Neurofeedback is one of the safe, alternative therapies the BART Foundation believes may help brain injury survivors. The BART Foundation aims to promote better outcomes for TBI/ABI survivors by answering three questions: Which alternative therapies are likely to work, where can they be found, and how can they be afforded? One way we fulfill our mission is by carefully monitoring global research and clinical trial outcomes and sharing that information in user-friendly language with the TBI/ABI community.
We wanted to share a recent article that was published in 2023 in Applications of EEG in Neural Rehabilitation that discussed research conducted through the Department of Neurology, AHEPA University Hospital, in Thessaloniki, Greece.
We provide a brief overview here and encourage everyone to review the original and consider sharing it with your medical team.
EEG-Neurofeedback as a Potential Therapeutic Approach for Cognitive Deficits in Patients with Dementia, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury
Memory deficits are common in patients with dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, but also in patients with other neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as brain injury, multiple sclerosis, ischemic stroke, and schizophrenia. Memory loss affects patients’ functionality and, by extension, their quality of life. Non-invasive brain training methods, such as EEG neurofeedback, are used to address cognitive deficits and behavioral changes in dementia and other neurological disorders by training patients to alter their brain activity via operant activity.
Cognitive deficits, such as memory loss and attention disorders, are very common nowadays because of the aging world population and the numerous neurodegenerative diseases that lead to cognitive impairment. Until recently, the treatment of cognitive deficits was based exclusively on the administration of appropriate medication. However, a deeper understanding of the nature of cognitive deficits combined with advances in technology has led to the development of methods and techniques aimed at improving both cognitive deficits and non-cognitive conditions in order to improve the quality of life not only for the patients but also for their families.
To carry out the present study, the researchers searched for EEG neurofeedback studies in patients with dementia, strokes, multiple sclerosis, and traumatic brain injury. The literature search was conducted until the end of October 2022. In accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria, the researchers selected 8 studies that examined the effects of EEG-NFB in cognitive functions of patients with dementia (2 studies for dementia and 6 studies for MCI, of which 1 study was a case report), 2 studies that also examined the effectiveness of this method in patients with MS, 5 studies for strokes (2 of which were case reports) and 3 studies for TBI (1 of which was a case report).
In analyzing the current research, EEG-NFB appears to be a potential method for improving cognitive deficits in patients with neurological disorders. However, weaknesses in study designs must be overcome, and the long-term effects and ethics of this method must be investigated further.
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