Author/Authors :
Nan, Wenya Department of Psychology - College of Education - Shanghai Normal University, China , Wan, Feng Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - Faculty of Science and Technology - University of Macau, Macau , Chang, Lanshin Department of Psychology - Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities - University of Macau, Macau , Hang Pun, Sio State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed Signal VLSI - University of Macau, Macau , Vai, Mang I Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - Faculty of Science and Technology - University of Macau, Macau , Rosa, Agostinho LaSEEB-System and Robotics Institute - Department of Bioengineering - Instituto Superior Tecnico - University of Lisbon, Portugal
Abstract :
Schizophrenia is a chronic and devastating brain disorder with ongoing cognitive, behavioral, and emotional deteriorated functions. Neurofeedback training, which enables the individuals to regulate their brain activity using a real-time feedback loop, is increasingly investigated as a potential alternative intervention for schizophrenia. This study aimed to explore the effect of short but intensive neurofeedback training for schizophrenic patients with difficulty for long-time training. A middle-aged woman with chronic schizophrenia completed the intensive training of alpha/beta2 (20–30 Hz) in four consecutive days with a total training duration of 13.5 hours. The results showed that her alpha/beta2 increased over sessions, and her behavior performance including short-term memory, mood, and speech pattern was improved at the end of neurofeedback training. Importantly, a 22-month follow-up found a dramatic improvement in both positive and negative symptoms. These positive outcomes suggest that such intensive neurofeedback training may provide new insight into the treatment of schizophrenia and thus deserves further study to fully examine its scope.
