This is a preview copy of Chapter 2 of the Book “Restoring the Brain,” Hanno W. Kirk, editor CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL (2016)
The history of the development of neurofeedback is succinctly covered here, with a primary emphasis on what has followed the work of Sterman and Lubar. The story begins with the discovery of the EEG by Hans Berger and moves quickly to the early research by M. Barry Sterman that led to the development of neurofeedback in application to seizure disorder. The second application area to be developed was ADHD, using similar methods. The subsequent proliferation of the method to cover a variety of psychopathologies will be traced: the anxiety-depression spectrum, pain syndromes, sleep disorders, traumatic brain injury, emotionally-based disorders, psychological trauma, and the dementias. Paralleling these clinical developments was necessarily an evolution of theoretical models. These had to become more general and inclusive over time to accommodate the clinical findings. Fortuitously, the emergence of neural network models generally, and of intrinsic connectivity networks in particular, provided a framework for understanding why particular approaches, even specific protocols, differentiated themselves in terms of clinical effectiveness.
The development of infra-low frequency training is traced as a natural evolution of mechanisms-based training. The parallel development of the use of neurofeedback as an inducement to state shifts to facilitate the resolution of psychological trauma is also traced. This is the work of Joe Kamiya, of Elmer and Alyce Green, and of Eugene Peniston. This method has distinguished itself particularly in application to psychological trauma and to addictions.
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