Neurofeedback

People struggling with ADD/ADHD, substance abuse or other mental health challenges may benefit from neurofeedback. It’s a noninvasive treatment that can help you learn to better regulate your brain activity.

At Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic, our behavioral health specialists use neurofeedback as one tool to help people improve their mental health.

What is neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback. It uses information from your recorded brainwave patterns to help you learn to regulate brain activity. It’s a noninvasive therapy appropriate for both adults and children.

Neurofeedback is typically done in a provider’s office. First, they attach sensors to your scalp with an adhesive that’s easily cleaned off at the end of the session. These sensors read brain activity, which is recorded by specialized computer software.

During a session, all you do is play a video game or watch a movie. The software recognizes desirable or undesirable brain activity and adjusts images you’re seeing. For example, if your brain activity suggests you’re being less attentive, it might slow down the speed of the car in your video game or make your movie dark and hard to see. Your brain then reacts to these changes.

It’s an interactive therapy that retrains the brain’s ability to focus. It can also increase calming brainwaves that help reduce anxiety and might aid in substance abuse treatment.

Types of neurofeedback

You usually receive neurofeedback therapy in a provider’s office. You can expect to go in for sessions twice a week for up to 40 sessions.

Some technologies allow you to do neurofeedback therapy at home. At-home therapy devices are typically rented from your provider, who monitors your progress remotely. At-home devices include:

• Techneuro: This is a headset you wear while playing a video game or watching a movie. When the technology recognizes that your attention is wandering, it alters your game or movie until you refocus. The video might go dark or the pace of the game slows down.
• Narbis: This device is a pair of glasses you wear while doing an activity like reading or working. Sensors send signals to the lenses of the glasses, responding to your brain activity. For example, if you lose focus on your activity, the lenses darken, forcing you to refocus your attention.

 

Conditions treated with neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is a noninvasive therapy that’s used primarily to treat people with attention-deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD).

Some evidence suggests it may also be part of an effective treatment plan for other conditions, including:

• Addiction and substance abuse
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

 

Neurofeedback benefits

Neurofeedback therapy is a noninvasive and interactive approach to retraining the brain. The feedback you receive during a treatment session subconsciously regulates how your brain responds. With continued training and feedback, your brain eventually learns to respond with desirable activity patterns.

This can result in:

• Decreased anxiety
• Improved ability to focus, pay attention, and process information
• Increased feelings of calm