title: A Pilot Study of Neurofeedback for Chronic PTSD.
abstract: EEG Biofeedback (also known as neurofeedback) has been in use as a clinical intervention for well over 30 years; however, it has made very little impact on clinical care. One reason for this has been the difficulty in designing research to measure clinical change in the real world. While substantial evidence exists for its efficacy in treating attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, relatively little evidence exists for its utility in other disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study represents a "proof-of-concept" pilot for the use of neurofeedback with multiply-traumatized individuals with treatment-resistant PTSD. Participants completed 40 sessions of neurofeedback training two times per week with sensors randomly assigned (by the study coordinator, who was not blind to condition) to sensor placements of either T4-P4 or T3-T4. We found that neurofeedback significantly reduced PTSD symptoms (Davidson Trauma Scale scores averaged 69.14 at baseline to 49.26 at termination), and preceded gains in affect regulation (Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities-Affect Dysregulation scores averaged 23.63 at baseline to 17.20 at termination). We discuss a roadmap for future research.
authors.affiliation: Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute (JRI), 1269 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA, 02446, USA. mark.gapen@gmail.com.|Community Services Institute, Inc., 1695 Main St, Springfield, MA, 01103, USA. mark.gapen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2562-1108
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gapen
authors.affiliation: Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute (JRI), 1269 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA, 02446, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.|National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Bessel A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: van der Kolk
authors.affiliation: Center for the Advancement of Human Potential, Institute for Applied Neuroscience, 31 College Place, Building B, Suite 218, Asheville, NC, 28801, USA.|Department of Psychology, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina Medical School, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hamlin
authors.affiliation: The NeuroDevelopment Center, Providence, RI, USA.|Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hirshberg
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suvak
authors.affiliation: Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute (JRI), 1269 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA, 02446, USA.|National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spinazzola
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058765:Neurofeedback / Q000502:physiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Complex trauma; EEG biofeedback; Neurofeedback; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Treatment outcome