Sensorimotor-rhythm neurofeedback and its effect on EEG and sleep quality

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Sensorimotor-rhythm neurofeedback and its effect on EEG and sleep quality Manuel Schabus1*, Hermann Griessenberger1, Kerstin Hoedlmoser1, Dominik Heib1, Julia Lechinger1, Nicole Chwala-Schlegel1 and Wolfgang Klimesch2 1 Lab for Sleep & Consciousness, Univ. of Salzburg, Austria 2 Oscillations, Brain & Thinking Laboratory, Univ. of Salzburg, Germany A non-pharmacological intervention, namely instrumental conditioning of 12-15 Hz oscillations (ISC), for improving sleep quality and memory is introduced. EEG recordings over the sensorimotor cortex show a prominent oscillatory pattern in a frequency range between 12-15 Hz (i.e., sensorimotor rhythm, SMR) under quiet but alert wakefulness. This frequency range is also known to be abundant during light non-rapid eye movement sleep, and is overlapping with the sleep spindle frequency band. Some early findings indicated that ISC during wakefulness can influence subsequent sleep. In the present study we intend to clarify the nature of these effects and apply neurofeedback (NFT) to insomnia patients. Twenty-four subjects (M = 34.83; SD = 10.60) with clinical symptoms of primary insomnia were tested. A counterbalanced within-subjects design (19 lab visits over the course of 3-6 weeks) was adopted. Each patient participated in an ISC-NFT as well as a sham-NFT training block. Polysomnographic sleep recordings were scheduled before and after training blocks. First analysis confirms a significant increase of 12-15Hz activity over the course of the ten SMR training sessions (t= -2.24, p <. 05). In addition, subjective sleep quality was enhanced over the course of the trainings (t= 6.32, p < .001). Furthermore sleep onset latency was tendentiously reduced after ISC (t= 2.05, p = .052) but not after sham-NFT, and more so for “SMR training responders”. Last but not least slow sleep spindles in slow-wave-sleep were found to be exclusively enhanced after SMR trainings. Current results indicate that besides healthy individuals also people suffering from primary insomnia can experience subjective as well as objective benefits from ISC-NFT. Funding: Supported by Austrian Science Fund (FWF) - P21154. Keywords: EEG, Neuropsychiatry Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neuropsychiatric Applications Citation: Schabus M, Griessenberger H, Hoedlmoser K, Heib D, Lechinger J, Chwala-Schlegel N and Klimesch W (2011). Sensorimotor-rhythm neurofeedback and its effect on EEG and sleep quality. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00235 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 21 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Prof. Manuel Schabus, Lab for Sleep & Consciousness, Univ. of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, manuel.schabus@sbg.ac.at Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Manuel Schabus Hermann Griessenberger Kerstin Hoedlmoser Dominik Heib Julia Lechinger Nicole Chwala-Schlegel Wolfgang Klimesch Google Manuel Schabus Hermann Griessenberger Kerstin Hoedlmoser Dominik Heib Julia Lechinger Nicole Chwala-Schlegel Wolfgang Klimesch Google Scholar Manuel Schabus Hermann Griessenberger Kerstin Hoedlmoser Dominik Heib Julia Lechinger Nicole Chwala-Schlegel Wolfgang Klimesch PubMed Manuel Schabus Hermann Griessenberger Kerstin Hoedlmoser Dominik Heib Julia Lechinger Nicole Chwala-Schlegel Wolfgang Klimesch Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.