Neurofeedback: Retrain the Brain

Literature Review

In their review article, Grefkes and Fink (2011) suggested that balance within the motor network may be critically disturbed after stroke when the lesion either directly affects any of the brain areas or damages related white matter. A growing body of evidence suggests that abnormal interactions among cortical region remote from the ischemic lesion might also contribute to the motor impairment after stroke. They suggested that pathological intra and inter hemisphere among key motor regions of the brain constitute an important pathophysiological aspect of motor impairment after subcortical stroke. They demonstrated therapeutic interventions such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, which aims to interfere with abnormal cortical activity that may correct pathological connectivity not only at the stimulation site but also distant brain regions (Grefkes & Fink, 2011).

In their paper, Escolano, Aguilar, and Minguez (2011) have revealed therapeutic effect of Neurofeedback to treat a variety of neurological and psychological disorders and have demonstrated its feasibility to improve certain aptitudes in healthy users. Their aim was to improve working memory performance in healthy users by the enhancement of upper alpha band. In their study EEG assessment in active and passive eyes open state were conducted pre and post neurofeedback training. It showed significance improvement in working memory of the healthy users (Escolano, Aguilar, & Minguez 2011).