Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a form of complementary and alternative medicine that involves measuring the responses of a patient, such as the blood pressure, heart rate, or skin temperature, to provide patients with feedback about their awareness and their conscious control of physiological activities. This has gradually been expanded to deal with perspiration and muscle tension.

Dr. Neal Miller, a neuroscientist from Yale University, developed the concept of biofeedback in the 1960s after he was involved in animal experimentation [Page 230]about the behavioral responses of rats. His team of researchers discovered that when the pleasure center of the rat's brain is stimulated by electricity, this results in changes in the heart rate, proving that rats were under the control of an automatic nervous system and were not just responding to conscious efforts. These experiments were then applied to humans to find out whether humans also respond automatically.

The electromyogram (EMG) has been useful with aches and pains and conditions that worsen under stress, such as asthma and ulcers.

Dr. Elmer Green of the Menninger Foundation continued the research, developing it in other areas and conducting a large amount of original research on the responses of functions in humans to particular activities. This helped develop some ways of dealing with headaches and migraines. By the early 1970s, much work was being conducted by Dr. Barbara B. Brown who coined the term biofeedback and later established the Biofeedback Research Society, which evolved into the Biofeedback Society of America and is now the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. Her book Stress and the Art of Biofeedback helped to spread these ideas to healthcare professionals around the world. Mention should be made of some religious and spiritual groups that have long claimed that systems such as yoga have essentially fulfilled this purpose for hundreds of years.

Because of increased interest in biofeedback, a number of systems of measuring biofeedback data have developed. The original method of measurement was having sensors attached to fingers and feet to measure skin temperature. As body temperature usually drops when a person experiences stress, this method can be used to measure headaches, especially the frequency of migraines, and also circulatory problems, such as Raynaud's disease.

However, the most common method of obtaining biofeedback now is with the use of the electromyogram (EMG), which uses electrodes and other types of sensors to measure muscle tension or lack thereof in a patient. This has been useful for measuring problems such as backaches, headaches, and neck pain. It can also be used for the measurement of medical conditions that can worsen under stress, such as asthma and ulcers.

Other methods of obtaining biofeedback data have relied on the Galvanic skin response, whereby sensors measure the activity of sweat glands or the amount of perspiration. This is the system often used by lie detectors, which aim to try to measure minute changes in these body functions in response to stress. Medically, it is also used to measure phobias, anxiety attacks, and stuttering. The last major method of collecting data is using electroencephaolography (EEG), where a machine measures brain waves linked to relaxation, calmness, deep sleep, light sleep, and other related areas. Because of the cost of these machines, this system is rarely used.

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