Applications of Operant Conditioning of the EEG for the Management of Epileptic Seizures

Abstract

Operant conditioning of physiological activity, better known as biofeedback, has been employed for nearly two decades both experimentally and clinically for studies of behavioral self-control of physiology. Applications have covered a large number of disorders involving the neuromuscular system, the vascular system, endocrine regulation, and regulation of the central nervous system (Olton & Noonberg, 1980). Disorders treated range from muscle contraction and vascular headaches to functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, pain syndromes, and many neurological syndromes, including movement disorders, pain of neurological origin, and neuromuscular rehabilitation following injury to the central or peripheral nervous system. Psychological and psychiatric disorders such as general anxiety syndrome, certain types of insomnias, and generalized stress management have come under the domain of biofeedback conditioning procedures.