Mine Your Mind

After yesterday's post, I thought it was only fair to add this for a more balanced view.

Neurofeedback has been proposed and tested for training the attainment of particular braiwave patterns. This technique has been proposed for the treatment of epilepsy, attention deficit disorder(ADHD), and other diseases and disorders. Some manufacturers and researchers have proposed that the operant conditioning of EEG ("neurofeedback") may produce lasting positive functional changes. (Current bibliography.) In fact, scientology advocates have actively and publicly lobbied against psychiatric medication in general, and Ritalin in particular, in favour of neurofeedback methods and auditing using e-meters for the treatment of narcolepsy and ADHD. However, many ADHD researchers, most notably Russell Barkley, state that any form of neurofeedback is ineffective. Barkley claims that there is no evidence that neurofeedback works in any way. He, and some in the neurology research community, maintain that the supporting research is sloppy and, to date, has not managed to successfully prove anything.

Brainwave training is both controversial and subject to the whims of marketeers, and the reader must keep in mind that the manufacturers are wed to their various own interests, and their financial futures may be at stake. Some members of the community make sweeping generalization statements but fail to make contributions within the professional medical community.

Measuring the brain's activity is a standard procedure in medicine, and can give interesting indicators of how the brain works. Whether EEGs can be used to balance the cerebral hemispheres, induce relaxation, improve mental functioning, improve spiritual awareness, or change or benefit the brain in any way is still inconclusive and can at best be considered controversial. Although brain training companies are likely to quote some studies that show some benefits, the overall view in neuroscience through meta analyses and thorough reviews of research is that electronic brain training is unreliable. More research is needed to determine whether neurofeedback can be considered as anything other than an unreliable treatment or dubious panacea.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurofeedback#endnote_13