EEG-Neurofeedback as a Potential Therapeutic Approach for Cognitive Deficits in Patients with Dementia, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury

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Abstract

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. In this review paper, we analyze various protocols of EEG neurofeedback in memory rehabilitation in patients with dementia, multiple sclerosis, strokes and traumatic brain injury. The results from the studies show the effectiveness of the ΕΕG-NFB method in improving at least one cognitive domain, regardless of the number of sessions or the type of protocol applied. In future research, it is important to address methodological weaknesses in the application of the method, its long-term effects as well as ethical issues.

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Most cited references 34

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The central problem for cognitive neuroscience is to describe how cognitive processes arise from brain processes. This review summarizes the recent evidence that synchronous neural oscillations reveal much about the origin and nature of cognitive processes such as memory, attention and consciousness. Memory processes are most closely related to theta and gamma rhythms, whereas attention seems closely associated with alpha and gamma rhythms. Conscious awareness may arise from synchronous neural oscillations occurring globally throughout the brain rather than from the locally synchronous oscillations that occur when a sensory area encodes a stimulus. These associations between the dynamics of the brain and cognitive processes indicate progress towards a unified theory of brain and cognition.

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EEG neurofeedback: a brief overview and an example of peak alpha frequency training for cognitive enhancement in the elderly.

D. Green, Stamatina Stathopoulou, John Kounios … (2006)

Neurofeedback (NF) is an electroencephalographic (EEG) biofeedback technique for training individuals to alter their brain activity via operant conditioning. Research has shown that NF helps reduce symptoms of several neurological and psychiatric disorders, with ongoing research currently investigating applications to other disorders and to the enhancement of non-disordered cognition. The present article briefly reviews the fundamentals and current status of NF therapy and research and illustrates the basic approach with an interim report on a pilot study aimed at developing a new NF protocol for improving cognitive function in the elderly. EEG peak alpha frequency (PAF) has been shown to correlate positively with cognitive performance and to correlate negatively with age after childhood. The present pilot study used a double-blind controlled design to investigate whether training older individuals to increase PAF would result in improved cognitive performance. The results suggested that PAF NF improved cognitive processing speed and executive function, but that it had no clear effect on memory. In sum, the results suggest that the PAF NF protocol is a promising technique for improving selected cognitive functions.

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Can we predict who will respond to neurofeedback? A review of the inefficacy problem and existing predictors for successful EEG neurofeedback learning.

O Shriki, D Todder, A Abu-Rmileh … (2017)

Despite the success of neurofeedback treatment in many cases, the variability in the efficacy of the treatment is high, and some studies report that a significant proportion of subjects does not benefit from it. Quantifying the extent of this problem is difficult, as many studies do not report the variability among subjects. Nonetheless, the ability to identify in advance those subjects who are - or who are not - likely to benefit from neurofeedback is an important issue, which is only now starting to gain attention. Here, we review the problem of inefficacy in neurofeedback treatment as well as possible psychological and neurophysiological predictors for successful treatment. A possible explanation for treatment ineffectiveness lies in the necessity to adapt the treatment protocol to the individual subject. We therefore discuss the use of personalized neurofeedback protocols as a potential way to reduce the inefficacy problem.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Theodora Afrantou: (View ORCID Profile)

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): LBSIB7

Title: Life

Abbreviated Title: Life

Publisher: MDPI AG

ISSN (Electronic): 2075-1729

Publication date Created: February 2023

Publication date (Electronic): January 29 2023

Volume: 13

Issue: 2

Page: 365

Article

DOI: 10.3390/life13020365

PubMed ID: 36836721

SO-VID: c68082b1-09fa-4ca7-a473-533663727ef6

License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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