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EPILEPSY TREATMENT

Feeling like your condition has complete control of you? That you are overly dependent on medication?

Neurofeedback can help you gain control.

There is no treatment for epilepsy that works the same for everyone. However, 70%-80% of those treated in various studies created sizeable reductions in the frequency and scale of their seizures.

 

Numerous clinical studies have shown that Neurofeedback can be remarkably helpful in teaching people to noticeably reduce seizures.

People who have seizures produce too much of some brainwaves and too little of other brainwaves. If they are shown the amount of normal and abnormal waves they are producing and taught to increase the amount of normal ones, seizure activity generally decreases significantly.

Sensorimotor Rhythm (SMR) Neurofeedback with individuals with epilepsy definitely shows a decrease in seizures for most people.

In many people, cognitive and motor functioning also improved as did psychological functioning.

Results indicate that: (1) significant seizure reductions can occur with EEG feedback training which are not related to placebo effects, non-specific factors or to changes in medication; (2) EEG changes associated with such training can best be described as 'normalization'.

 

 

 

Barry Sterman is the original pioneer of this therapy. His (2000) review of 18 studies reporting clinical findings in the treatment of seizure disorders with EEG feedback showed that out of 174 patients treated, 82% demonstrated significant (greater than 30%) seizure reduction, with an average reduction exceeding 50%. Many of the studies also reported reductions in seizure severity and 5% of patients experienced complete control for periods of tabulation up to one year.

Sterman, M.B. (2000). Basic concepts and clinical findings in the treatment of seizure disorders with EEG operant conditioning. Clinical Electroencephalography, 31(1), 45-55.

 

When patients are taught to increase the amount of normal brainwaves, seizure activity generally decreases significantly.

If you would like more information about the effectiveness of neurofeedback for treating seizures, look for the following articles on PUBMED:

EEG biofeedback and relaxation training in the control of epileptic seizures. Tozzo CA, Elfner LF, May JG Jr.

Neuropsychological assessment of subjects with uncontrolled epilepsy: effects of EEG feedback training. Lantz DL, Sterman MB.

The response of a case of petit mal epilepsy to EEG sensorimotor rhythm biofeedback training. Tansey MA.

EEG operant conditioning in intractable epileptics. Lubar JF, Shabsin HS, Natelson SE, Holder GS, Whitsett SF, Pamplin WE, Krulikowski DI.

EEG feedback training of epileptic patients: clinical and electroencephalographic analysis. Kuhlman WN.

Effects of central cortical EEG feedback training on incidence of poorly controlled seizures. Sterman MB, Macdonald LR.

OTHER RELATED REFERENCES

Quantitative analysis of training, sleep EEG and clinical response to EEG operant conditioning in epileptics. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1980 Sep;49(5-6):558-76. PMID: 6158436 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Sensorimotor EEG operant conditioning: experimental and clinical effects. Pavlov J Biol Sci. 1977 Apr-Jun;12(2):63-92. No abstract available. PMID: 198727 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

EEG operant conditioning for control of epilepsy. Epilepsia. 1979 Jun;20(3):279-86. PMID: 446436 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Reducing epileptic seizures through operant conditioning of central nervous system activity: procedural variables. Science. 1979 Jan 5;203(4375):73-5. PMID: 758682 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

EEG operant conditioning (biofeedback) and traumatic brain injury. Clin Electroencephalogr. 2000 Jan;31(1):38-44. Review. PMID: 10638351 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Neurofeedback treatment of epilepsy. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2005 Jan;14(1):163-76, viii. Review. PMID: 15564057 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Biofeedback in epileptics: equivocal relationship of reinforced EEG frequency to seizure reduction. Epilepsia. 1975 Sep;16(3):477-85. PMID: 1183423 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Clinical efficacy of galvanic skin response biofeedback training in reducing seizures in adult epilepsy: a preliminary randomized controlled study. Epilepsy Behav. 2004 Apr;5(2):216-23. PMID: 15123023 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Biofeedback training of the sensorimotor electroencephalogram rhythm in man: effects on epilepsy. Epilepsia. 1974 Sep;15(3):395-416. No abstract available. PMID: 4527675 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

EEG operant conditioning in intractable epileptics. Arch Neurol. 1981 Nov;38(11):700-4. PMID: 7305698 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Suppression of seizures in an epileptic following sensorimotor EEG feedback training. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1972 Jul;33(1):89-95. No abstract available. PMID: 4113278 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]