Abstract
This single case study explores the effects of a specific form of biofeedback on sports enhancement. Three college athletes from three different sports (baseball, volleyball, and basketball) were each subjected to five weekly sessions of passive infrared hemoencephalography (pIR HEG) from a licensed psychotherapist who had been trained in this form of biofeedback. Sports data were collected prior to the session, during the sessions, and after the sessions. In addition, card sorting and thermal imaging were done by the therapist during each of the five brain-training sessions. The results were mixed. The baseball and volleyball players demonstrated modest gains in their specific sports measures and in the card-sorting process, whereas the basketball player’s measures were flat. The thermal imaging was also inconclusive. However, two out of three subjects reported subjective improvements in focus and concentration on the field and in their daily lives. In addition, two of the subjects reported improvements in their rate and intensity of headaches, which was not a specific goal of the treatment, but one which is routinely seen from pIR HEG treatment. There are significant limitations to this study that make it impossible to generalize. Further studies with longer treatment times and larger numbers of subjects are recommended.
Highlights
The human brain is only 2% of one’s body mass (Wang et al, 2014)
Biofeedback Wouldn’t it be useful to have instant feedback regarding aches and pains that go on in our brains without having to cut open one’s head? Dr Antoine Remond discovered that electroencephalography (EEG) helped to identify those with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) or people with minimal brain dysfunction (Siever, 2008)
In this study we focused on passive infrared hemoencephalography (pIR HEG) as developed by Jeffrey Carmen (2004), which targets the prefrontal cortex and its variety of functions, such as impulse control, organization of emotional reactions, personality, prioritizing, competing, and complex planning (McKinley, O’Loughlin, Pennefather-O’Brien, & Harris, 2015)
Summary
The human brain is only 2% of one’s body mass (Wang et al, 2014). The study of the brain is difficult for many reasons. EEG Biofeedback EEG biofeedback (hereafter referred to as neurofeedback or NF) training looks at brain waves and how a participant receives instant results (Hammond, 2007). This type of training is very specific to the temporal, occipital, and parietal regions of the brain. A study looked at performance enhancement in golfers using EEG profiles (Arns, Kleinnijenhuis, Fallahpour, & Breteler, 2008). Another study looked at performance in dancers by using EEG slow wave heart rate coherence training (Thompson, Steffert, Ros, Leach, & Gruzelier, 2008). Hemoencephalography (HEG) There are two approaches to HEG which is another form of biofeedback training but pertains more to the activation of the prefrontal cortex and its functions. Toomim et al (2004) developed near infrared spectrophotometry (nIR HEG) and Carmen (2004) developed passive infrared hemoencephalography (pIR HEG)
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