning or executing skills such as math, reading, and auditory and visual processing. Research studies show that several areas of the brain coordinate in the learning process. These separate parts of the brain communicate with each other at extremely fast speeds. If the timing of the communication is even slightly off, there can be impairment in the ability to learn. New research shows that this “connectivity training” seems to consistently improve learning difficulties. Neurofeedback training can improve the coordination and communication between different areas of the brain. Improved timing in the brain has a significant impact on one’s ability to learn. Neurofeedback directly targets the coordination and communication between areas of the brain to improve timing, and therefore learning. pain and tiredness, and can undermine the patient’s ability to go about his daily activities. Fibromyalgia is seen as a rheumatic condition. A rheumatic condition is one that causes joint and soft tissue pain.

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Research Review: Emanuel Miller Memorial Lecture 2012 – Neuroscientific studies of intervention for language impairment in children: interpretive and methodological problems [link] by D V M Bishop www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3593170/

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Background Our ability to look at structure and function of a living brain has increased exponentially since the early 1970s. Many studies of developmental disorders now routinely include a brain imaging or electrophysiological component. Amid current enthusiasm for applications of neuroscience to educational interventions, we need to pause to consider what neuroimaging data can tell us. Images of brain activity are seductive, and have been used to give credibility to commercial interventions, yet we have only a limited idea of what the brain bases of language disorders are, let alone how to alter them. Scope and findings A review of six studies of neuroimaging correlates of language intervention found recurring methodological problems: lack of an adequate control group, inadequate power, incomplete reporting of data, no correction for multiple comparisons, data dredging and failure to analyze treatment effects appropriately. In addition, there is a tendency to regard neuroimaging data as more meaningful than behavioral data, even though it is behavior that interventions aim to alter. Conclusion In our current state of knowledge, it would be better to spend research funds doing well-designed trials of behavioral treatment to establish which methods are effective, rather than rushing headlong into functional imaging studies of unproven treatments.

Although neurofeedback training can stop a migraine while it is occurring, stopping individual migraines is not the main goal. Training with neurofeedback can be very effective in reducing the intensity and frequency of migraines over the long term providing real relief for people suffering from migraines. Deborah Stokes, Ph.D, a neurofeedback clinician in Alexandria, VA. recently published a study that showed significant improvement in migraines using neurofeedback. The study was co-authored with Martha S. Lappin and entitled “Neurofeedback and biofeedback with 37 migraineurs: a clinical outcome study”. The study found that, with neurofeedback, 70% of migraine sufferers have a significant reduction in the frequency of their migraines.

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Neurofeedback and biofeedback with 37 migraineurs: a clinical outcome study [pdf] by Deborah A Stokes, Martha S Lappin Behavioral and Brain Functions 2010, 6:9

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Background: Traditional peripheral biofeedback has grade A evidence for effectively treating migraines. Two newer forms of neurobiofeedback, EEG biofeedback and hemoencephalography biofeedback were combined with thermal handwarming biofeedback to treat 37 migraineurs in a clinical outpatient setting. Methods: 37 migraine patients underwent an average of 40 neurofeedback sessions combined with thermal biofeedback in an outpatient biofeedback clinic. All patients were on at least one type of medication for migraine; preventive, abortive or rescue. Patients kept daily headache diaries a minimum of two weeks prior to treatment and throughout treatment showing symptom frequency, severity, duration and medications used. Treatments were conducted an average of three times weekly over an average span of 6 months. Headache diaries were examined after treatment and a formal interview was conducted. After an average of 14.5 months following treatment, a formal interview was conducted in order to ascertain duration of treatment effects.

With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a person can’t stop repeating specific behaviors or stop his or her brain from repeating particular thoughts. A substantial body of research shows that problems with OCD are related to the functioning of areas in the front of the brain. If that part of the brain is working too slowly or quickly, a person is unable to stop repeating certain thoughts or behaviors. Many therapists and other health professionals using neurofeedback to treat OCD note marked reductions in OCD symptoms in their clients after neurofeedback training. People with OCD relate that, after neurofeedback training, they do not really need to make an effort to stop unwanted repetitive thoughts and behaviors. They say that they their minds are much quieter. With neurofeedback training, the brain learns to respond to situations in a more conventional and healthy manner.

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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the Efficacy of qEEG-Guided Neurofeedback Treatment: A Case Series [pdf] by Tanju Siirmeli and Ayben Exrteme Clinical EEG & Neuroscience, Volume 42 No 3

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ABSTRACT While neurofeedback has been extensively studied in the treatment of many disorders, there have been only three published reports, by D.C. Hammond, on its clinical effects in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In this paper the efficacy of QEEG-guided neurofeedback for subjects with OCD was studied as a case series. The goal was to examine the clinical course of the OCD symptoms and assess the efficacy of QEEG guided neurofeedback training on clinical outcome measures. Thirty-six drug resistant subjects with OCD were assigned to 9-84sessions of QEEG-guided neurofeedback treatment. Daily sessions lasted 60minutes where 2 sessions with half-hour applications with a 30 minute rest given between sessions were conducted per day. Thirty-three outof36 subjects who received neurofeedback training showed clinical improvement according to the Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOCS). The Minnesota multiphasic inventory(MMPI) was ad-ministered before and after treatment to 17 of the subjects. The MMPI results showed significant improvements not only in OCD measures, but all of the MMP1 scores showed a general decrease. Finally ,according to the physicians’ evaluation of the subjects using the clinical global impression scale (CGI), 33 of the 36 subjects were rated as improved. Thirty-six of the subjects were followed for an average of 26months after completing the study. According to follow-up interviews conducted with them and/or their family members 19of the subjects maintained the improvements in their OCD symptoms. This study provides good evidence for the efficacy of neurofeedback treatment in OCD. The results of this study encourage further controlled research in this area.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a serious type of anxiety caused by an extremely stressful event or series of events. People who suffer from PTSD are looking for a method to treat their symptoms, and unfortunately, many people experience only limited benefit after trying various therapies and medication. Neurofeedback trains the brain to produce a calm state as well as regulate stress response. In addition, the specific areas of the brain affected by PTSD can be targeted. Frequently, the first sign of improvement is that a client sleeps better. Then other symptoms begin to improve. After sufficient training, someone with PTSD can maintain a calm state on his or her own. When a person has reached this stable state, neurofeedback treatments can be decreased until no further trainings are necessary.

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The long-term costs of traumatic stress: intertwined physical and psychological consequences [pdf] by Alexander C. McFarlane

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Abstract: The gradual emergence of symptoms following exposure to traumatic events has presented a major conceptual challenge to psychiatry. The mechanism that causes the progressive escalation of symptoms with the passage of time leading to delayed onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves the process of sensitization and kindling. The development of traumatic memories at the time of stress exposure represents a major vulnerability through repeated environmental triggering of the increasing dysregulation of an individual’s neurobiology. An increasing body of evidence demonstrates how the increased allostatic load associated with PTSD is associated with a significant body of physical morbidity in the form of chronic musculoskeletal pain, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, obesity and cardiovascular disease. This increasing body of literature suggests that the effects of traumatic stress need to be considered as a major environmental challenge that places individual’s physical and psychological health equally at risk. This broader perspective has important implications for developing treatments that address the underlying dysregulation of cortical arousal and neurohormonal abnormalities following exposure to traumatic stress.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that generally appears in late adolescence or early adulthood – however, it can emerge at any time in life. It is one of many brain diseases that may include delusions, loss of personality (flat affect), confusion, agitation, social withdrawal, psychosis, and bizarre behavior. It may be hard to make sense of what a person with schizophrenia is talking about. In some cases, the individual may spend hours completely still, without talking. On other occasions he or she may seem fine, until they start explaining what they are truly thinking. according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMN), treatment can help relieve many of the symptoms of schizophrenia.

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Taking Back the Brain: Could Neurofeedback Training Be Effective for Relieving Distressing Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Patients With Schizophrenia? [link] by Simon McCarthy-Jones www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3406539/

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Abstract: Progress in identifying the neural correlates of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) experienced by patients with schizophrenia has not fulfilled its promise to lead to new methods of treatments. Given the existence of a large number of such patients who have AVHs that are refractory to traditional treatments, there is the urgent need for the development of new effective interventions. This article proposes that the technique of neurofeedback may be an appropriate method to allow the translation of pure research findings from AVH-research into a clinical intervention. Neurofeedback is a method through which individuals can self-regulate their neural activity in specific neural regions/frequencies, following operant conditioning of their intentional manipulation of visually presented real-time feedback of their neural activity. Four empirically testable hypotheses are proposed as to how neurofeedback may be employed to therapeutic effect in patients with AVHs.

At least 40 million Americans each year suffer from chronic, long-term, sleep disorders. An additional 20 million experience occasional sleep problems. Neurofeedback is a powerful tool for helping people fall asleep and stay asleep. Over 3,000 licensed health professionals such as psychologists, therapists, and doctors now use this new technology daily with patients. As a group, they report significant and consistent improvements for client sleep problems. Many brain training options can help as well as making lifestyle changes and changes in sleep “hygiene”. A skilled neurofeedback clinician can review many different options with clients to help them assess what’s most appropriate for their problem, including several brain regulating technologies such as Alpha-Stim and Brain Music.

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Neurofeedback in ADHD and insomnia: Vigilance stabilization through sleep spindles and circadian networks. [link] by Arns M, Kenemans JL. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23099283 

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Abstract In this review article an overview of the history and current status of neurofeedback for the treatment of ADHD and insomnia is provided. Recent insights suggest a central role of circadian phase delay, resulting in sleep onset insomnia (SOI) in a sub-group of ADHD patients. Chronobiological treatments, such as melatonin and early morning bright light, affect the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This nucleus has been shown to project to the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) thereby explaining the vigilance stabilizing effects of such treatments in ADHD. It is hypothesized that both Sensori-Motor Rhythm (SMR) and Slow-Cortical Potential (SCP) neurofeedback impact on the sleep spindle circuitry resulting in increased sleep spindle density, normalization of SOI and thereby affect the noradrenergic LC, resulting in vigilance stabilization. After SOI is normalized, improvements on ADHD symptoms will occur with a delayed onset of effect. Therefore, clinical trials investigating new treatments in ADHD should include assessments at follow-up as their primary endpoint rather than assessments at outtake. Furthermore, an implication requiring further study is that neurofeedback could be stopped when SOI is normalized, which might result in fewer sessions.

A stroke is a condition in which the brain cells suddenly die because of a lack of oxygen. A stroke can be caused by an obstruction in the blood flow, or the 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 can become paralyzed. 

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Parietofrontal integrity determines neural modulation associated with grasping imagery after stroke [pdf] by Ethan R. Buch,Amirali Modir Shanechi, Alissa D. Fourkas, Cornelia Weber, Niels Birbaumer, and Leonardo G. Cohen Brain: A Journal Of Neurology 2012

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Abstract: Chronic stroke patients with heterogeneous lesions, but no direct damage to the primary sensorimotor cortex, are capable of longitudinally acquiring the ability to modulate sensorimotor rhythms using grasping imagery of the affected hand. Volitional modulation of neural activity can be used to drive grasping functions of the paralyzed hand through a brain–computer interface. The neural substrates underlying this skill are not known. Here, we investigated the impact of individual patient’s lesion pathology on functional and structural network integrity related to this volitional skill. Magnetoencephalography data acquired throughout training was used to derive functional networks. Structural network models and local estimates of extralesional white matter microstructure were constructed using T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data. We employed a graph theoretical approach to characterize emergent properties of distributed interactions between nodal brain regions of these networks. We report that inter-individual variability in patients’ lesions led to differential impairment of functional and structural network characteristics related to successful post-training sensorimotor rhythm modulation skill. Patients displaying greater magnetoencephalography global cost-efficiency, a measure of information integration within the distributed functional network, achieved greater levels of skill. Analysis of lesion damage to structural network connectivity revealed that the impact on nodal betweenness centrality of the ipsilesional primary motor cortex, a measure that characterizes the importance of a brain region for integrating visuomotor information between frontal and parietal cortical regions and related thalamic nuclei, correlated with skill. Edge betweenness centrality, an analogous measure, which assesses the role of specific white matter fibre pathways in network integration, showed a similar relationship between skill and a portion of the ipsilesional superior longitudinal fascicle connecting premotor and posterior parietal visuomotor regions known to be crucially involved in normal grasping behavior. Finally, estimated white matter microstructure integrity in regions of the contralesional superior longitudinal fascicle adjacent to primary sensorimotor and posterior parietal cortex, as well as grey matter volume co-localized to these specific regions, positively correlated with sensorimotor rhythm modulation leading to successful brain–computer interface control. Thus, volitional modulation of ipsilesional neural activity leading to control of paralyzed hand grasping function through a brain–computer interface after longitudinal training relies on structural and functional connectivity in both ipsilesional and contralesional parietofrontal pathways involved in visuomotor information processing. Extant integrity of this structural network may serve as a future predictor of response to longitudinal therapeutic interventions geared towards training sensorimotor rhythms in the lesioned brain, secondarily improving grasping function through brain–computer interface applications.