Biofeedback Training

Biofeedback training allows a person to gain a measure of control over bodily functions that are usually automatic, or involuntary -- for example, heartbeat, blood pressure, skin temperature, blood flow to the hands and feet, even brain-wave patterns. Some doctors believe that the results are similar to those of self-hypnosis.

Electronic monitors used to measure these responses produce visible or audible signals. During the training, a person learns how to alter the electronic signals and, in the process, change an involuntary bodily response.

Origins

In the early years of radio, the term "feedback" was created to describe the design principle that enabled electronic systems to self-correct through an information loop. Biofeedback training applies this principle to the correction, or self-regulation, of one's own biological systems.

Experiments in applying biofeedback principles to the body were conducted as part of dream-sleep studies in the late 1950s. The subjects were trained to produce alpha brain-wave patterns, which indicate a mental state of relaxed alertness, on an electroencephalograph screen.

Eventually, scientists at the Menninger Foundation in Kansas were able to teach patients how to alleviate their migraine headaches by redirecting some of the blood flow from constricted blood vessels in the scalp to their hands, to do this, patients were instructed to concentrate on raising their hand temperature by visualizing holding something warm, such as a cup of hot coffee. Since then, biofeedback training has been used to treat numerous ailments.

Practitioners

The training may be done by a physician, psychologist, physical therapist, or laboratory technician, often in a rehabilitation center or a pain clinic.

When Is Biofeedback Training Used

Common uses are to control pain, relieve asthma attacks, rehabilitate muscles damaged by stroke or accident, and treat insomnia, migraine headaches, and other stress-related conditions. Biofeedback training is often combined with visualization and breathing exercises. Researchers in a Duke University heart attack prevention program have used the training to modify Type A personality traits, especially persistent feelings of anger and hostility, which are thought to increase the risk of heart attack.

In some cases, biofeedback can help eliminate the need for medications such as tranquilizers or prescription painkillers. In other instances, such as the control of high blood pressure, it may be combined with medication.

How Biofeedback Training Works

The goal of biofeedback training is to teach individuals how to become active participants in their own treatment, even though they may be unaware of actually controlling a bodily function. A classic example of how the process works is the experiment, conducted in 1970 at Harvard Medical School, in which male subjects were taught to modify their blood pressure. Success in decreasing their blood pressure and maintaining it at a lower level was indicated by a flashing light; after 20 such flashes, the reward was a glimpse of a nude pinup. Most of the subjects indicated that they had no awareness of actually controlling the flashing lights, nor were they conscious of what response was being measured. However, they were aware of the nude picture.

Some researchers believe that biofeedback contributes to improved physical and menial health because it fosters a feeling of power over bodily functions that were assumed to be beyond ones conscious control. Thus, even if a cure is not achieved, biofeedback training adds an important sense of well-being that may increase the efficacy of medical therapy.

What to Expect

Electronic monitors are used 10 measure specific physical responses; the types of monitors most commonly employed during biofeedback training are:

• Electromyograph (EMG), which monitors muscular tension and electrical activity in the muscles.
• Electroencephalograph (EEG), which records brain waves.
• Skin temperature monitor, which senses minute changes that indicate shifts in blood flow.

The type of disorder over which the patient seeks control determines the kind of monitor used. For example, if a person wants to reduce muscle tension that is causing severe neck pain, EMG electrodes are placed on the muscles in question. These electrodes convert electrical activity of the muscles into a visual image on a screen or into audio signals heard through earphones. The therapist then teaches the patient how to change the signals to reduce the muscle tension. Similarly, by learning to control changes recorded by the EEG, a person can help manage stress, pain, insomnia, and in some cases, epileptic seizures.

Temperature monitors, which sense even slight fluctuations in skin temperature due to changes in blood flow, help patients learn to abort a migraine headache during the early warning stage. They also help people who suffer from circulatory disorders reduce the discomfort of cold hands and feet.

At first, simply seeing the image or hearing the signal is all that is needed to relax muscles or alter blood flow. Eventually, a patient is able to achieve desired results without the presence of a monitor. With practice, people can become increasingly skilled at controlling these involuntary processes.