Abstract
The current study compared the effects of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV-BF) and electroencephalographic biofeedback (EEG-BF) on sleep, mood, and reaction time. Fourteen highly trained male athletes with sleep disturbances participated in this randomised crossover study. Participants took part in HRV-BF and EEG-BF training, with each condition consisting of eight sessions over 15 days. Polysomnography (PSG) and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) were used to assess sleep quality, the profile of mood states (POMS) questionnaire to monitor mood, and reaction time to measure performance pre and post intervention. HRV-BF training improved PSG sleep efficiency (SE) (P = 0.022, d = 0.35, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.16) and subjective sleep duration (P = 0.011, ES = 0.40) when compared to EEG-BF. Only HRV-BF reduced reaction time pre to post biofeedback training (P = 0.020, d = 0.75, 95% CI 0.006 to 0.059). The PSQI showed that both HRV-BF (P = 0.025, ES = 0.31) and EEG-BF (P = 0.003, ES = 0.32) resulted in improved global PSQI scores. Total mood disturbance was also reduced though HRV-BF (P = 0.001, ES = 0.40) and EEG-BF (P = 0.001, ES = 0.30). HRV-BF and EEG-BF enhanced some subjective parameters of sleep and mood. HRV-BF increased PSG SE and subjective sleep duration more than EEG-BF in highly trained athletes with sleep disturbances.
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Data Availability
The data is available from the corresponding author upon request.
Abbreviations
- HRV-BF:
-
Heart rate variability biofeedback
- EEG-BF:
-
Electroencephalographic biofeedback
- PSG:
-
Polysomnography
- PSQI:
-
Pittsburgh sleep quality index
- POMS:
-
Profile of mood states
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- CI:
-
Confidence intervals
- ES:
-
Effect sizes
- η 2 :
-
Eta squared
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- SE:
-
Sleep efficiency
- DST:
-
Deep sleep time
- LST:
-
Light sleep time
- REM:
-
Rapid eye movement
- TST:
-
Total sleep time
- TA:
-
Wake time
- SOL:
-
Sleep onset latency
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Beijing Sport University for support in conducting the study.
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This work was supported by grants from the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFF0300801).
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YZ and QLL contributed to the conception and design of the study. QLL, MQS and KXC performed the experiments. QLL, MQS and CJS analysed the data and drafted the manuscript. CJS critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the Declaration of Helsinki. This study was approved by the Beijing Sport University Ethics Committee (2,020,132 H).
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Li, Q., Shi, M., Steward, C.J. et al. A Comparison Between Pre-Sleep Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback and Electroencephalographic Biofeedback Training on Sleep in National Level Athletes with Sleep Disturbances. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 49, 115–124 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-023-09604-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-023-09604-3