Research & evidence

Neurofeedback research

Over the last three decades hundreds of papers have been published in peer reviewed journals reporting on research investigating the application of neurofeedback to a wide range of health conditions, and areas of performance enhancement for healthy individuals. A selection of findings for specific symptoms is provided below. See here for the full reference list.

Addiction

decreased use of cocaine and marijuana among an outpatient treatment group, as well as decreased depression and stress scores, and lower reactivity to drug-related cues (Horrell, El-Baz et al. 2010)
significant reductions in alcohol abuse sustained over 21 months, and decreases in depression (Saxby and Peniston 1995)
reductions in substance dependence maintained after 5 years, as well as reduced re-arrest/probation breach rates in a high-risk group (Callaway and Bodenhamer-Davis 2008)

Anxiety

reduction in anxiety symptoms, depression and interpersonal sensitivity, that were sustained after one year (Moradi, Pouladi et al. 2011)
significant decrease in symptoms of anxiety (Jones and Hitsman 2018)
improved global functioning and reduced anxiety among people with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (Dadashi, Birashk et al. 2015)

Attention Deﬁcit Hyperactivity Disorder

a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of ten neurofeedback studies identified medium to large effects on inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, and found that these were longer lasting than other treatment approaches (Van Doren, Arns et al. 2018)
reduction in children’s ADHD symptoms after treatment with neurofeedback (Sudnawa, Chirdkiatgumchai et al. 2018)

Autism spectrum disorder

improvements in executive function tasks, as well social, communicative and typical behaviours of children with autism (Kouijzer, de Moor et al. 2009)
decreased symptoms of Asperger's and ADHD plus improved academic and intellectual functioning (Thompson, Thompson et al. 2010)

Chemotherapy-induced neuropathy

long-term reduction in multiple symptoms including pain, numbness, cancer-related symptom severity, physical functioning, general health, and fatigue (Prinsloo, Novy et al. 2018).

Childhood trauma

reductions in behavioral, emotional, social, and cognitive problems in children with histories of neglect and/or abuse (Huang-Storms, Bodenhamer-Davis et al. 2006)

Depression

significant improvements in depression in patients with major depressive disorder, as well as reductions in anxiety (Cheon, Koo et al. 2016)
reductions in depression and improved cognitive performance associated with relationship trauma (Nateghian, Sepehri Shamloo et al. 2018)
remission or significant improvement in depression for individuals with severe drug resistant depression (Walker and Lawson 2013)
significant reduction or remission of symptoms among individuals with major depressive disorder (Peeters, Oehlen et al. 2014)

Eating disorders

reductions in the number of weekly overeating episodes and subsequent distress, as well as increased perceived dieting success, and decreased food craving (Schmidt and Martin 2015)
significant decreases in binge eating and reductions in stress, and perceived dietary self-efficacy, maintained after 3 months (Schmidt and Martin 2016)
reduced food cravings and identified intentions and plans to consume food (Imperatori, Valenti et al. 2017)

Enhanced cognitive function in healthy individuals

enhancement of working and episodic memory of healthy subjects (Hsueh, Chen et al. 2016)
significant enhancement of short-term memory performance among students after neurofeedback training (Nan, Rodrigues et al. 2012)
improved peripheral visual performance after neurofeedback training (Nan, Wan et al. 2013)
enhanced cognitive performance in individuals receiving neurofeedback (Zoefel, Huster et al. 2011)
improvement of semantic processing in working memory of healthy adults (Vernon, Egner et al. 2003)

Improvement in cognitive deficits

enhanced memory performance in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (Lavy, Dwolatzky et al. 2018)
improved cognitive abilities in people with dementia (Surmeli, Eralp et al. 2014)
improvements in verbal memory and some dimensions of visual memory among students with severe neuropsychological disorders, a history of epilepsy and drug abuse (Nazer, Mirzaei et al. 2018)
systematic review of cognitive rehabilitation following stroke found that a majority of studies identified improvements in cognitive deficits (Renton, Tibbles et al. 2017)
improved static and dynamic balance among individuals with Parkinson’s disease (Azarpaikan, Torbati et al. 2014)

Improved musical or creative performance

enhanced musical performance of university music students after neurofeedback (based on blinded expert ratings) with improvements not attained by alternative interventions (Egner and Gruzelier 2003)
among school age children enhanced musical performance and creative improvisation, as well as improvements in attention and self-reported wellbeing (Gruzelier, Foks et al. 2014)

Improved motor skills

improved surgical technique and considerably reduced surgery time, as well as reduced daily anxiety, amongst eye microsurgeons who received neurofeedback training, (Ros, Moseley et al. 2009)
reduced radial errors and improved performance under pressure among novice darts players relative to others not receiving neurofeedback training (Norouzi, Hosseini et al. 2018)

Mindfulness

increased mindfulness in healthy individuals with no previous experience of mindfulness training or neurofeedback (Navarro Gil, Escolano Marco et al. 2018)

Obsessive compulsive disorder

significant improvements in OCD symptoms, as well as other psychopathologies, maintained by 80% of participants at 26 month follow-up (Surmeli and Ertem 2011)
dramatic improvements in OCD symptoms, in addition to depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms (Hammond 2003)

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

significant reduction symptoms of PTSD and in the proportion of individuals meeting the criteria for PTSD, as well as improvement in emotional regulation, with changes equal to the best evidence based PTSD treatments (van der Kolk, Hodgdon et al. 2016)
reduced symptoms of PTSD and emotional dysregulation (Gapen, van der Kolk et al. 2016)

Schizophrenia

significant improvement in executive functioning (Naimijoo, Rezaei et al. 2015)
improvement of social, interpersonal, and cognitive abilities and Global Assessment of Functioning scores (Pazooki, Leibetseder et al. 2018)
significant reductions in auditory hallucinations (Thoma, Haghani Tehrani et al. 2018)

Sleep

reduced time to sleep onset, and enhanced expression of 12-15hz spindle oscillations during sleep (Hoedlmoser, Pecherstorfer et al. 2008)
reduced number of awakenings during sleep and improvements in subjective sleep quality (Schabus, Heib et al. 2014)
Improved sleep quality and daytime functioning after neurofeedback treatment (Hammer, Colbert et al. 2011)

While the findings of these papers are encouraging, research is continuing, to confirm results and the protocols (scalp sensor placements and frequency bands) that will be most effective in bringing about desired changes.

References

Azarpaikan, A., H. T. Torbati and M. Sohrabi (2014). "Neurofeedback and physical balance in Parkinson's patients." Gait Posture 40(1): 177-181.

Callaway, T. G. and E. Bodenhamer-Davis (2008). "Long-Term Follow-Up of a Clinical Replication of the Peniston Protocol for Chemical Dependency." Journal of Neurotherapy 12(4): 243-259.

Cheon, E. J., B. H. Koo and J. H. Choi (2016). "The Efficacy of Neurofeedback in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: An Open Labeled Prospective Study." Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 41(1): 103-110.

Dadashi, M., B. Birashk, F. Taremian, A. A. Asgarnejad and S. Momtazi (2015). "Effects of Increase in Amplitude of Occipital Alpha & Theta Brain Waves on Global Functioning Level of Patients with GAD." Basic and Clinical Neuroscience 6(1): 14-20.

Egner, T. and J. H. Gruzelier (2003). "Ecological validity of neurofeedback: modulation of slow wave EEG enhances musical performance." Neuroreport 14(9): 1221-1224.

Gapen, M., B. A. van der Kolk, E. Hamlin, L. Hirshberg, M. Suvak and J. Spinazzola (2016). "A Pilot Study of Neurofeedback for Chronic PTSD." Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback 41(3): 251-261.

Gruzelier, J. H., M. Foks, T. Steffert, M. J. L. Chen and T. Ros (2014). "Beneficial outcome from EEG-neurofeedback on creative music performance, attention and well-being in school children." Biological Psychology 95: 86-95.

Hammer, B. U., A. P. Colbert, K. A. Brown and E. C. Ilioi (2011). "Neurofeedback for insomnia: a pilot study of Z-score SMR and individualized protocols." Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 36(4): 251-264.

Hammond, D. C. (2003). "QEEG-Guided Neurofeedback in the Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder." Journal of Neurotherapy 7(2): 25-52.

Hoedlmoser, K., T. Pecherstorfer, G. Gruber, P. Anderer, M. Doppelmayr, W. Klimesch and M. Schabus (2008). "Instrumental conditioning of human sensorimotor rhythm (12-15 Hz) and its impact on sleep as well as declarative learning." Sleep 31(10): 1401-1408.

Horrell, T., A. El-Baz, J. Baruth, A. Tasman, G. Sokhadze, C. Stewart and E. Sokhadze (2010). "Neurofeedback Effects on Evoked and Induced EEG Gamma Band Reactivity to Drug-Related Cues in Cocaine Addiction." Journal of Neurotherapy 14(3): 195-216.

Hsueh, J.-J., T.-S. Chen, J.-J. Chen and F.-Z. Shaw (2016). "Neurofeedback training of EEG alpha rhythm enhances episodic and working memory." Human Brain Mapping 37(7): 2662-2675.

Huang-Storms, L., E. Bodenhamer-Davis, R. Davis and J. Dunn (2006). "QEEG-guided neurofeedback for children with histories of abuse and neglect: neurodevelopmental rationale and pilot study." Journal of Neurotherapy 10(4): 3-16.

Imperatori, C., E. M. Valenti, G. Della Marca, N. Amoroso, C. Massullo, G. A. Carbone, G. Maestoso, M. I. Quintiliani, A. Contardi and B. Farina (2017). "Coping food craving with neurofeedback. Evaluation of the usefulness of alpha/theta training in a non-clinical sample." Int J Psychophysiol 112: 89-97.

Jones, M. S. and H. Hitsman (2018). "QEEG-Guided Neurofeedback Treatment for Anxiety Symptoms." NeuroRegulation 5(3): 85-92.

Kouijzer, M. E. J., J. M. H. de Moor, B. J. L. Gerrits, M. Congedo and H. T. van Schie (2009). "Neurofeedback improves executive functioning in children with autism spectrum disorders." Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 3(1): 145-162.

Lavy, Y., T. Dwolatzky, Z. Kaplan, J. Guez and D. Todder (2018). "Neurofeedback Improves Memory and Peak Alpha Frequency in Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment." Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

Moradi, A., F. Pouladi, N. Pishva, B. Rezaei, M. Torshabi and Z. A. Mehrjerdi (2011). "Treatment of Anxiety Disorder with Neurofeedback: Case Study." Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 30: 103-107.

Naimijoo, P., O. Rezaei and G. Feizzadeh (2015). "Neurofeedback Training in Schizophrenia: A Study on Executive Functioning." European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences 4(1): 106-116.

Nan, W., J. P. Rodrigues, J. Ma, X. Qu, F. Wan, P. I. Mak, P. U. Mak, M. I. Vai and A. Rosa (2012). "Individual alpha neurofeedback training effect on short term memory." Int J Psychophysiol 86(1): 83-87.

Nan, W., F. Wan, C. I. Lou, M. I. Vai and A. Rosa (2013). "Peripheral visual performance enhancement by neurofeedback training." Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 38(4): 285-291.

Nateghian, s., Z. Sepehri Shamloo, J. Fadardi Salehi and A. Mashhadi (2018). "Clinical Trial of Frontal Alpha Asymmetry Neurofeedback for the Improvement Executive Functions and the Reduction of Rumination in Reactive Depression Result of Love Trauma." Journal of Cognitive Psychology 6(2): 31-40.

Navarro Gil, M., C. Escolano Marco, J. Montero-Marín, J. Minguez Zafra, E. Shonin and J. García Campayo (2018). "Efficacy of Neurofeedback on the Increase of Mindfulness-Related Capacities in Healthy Individuals: a Controlled Trial." Mindfulness 9(1): 303-311.

Nazer, M., H. Mirzaei and M. Mokhtaree (2018). "Effectiveness of neurofeedback training on verbal memory, visual memory and self-efficacy in students." Electronic Physician 10(9): 7259-7265.

Norouzi, E., F. S. Hosseini, M. Vaezmosavi, M. Gerber, U. Pühse and S. Brand (2018). "Effects of Quiet Mind Training on Alpha Power Suppression and Fine Motor Skill Acquisition." Journal of Motor Behavior: 1-10.

Pazooki, K., M. Leibetseder, W. Renner, G. Gougleris and E. Kapsali (2018). "Neurofeedback Treatment of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: Two Case Reports." Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

Peeters, F., M. Oehlen, J. Ronner, J. van Os and R. Lousberg (2014). "Neurofeedback As a Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder – A Pilot Study." PLoS ONE 9(3): e91837.

Prinsloo, S., D. Novy, L. Driver, R. Lyle, L. Ramondetta, C. Eng, G. Lopez, Y. Li and L. Cohen (2018). "The Long-Term Impact of Neurofeedback on Symptom Burden and Interference in Patients With Chronic Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy: Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial." Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 55(5): 1276-1285.

Renton, T., A. Tibbles and J. Topolovec-Vranic (2017). "Neurofeedback as a form of cognitive rehabilitation therapy following stroke: A systematic review." PLoS One 12(5): e0177290.

Ros, T., M. J. Moseley, P. A. Bloom, L. Benjamin, L. A. Parkinson and J. H. Gruzelier (2009). "Optimizing microsurgical skills with EEG neurofeedback." BMC Neurosci 10: 87.

Saxby, E. and E. G. Peniston (1995). "Alpha-theta brainwave neurofeedback training: An effective treatment for male and female alcoholics with depressive symptoms." Journal of Clinical Psychology 51(5): 685-693.

Schabus, M., D. P. Heib, J. Lechinger, H. Griessenberger, W. Klimesch, A. Pawlizki, A. B. Kunz, B. M. Sterman and K. Hoedlmoser (2014). "Enhancing sleep quality and memory in insomnia using instrumental sensorimotor rhythm conditioning." Biol Psychol 95: 126-134.

Schmidt, J. and A. Martin (2015). "Neurofeedback reduces overeating episodes in female restrained eaters: a randomized controlled pilot-study." Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 40(4): 283-295.

Schmidt, J. and A. Martin (2016). "Neurofeedback Against Binge Eating: A Randomized Controlled Trial in a Female Subclinical Threshold Sample." Eur Eat Disord Rev 24(5): 406-416.

Sudnawa, K. K., V. Chirdkiatgumchai, N. Ruangdaraganon, C. Khongkhatithum, U. Udomsubpayakul, S. Jirayucharoensak and P. Israsena (2018). "Effectiveness of neurofeedback versus medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder." Pediatr Int 60(9): 828-834.

Surmeli, T., E. Eralp, I. Mustafazade, H. Kos, G. E. Özer and O. H. Surmeli (2014). "Quantitative EEG Neurometric Analysis-Guided Neurofeedback Treatment in Dementia: 20 Cases. How Neurometric Analysis Is Important for the Treatment of Dementia and as a Biomarker?" Clinical EEG and Neuroscience 47(2): 118-133.

Surmeli, T. and A. Ertem (2011). "Obsessive compulsive disorder and the efficacy of qEEG-guided neurofeedback treatment: a case series." Clin EEG Neurosci 42(3): 195-201.

Thoma, R. J., P. Haghani Tehrani, J. A. Turner, J. Houck, R. Bigelow, V. P. Clark, R. A. Yeo, V. Calhoun and J. Stephen (2018). "Neuropsychological analysis of auditory verbal hallucinations." Schizophrenia Research 192: 459-460.

Thompson, L., M. Thompson and A. Reid (2010). "Neurofeedback outcomes in clients with Asperger's syndrome." Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 35(1): 63-81.

van der Kolk, B. A., H. Hodgdon, M. Gapen, R. Musicaro, M. K. Suvak, E. Hamlin and J. Spinazzola (2016). "A Randomized Controlled Study of Neurofeedback for Chronic PTSD." PLOS ONE 11(12): e0166752.

Van Doren, J., M. Arns, H. Heinrich, M. A. Vollebregt, U. Strehl and S. K. Loo (2018). "Sustained effects of neurofeedback in ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis." European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Vernon, D., T. Egner, N. Cooper, T. Compton, C. Neilands, A. Sheri and J. Gruzelier (2003). "The effect of training distinct neurofeedback protocols on aspects of cognitive performance." International Journal of Psychophysiology 47(1): 75-85.

Walker, J. E. and R. Lawson (2013). "FP02 Beta Training for Drug-Resistant Depression —A New Protocol That Usually Reduces Depression and Keeps It Reduced." Journal of Neurotherapy 17(3): 198-200.

Zoefel, B., R. J. Huster and C. S. Herrmann (2011). "Neurofeedback training of the upper alpha frequency band in EEG improves cognitive performance." Neuroimage 54(2): 1427-1431.