Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Neurofeedback, an emerging treatment for mental and behavioral disorders, has shown promising results as a holistic alternative to traditional therapy and medication. This treatment was discovered in the 1950s by using an electroencephalography (EEG) device to train people to achieve an alpha state using the reward of a bell sound. Currently, the basis of neurofeedback is using an EEG device that is connected to a video, such as television, to receive positive or negative feedback, corresponding to beneficial or non-beneficial brain activity. After 3-4 weeks of the video dimming in response to non- beneficial brain activity, your brain starts to make new connections and rewire to have less disordered thinking. Neurofeedback aims to strengthen the connection between the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and amygdala and to decrease the amount of arousal-based beta brain waves, both of which are connected to anxiety. With depression, neurofeedback aims to decrease the imbalance in the brain’s frontal lobes. Lastly, neurofeedback aims to correct the ratio of theta-to-beta brain waves that ADHD is characteristic of. After thirty neurofeedback sessions, 57% of people with anxiety, 45% with depression, and 60% with ADHD reported symptom improvement. Therefore, because of the non- invasive properties of neurofeedback when compared to pharmacological interventions, this treatment is an emerging contender in the reversal of the mental and behavioral disorders that are so common in our society today.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Jill Kirby
Recommended Citation
Fisher, Makayla, "Neurofeedback: An Emerging Contender in the Treatment of Mental and Behavioral Disorders" (2025). Student Scholar Symposium. 121.
https://digitalcollections.lipscomb.edu/student_scholars_symposium/2025/Full_schedule/121
Neurofeedback: An Emerging Contender in the Treatment of Mental and Behavioral Disorders
Neurofeedback, an emerging treatment for mental and behavioral disorders, has shown promising results as a holistic alternative to traditional therapy and medication. This treatment was discovered in the 1950s by using an electroencephalography (EEG) device to train people to achieve an alpha state using the reward of a bell sound. Currently, the basis of neurofeedback is using an EEG device that is connected to a video, such as television, to receive positive or negative feedback, corresponding to beneficial or non-beneficial brain activity. After 3-4 weeks of the video dimming in response to non- beneficial brain activity, your brain starts to make new connections and rewire to have less disordered thinking. Neurofeedback aims to strengthen the connection between the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and amygdala and to decrease the amount of arousal-based beta brain waves, both of which are connected to anxiety. With depression, neurofeedback aims to decrease the imbalance in the brain’s frontal lobes. Lastly, neurofeedback aims to correct the ratio of theta-to-beta brain waves that ADHD is characteristic of. After thirty neurofeedback sessions, 57% of people with anxiety, 45% with depression, and 60% with ADHD reported symptom improvement. Therefore, because of the non- invasive properties of neurofeedback when compared to pharmacological interventions, this treatment is an emerging contender in the reversal of the mental and behavioral disorders that are so common in our society today.