<p> This study examined the effects of Neurofeedback on individuals diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). Neurofeedback is a non-invase form of brainwave biofeedback in which participants receive real-time visual and auditory feedback of their brainwave activity. Upon receiving this feedback, participants were reinforced via visual and auditory means for producing particular brainwave patterns which have been associated with mental concentration and bodily relaxation. The existing literature on Neurofeedback for Fibromyalgia Syndrome suggests that individuals experience lasting benefit in symptom reduction post-treatment. It was expected that participants would experience substantial improvements in their symptoms over the course of this study. </p><p> Therapeutic improvement was measured with a variety of self-report measures and neurophysiological metrics. Particpants were randomly placed into either an active treatment group or a wait-list control. The wait-list control group received active treatment after a speficied control period during which self-report and EEG data were collected. Active treatment involved approximately 30 minute Neurofeedback sessions once or twice per week depending on participant availability. Brief pre and post session measuress were obtained to track within-session improvements. In addition, a psychometric battery was administered at baseline, and weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8 to track therapeutic improvement and outcome. Participants received 8 to 16 sessions of Neurofeedback. </p><p> All participants showed improvements in subjective ratings of pain and fatigue throughout the course of treatment, decreased their FIQR scores, exhibited changes on EEG indices, and reported being satisfied with the treatment. The majority of participants experienced improvements on symptom frequency and intensity on the MFTQ, had significant pre-post session decreases in fatigue (assessed via a paired samples t-test), and had pre-post session changes on one or more EEG indices (also assessed with a paired samples t-test). VAS pain and fatigue scores and EEG indices appeared to change when participants completed their wait-list control condition and entered active treatment, which offers evidence that Neurofeedback had an additional therapeutic impact when compared to other concurrent treatments. These positive findings are consistent with the results of existing studies of Neurofeedback for Fibromyalgia, which offers additional support for utilizing neurofeedback in the treatment of individuals with Fibromyalgia. This warrants further studies of Neurofeedback as a treatment for Fibromyalgia.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3637158 |
| Date | 28 October 2014 |
| Creators | Kristevski, Adam A. |
| Publisher | The Chicago School of Professional Psychology |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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