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Blog 7: Neurofeedback Center of Virginia Research on Depression |
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Written by Dr. Ramsey
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Mar 13, 2009 at 12:14 PM |
Neurofeedback Center of Virginia Study of Neurofeedback Effect on Depression
An initial study conducted at Neurofeedback Center of Virginia explored the efficacy of neurofeedback for purposes of relaxation and its' impact on depression. The Hamilton Depression Inventory (HDI) was measured before and after the treatment which varied in duration as measured by both number of sessions and number of days of treatment. A convenience sample of thirty-four subjects received the treatment which averaged over a period of 242.88 days. The minimum number of days of treatment was 24 and the maximum was 967. Standard deviation (SD) was 205.35 days. Mean number of sessions was 38.76 (SD= 21.32) with a range of 8 to 92.
A t-test was used to compare the HDI pretest and post test means. As shown below, the decreases in depression were significant, or unlikely to be due to chance. Scores decreased by an average of 18.06 points from 30.18 to 12.12. This clearly indicates that depression was alleviated by the whole experience (t=20.6, df=33, p = .0001).
A multiple regression was run predicting the HDI-post test scores from three variables: HDI-pretest, number of sessions, and number of days. Of these variables only the pre-test significantly predicted decreases in depression. Notably, neither number of sessions nor number of days of treatment predicted decreases in depression, indicating improvement appears to be independent from treatment quantity. Pearson correlations were computed between all key variables and age. No relationships were found between age and either changes in treatment or amount of treatment received.
A follow-up study will be conducted to measure success at the neurofeedback task, as well as EMG, since lower levels of EMG may be linked to anxiety reduction, which could decrease depression. More precise measures of time-on-task will be employed, and researchers shall be blind to the HDI pretest scores until after the post test score data is collected. |
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Blog 5: Effects of Neurofeedback on IQ |
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Written by Erik Ramsey, APRN, BC
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Oct 28, 2006 at 10:46 AM |
The Smart Factor
People who have tried neurotherapy report experiencing a heightened sense of clarity sometimes even after a single session. But does this subjective experience translate into objective findings of changes in mental abilities, specifically the IQ or standardized test of intelligence? |
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