What is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a technique based on the brain ability to self-regulate. The goal is to normalize and optimize the functioning of the brain in a natural and non-invasive way. With Neurofeedback, the electrical activity of the brain (brainwaves) is read by electrodes positioned on the surface of the head. The therapist sets up a feedback, a personalized response, which allows the patient to know when his brain activity is moving in the desired direction. For example, the patient hears a sound when the brain produces brainwaves that are consistent with the desired psychophysiological state. If this does not happen the sound is not played.

The Neurofeedback methodology is based on Skinner's operant conditioning and the theory of learning. For this reason, what is learned through Neurofeedback is durable: imagine how you have learned to ride a bicycle, even if it's 10 or 20 years ago, you probably have never unlearned or forgotten it.

Different psychophysiological conditions, symptoms or pathologies can be improved or even resolved through Neurofeedback training. Some of these are anxiety, depression, migraines, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity  (ADHD), epilepsy, affective disorders, addictions, memory and sleep problems, head injury, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, cognitive decline, brain inefficiency and autism.

Neurofeedback is also useful for improving performance in sport, music and at work, because it reduces anxiety and improves attention and concentration.

It takes just a few minutes to run an assessment and identify how a person's brain can be optimized. Then the areas where the treatment takes place are defined, the person sits comfortably in an armchair and the electrode is placed on the surface of the head in the position of interest. The electrode does not supply electricity, it only reads the electrical activity of the brain while the software prepared by the therapist provides the feedback needed to gradually learn how to regulate this activity. In other words, it is as if we are monitoring our central nervous system through a computer screen, as if we have a mirror that reflects our brain activity and shows us which way to go.