What’s the difference between biofeedback and neurofeedback?
I get this question literally daily, so I figured it would be a good question to address in a blog post. More and more people reach out to us after being referred for “biofeedback” by their healthcare provider. I’m amazed by this recent shift; family doctors, neurologists, psychiatrists and chiropractors are learning about the benefits of biofeedback and referring out their patients to seek this holistic approach.
Big picture, biofeedback is an umbrella term for many different approaches and technologies that all seek to improve control over our autonomic (automatic) physiological processes. Biofeedback can be used to train us to relax the muscle tension in our bodies, it can be used to help us control the rhythms of our heart (heart rate variability training),or the temperature of our bodies. In a general sense, biofeedback uses different types of FEEDBACK (visual cues, sounds, vibrations, etc) to give us insight, awareness and control over our BIOLOGY. Get it? Bio-feedback. As the body receives this FEEDBACK, it learns how to create the conditions to earn the positive feedback, thereby strengthening those physiological processes and over time, giving the individual the power of SELF-REGULATION. Woah.
Neurofeedback is a sub-type of biofeedback. With neurofeedback, the individual is learning to regulate their EEG activity or the electrical activity of their brain. Electrical activity is created in the brain as neurons fire off neurotransmitters and communicate with one another. If we can help a person shift and balance their EEG activity then theoretically, we can help shift (strengthen or weaken) neuronal pathways and regulate neurotransmitter function. Can you imagine how these types of changes in brain plasticity can have the power to improve symptoms of sub-optimal mental and cognitive health?? Powerful stuff.
At Alternative Therapeutics we often use the combination of biofeedback (HRV training) and neurofeedback to help our clients achieve optimal self-regulation. Both types of biofeedback appear to work synergistically, each helping to improve the depth of impact of the other. There are many other biofeedback clinics across the country and world who utilize the same combination with high levels of success.
Written by: Britney Cirullo, MA, LPCC-S, LICDC, BCN