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Biofeedback of Slow Cortical Potentials in Epilepsy

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Clinical Applied Psychophysiology

Abstract

It remains a pertinent problem that dependent on the type of epilepsy, 20–50% of patients are not sufficiently controlled with antiepileptic medication. Alternative approaches such as behavioral treatment have therefore been explored. The behavioral research was stimulated by a famous single case study published by Efron (1975) documenting the classical conditioning of seizure depression. Reduction in seizure frequency has been reported following the application of desensitization and extinction procedures (Forster, 1969, 1972, 1977; Rockstroh & Elbert, 1990), self-control procedures implying self-perception, self-control, and relaxation (Dahl, Brorson, 1985; Dahl, Melin, & Leissner, 1988; Bühring & Weltek, 1990), biofeedback of respiratory parameters (Fried, Rubin, Carlton, & Fox, 1984), and instrumental modification of EEG spectra (Lubar, 1984; Sterman, 1984; Rockstroh, Elbert, Birbaumer, Wolf, Düchting-Roth, Reker, Daum, Lutzenberger, & Dichgans, 1993). For recent overviews, see Birbaumer, Elbert, Canavan, and Rockstroh (1990) and Elbert, Rockstroh, Canavan, Birbaumer, Lutzenberger, von Bülow, and Linden (1991).

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Birbaumer, N. et al. (1994). Biofeedback of Slow Cortical Potentials in Epilepsy. In: Carlson, J.G., Seifert, A.R., Birbaumer, N. (eds) Clinical Applied Psychophysiology. The Plenum Series in Behavioral Psychophysiology and Medicine. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9703-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9703-9_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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