Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback
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Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback · Sep 2005
Development of a data management tool for investigating multivariate space and free will experiences in virtual reality.
Virtual reality (VR) has become mature enough to be successfully used in clinical applications such as exposure therapy, pain distraction, and neuropsychological assessment. However, we now need to go beyond the outcome data from this research and conduct the detailed scientific investigations required to better understand what factors influence why VR works (or doesn't) in these types of clinical applications. This knowledge is required to guide the development of VR applications in the key areas of education, training, and rehabilitation and to further evolve existing VR approaches. ⋯ After a discussion of the research protocol and the types of data that were collected, we describe a novel tool that was borne from our need to more efficiently capture, manage, and explore the complex data that was generated in this research. An example of a research participant's annotated display from this data management and visualization tool is then presented. It is our view that this tool provides the capacity to better visualize and understand the complex data relationships that may arise in VR research that investigates naturalistic free will behavior and its impact on other human performance variables.
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Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback · Sep 2002
The modification of cortical reorganization and chronic pain by sensory feedback.
Recent neuroscientific evidence has revealed that the adult brain is capable of substantial plastic change in areas such as the primary somatosensory cortex that were formerly thought to be modifiable only during early experience. We discuss research on phantom limb pain as well as chronic back pain that revealed functional reorganization in both the somatosensory and the motor system in these chronic pain states. ⋯ In phantom limb pain, we propose that those patients who experienced intense pain prior to the amputation will later likely develop enhanced cortical reorganization and phantom limb pain. We show that cortical plasticity related to chronic pain can be reduced by behavioral interventions that provide feedback to the brain areas that were altered by somatosensory pain memories.
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Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback · Jun 2002
ReviewStress and psychophysiological dysregulation in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome.
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a prevalent musculoskeletal pain disorder characterized by diffuse pain and associated psychophysiological symptoms. Despite extensive research in the past 3 decades, the etiology and pathophysiology of FMS and effective treatment approaches are yet to be delineated. ⋯ These findings seem to be consistent with the large volume of research indicating the inverse relationship between pain sensitivity and sympathetic reactivity. In this paper, we discuss the role of stress in the pain experience in general, stress in patients with FMS, and review the studies evaluating the ANS and HPA functions in response to various stressors.
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Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback · Jun 2001
Case ReportsTreatment of phantom limb pain with combined EMG and thermal biofeedback: a case report.
Phantom pain is a frequent consequence of the amputation of an extremity and causes considerable discomfort and disruption of daily activities. This study describes a patient with extreme phantom limb pain following amputation of the right upper limb. ⋯ Results demonstrated complete elimination of phantom limb pain after treatment, which was maintained at a 3- and 12-month follow-up. Pain relief covaried with increase in skin temperature at stump and perceptual telescoping (retraction of phantom limb into stump).
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Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback · Sep 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialComparison of biofeedback and relaxation in the treatment of pediatric headache and the influence of parent involvement on outcome.
The relative efficacy of EMG-frontalis feedback and progressive relaxation was examined in children with tension-type or combined headaches (8-14 yrs. old). Furthermore, the influence of parent involvement, in the form of a three-session educational approach, on training outcome was systematically explored (2 x 2 factor design). Fifty children took part in the study, 40 were randomly assigned to the four different treatment conditions, 10 children participated in the self-monitoring control group. ⋯ At follow-up the reduction of headache activity is even more prominent. A different evaluative approach points to the superiority of biofeedback revealing a mean effect size for biofeedback training that reflects a good to excellent improvement rate. Correlations between headache data from children and parents are high.