EEG Biofeedback Therapy as an Adjunct Treatment for PTSD

EEG biofeedback is an emerging alternative approach to treating PTSD, for which there is still insufficient evidence to assume unequivocal clinical utility. However, a 1991 report showed PTSD symptom reduction in 14 subjects receiving EEG biofeedback, as compared to 13 subjects receiving traditional treatment (Peniston, 1991), and a recent case study of 2 PTSD patients receiving EEG biofeedback therapy also showed reduce symptom severity using a newer protocol and device (Othmer, 2009). Another recent study focused on the anxiety symptoms of PTSD and showed that EEG biofeedback significantly reduced anxiety compared to subjects not receiving treatment (Walker, 2009).

EEG biofeedback has also been explored as a treatment for non-PTSD related anxiety disorders, with results showing significant changes in reported anxiety correlated with increased or decreased alpha-frequency (~8-12 Hz) power (Hardt, 1978). Similarly, alpha-frequency EEG biofeedback has been shown to reduce anxiety and to reduce heart rate reactivity to a stressor after 8 sessions of EEG biofeedback training (Rice, 1993). While EEG biofeedback has been shown to significantly change EEG power dynamics (Egner, 2004), it is still unclear if and how EEG biofeedback can effect long-term and complex changes in cognitive and/or emotional functioning.

Some attention has been given to other types of biofeedback for the treatment for PTSD, such as heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, which may be relevant in understanding the background of biofeedback with respect to PTSD treatment. While one study reported no difference in symptom reduction between treatment as usual and treatment as usual plus HRV biofeedback (Lande, 2010), a handful of other studies have reported significant associations between HRV changes and PTSD symptoms. Specifically, increased HRV was significantly correlated with PTSD symptom reduction, which was more effective with respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) (which affects HRV) biofeedback than with progressive muscle relaxation (Zucker, 2009). Furthermore, combat-related PTSD subjects showed lower resting HRV than controls, but training with HRV biofeedback increased PTSD subjects' HRV and simultaneously decreased their PTSD symptoms (Tan, 2011). Finally, a quantitative EEG study showed that an acute session of RSA biofeedback was associated with an increase in alpha-band power and reduced higher frequency beta-band power, suggesting a neural impact of RSA training and HRV regulation (Sherlin, 2010).

Summary The proposed study of EEG biofeedback at the OASIS program will not only address the clinical efficacy, but also the brain activations associated with specific symptoms of PTSD through collection of high-density EEG data before and after EEG biofeedback treatment. These data will help elucidate the neural correlates of PTSD symptom expression as well as address the potential efficacy of EEG biofeedback therapy as an adjunct treatment for PTSD-like symptoms.