TITLE

Can Monitoring Brain Waves Boost Mental Health?

Neurofeedback has promised a mental health revolution for decades. But is it effective?

DESCRIPTION

This is a fascinating article regarding the practice of a relatively new type of treatment:  Neurofeedback.  “The treatment is known as neurofeedback, a therapy some say can improve our attention, moods, sleeping habits and even our athletic ability by measuring brain activity and showing it to us — either on a screen or through headphones — in real time. A practitioner places electrodes on a patient’s head that detects (but does not stimulate) brain activity. This is then analyzed by a computer that sends it back to the patient as images or sounds. As the patient completes tasks, the computer encourages healthy patterns of brain activity.”  The article presents several examples in the form of cases that demonstrate how the treatment is used and the believed effectiveness of the therapy.  However, the article points out, and rightly so, the criticisms by skeptical researchers regarding the types of outcome studies.  This is an excellent article that speaks to a new type of therapy and also how researchers suggest the use of the scientific method to validate the true effectiveness of the therapy.

SOURCE

New York Times, January 12, 2022, by David Dodge

LINK TO RESOURCE

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/well/mind/neurofeedback-therapy-mental-health.html?smid=em-share

(Tiny URL)  https://tinyurl.com/4wctrv3t

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

•What is Neurofeedback?  What is the procedure used for a patient?

•For what types of problems do Neurofeedback therapists claim that the therapy can be helpful?

•Why are many therapists and researchers skeptical about the evidence for use of Neurofeedback?

•From a research standpoint, what methodology do researchers recommend to actually validate the effectiveness of Neurofeedback therapy?