Neurofeedback as alternative treatment for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
A team of researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX, USA) have discovered a link between the use of neurofeedback and a decrease in personal experience of chronic pain in patients with chronic chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). The results help to expand knowledge of neuropathic pain and a chemotherapy side effect that affects 71–96% of cancer patients.
Neurofeedback (NFB), also called neurotherapy or neurobiofeedback, is a type of biofeedback, an alternative treatment for peripheral neuropathy that uses real-time displays of brain activity—most commonly electroencephalography (EEG), to teach self-regulation of brain function. Study lead investigator Sarah Prinsloo, Ph.D., assistant professor Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine at MD Anderson, identified the location of brain activity that contributes to the physical and emotional aspects of chronic pain, which allowed patients to modify their own brain activity through EEG biofeedback. EEG tracks and records brain wave patterns by attaching small metal discs with thin wires on the scalp, and then sending signals to a computer to record the results.
After treatment, 73 percent saw improvement in their pain and quality of life. Patients with CIPN also exhibited specific and predictable EEG signatures that changed with neurofeedback.
Source: The Journal of Pain, Voume 17:4, Supplement 1, April 2016
