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Multiple Response Comparison of Parietal EEG and Frontalis EMG Biofeedback
Author(s) -
DeGood Douglas E.,
Chisholm Ronald C.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1977.tb01171.x
Subject(s) - biofeedback , electroencephalography , psychology , arousal , electromyography , heart rate , alpha (finance) , audiology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , neuroscience , developmental psychology , medicine , blood pressure , construct validity , psychiatry , psychometrics
In Study I parietal EEG and frontalis EMG were simultaneously recorded from 20 normal subjects while half of the subjects received 45 min of eyes‐closed alpha EEG enhancement feedback and the other half received a similar amount of EMG suppression feedback. EMG feedback resulted in a significant reduction in frontalis EMG activity accompanied by a reliable increase in parietal alpha density, while EEG feedback produced only an increase in alpha without corresponding EMG reduction. In Study II , each of 8 subjects underwent four separate feedback contingencies in two 40‐min sessions—one session with eyes open and the other with eyes closed. The four types of feedback were: a) alpha‐up (alpha enhancement), b) alpha‐down (alpha suppression), c) EMG‐down (frontalis tension decrease), and d) EMG‐up (frontalis tension increase). EMG feedback, up and down, resulted in the more consistent pattern of generalized arousal changes reflected in heart rate and respiratory rate as well as EEG and EMG activity. Within the constraints of a limited training period, the results suggest that frontalis EMG feedback is the more efficient procedure for producing a generalized relaxation response. However, since fingertip vasoconstriction accompanied all four types of feedback, caution must be exercised to avoid the oversimplification of generalized organism effects.