How does EEG biofeedback work?
The best way to look at EEG biofeedback is in terms of an exercise model. In this case, it is the brain that is being exercised directly. It appears to us now that the brain rhythms we observe in the EEG are the means by which the brain organizes its own activity—a built-in metronome, so to speak, or a "virtual conductor."

By training these rhythms, we are exercising the brain in its fundamental role of controlling and regulating various functions. Such exercise appears to make the mechanism function more stably, and more appropriately. We may be doing little more than putting the brain on a stair stepper, if you will, challenging it to work better. Once we do so, however, the brain acquires a new skill that it will continue to employ. Hence, the skill should be retained over the long term. EEG biofeedback may be the ultimate self-help program for the brain.

The biofeedback challenge moves the brain out of the state that it is in, and guides it gently to a more appropriate state. What is this brain state that we are talking about? It is our state of alertness, of awakeness, of attentiveness, and also the state of our emotions. If we improve regulation of these states, we affect the whole being. We have found it helpful to see the problems that biofeedback addresses in terms of disregulation—shortcomings in the brain’s regulatory activity. And when recovery occurs, it has been by virtue of improved capacity for "self-regulation" by the brain. Self-regulation is the brain’s modus operandi. We are only challenging the brain to do better. Thus, when we succeed, it may not look like anything has actually happened. EEG Biofeedback is nothing beyond getting the brain to do its job!

Biofeedback has the reputation of "fixing" a lot of problems. For that reason, it is difficult to get one’s arms around it and understand what is really going on. Perhaps it is best seen as not a single tool but an overall strategy—one of improved "self-regulation." And what it addresses are the problems of "disregulation," whatever they may be. Thus the problem of insomnia can be looked at as "disregulated sleep;" the problem of chronic pain can be seen as a "disregulated pain threshold;" the problem of ADHD can be seen as "disregulated attention;" and anxiety and depression can be seen in terms of "disregulated mood." If we guide the brain to do better in terms of regulating these functions, it may in fact succeed. How do we guide it? The biofeedback training rewards it repeatedly for doing the right thing, which in EEG terms means functioning at the right frequencies! And symptoms may subside.

What is the difference between biofeedback and neurofeedback?
Biofeedback generally refers to using measures derived from peripheral physiology rather than the EEG, measures such as skin temperature, muscle tension, skin conductance, heart rate, and the breath. All of these are subject, of course, to the management of the central nervous system. Hence, all of biofeedback can be seen as referring back to the brain. However, it is much easier to understand why we train an anxious person with cold and clammy hands to warm their hands than it is to tell them why we are training certain frequencies in their EEG, the province of neurofeedback. Both are in the interest of improved self-regulation, and it is all biofeedback. However, each specialty area in biofeedback has its unique strengths.

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