CAN NEUROFEEDBACK HELP WITH SLEEP?

Yes, neurofeedback can be an effective treatment for insomnia. This therapy helps by training individuals to modify their brainwave patterns, promoting a balance that is conducive to better sleep. Here’s how neurofeedback specifically assists with insomnia:

Regulating Brainwaves: Insomnia often involves disruptions in specific brainwave patterns, particularly an overactivity of high-frequency waves like beta waves, which are associated with alertness and waking states. Neurofeedback targets these patterns, training the brain to produce more of the lower-frequency alpha and theta waves that are conducive to relaxation and sleep.

Enhancing Relaxation: Neurofeedback sessions can help enhance overall relaxation and reduce anxiety, which are common contributors to insomnia. By learning to control and regulate brain activity, individuals can better manage stress and anxiety, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Improving Sleep Quality: Through the modulation of brainwaves, neurofeedback can improve the quality of sleep, increasing the amount of restorative sleep stages. This not only helps in falling asleep faster but also in achieving deeper, more restful sleep.

Cognitive and Emotional Benefits: By improving sleep, neurofeedback also helps in enhancing cognitive function and emotional regulation, which can be adversely affected by poor sleep.

Long-Term Benefits: Unlike some sleep medications, neurofeedback provides a potential long-term solution to insomnia without the risks of dependency or side effects. Over time, patients can learn to maintain healthy sleep patterns independently.

Research and clinical practices have shown positive results, with many patients experiencing significant improvements in their sleep patterns following a course of neurofeedback sessions. However, individual results can vary, and it is often recommended as part of a comprehensive approach that may include cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and proper sleep hygiene practices.

These conclusions are detailed in the “Evidence-Based Practice in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback, 4th edition,” published by the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB).