Operant control of EEG and event-related and slow brain potentials

Research on operant control of brain potentials is reviewed. From single-unit firing and spontaneous EEG activity to event-related potentials such as sensory and pain evoked potentials, and slow potential shifts, most of the aspects of electrical brain activity have been investigated. Results produced by conditioning of spontaneous EEG oscillations (alpha and theta) dampened the early enthusiasm: e.g., no increase above baseline levels could be achieved and no reliable behavioral effects became manifest. Evidence accumulates, however, that operant conditioning of the sensorimotor rhythm (12–15 Hz) may lead to successful self-regulation and that epileptic patients may profit from the training. First steps in the conditioning of brainstem, as well as pain evoked potentials suggest that self-regulation of EPs can be achieved by adequate biofeedback procedures. If some of the observed behavioral effects prove to be stable, the therapeutic usefulness seems to be within reach. A comparable progress has been achieved for the operant control of slow potentials (DC-shifts across seconds). Biofeedback procedures have been used successfully as a scientific tool to achieve systematic variations on a psychological level and to record psychological covariations. This method may provide insights into the behavioral meaning of electrical brain activity.

[1]  T. Mulholland.  DIVISION OF PSYCHOLOGY: THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM AS AN EXPERIMENTAL TOOL IN THE STUDY OF INTERNAL ATTENTION GRADIENTS* , 1962 .

[2]  W. Walter,et al.  Contingent Negative Variation : An Electric Sign of Sensori-Motor Association and Expectancy in the Human Brain , 1964, Nature.

[3]  James L Olds.  Operant conditioning of single unit responses. , 1965 .

[4]  P. Lang,et al.  Cortical slow-wave and cardiac rate responses in stimulus orientation and reaction time conditions. , 1969, Journal of experimental psychology.

[5]  E. Fetz.  Operant Conditioning of Cortical Unit Activity , 1969, Science.

[6]  Self-Regulation as an Aid to Human Effectiveness , 1971 .

[7]  J. Lynch,et al.  ON THE MECHANISMS OF THE FEEDBACK CONTROL OF HUMAN BRAIN WAVE ACTIVITY , 1971, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[8]  E. Fetz,et al.  Operantly conditioned patterns on precentral unit activity and correlated responses in adjacent cells and contralateral muscles. , 1973, Journal of neurophysiology.

[9]  A. Sanford,et al.  Slow potential correlates of preparatory set. , 1974, Biological psychology.

[10]  James F. O'Hanlon,et al.  EEG Theta Regulation and Radar Monitoring Performance in a Controlled Field Experiment. , 1975 .

[11]  An experiment on the feedback of the theta activity of the human EEG , 1975 .

[12]  R. Melzack,et al.  Self-regulation of pain: The use of alpha-feedback and hypnotic training for the control of chronic pain , 1975, Experimental Neurology.

[13]  P R Sanberg,et al.  "Neural capacity" in Mimosa pudica: a review. , 1976, Behavioral biology.

[14]  R. Bauer.  Short-term memory: EEG alpha correlates and the effect of increased alpha. , 1976, Behavioral biology.

[15]  Simultaneous biofeedback of heart rate and frontal EMG as a pretraining for the control of EEG theta activity , 1976, Biofeedback and self-regulation.

[16]  The Meaning of Operantly Conditioned Changes in Evoked Responses , 1977 .

[17]  D. Sheer,et al.  Behavioral and electroencephalographic correlates of 40-Hz EEG biofeedback training in humans , 1978, Biofeedback and self-regulation.

[18]  M. Posner.  Chronometric explorations of mind , 1978 .

[19]  B. L. Bird,et al.  Biofeedback training of 40-Hz EEG in humans , 1978, Biofeedback and self-regulation.

[20]  H. Bauer,et al.  Operant conditioning of brain steady potential shifts in man , 1979, Biofeedback and self-regulation.

[21]  N Birbaumer,et al.  The effects of self-regulation of slow cortical potentials on performance in a signal detection task. , 1979, The International journal of neuroscience.

[22]  B. Rockstroh,et al.  Biofeedback of slow cortical potentials. I. , 1980, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[23]  N Birbaumer,et al.  Self-regulation of slow cortical potentials in normal subjects and patients with frontal lobe lesions. , 1980, Progress in brain research.

[24]  Slow cortical potentials and response speed. , 1980, Progress in brain research.

[25]  G. Galand,et al.  Operant conditioning of visual evoked potentials in man. , 1981, Psychophysiology.

[26]  Werner Lutzenberger,et al.  Biofeedback produced slow brain potentials and task performance , 1982, Biological Psychology.

[27]  B. Rockstroh.  Slow Brain Potentials and Behavior , 1982 .

[28]  N Birbaumer,et al.  The effects of slow cortical potentials on response speed. , 1982, Psychophysiology.

[29]  B. Rockstroh,et al.  When Regulation of Slow Brain Potentials Fails — A Contribution to the Psychophysiology of Perceptual Aberration and Anhedonia1 , 1983 .

[30]  John W. Rohrbaugh,et al.  13 Sensory and Motor Aspects of the Contingent Negative Variation , 1983 .

[31]  Applications of Operant Conditioning of the EEG for the Management of Epileptic Seizures , 1984 .

[32]  Operant Control of Evoked Potentials: Some Comments on the Learning Characteristics in Man and on the Conditioning of Subcortical Responses in the Curarized Rat , 1984 .

[33]  M. Sterman.  The Role of Sensorimotor Rhythmic EEG Activity in the Etiology and Treatment of Generalized Motor Seizures , 1984 .

[34]  Herbert Bauer,et al.  Regulation of Slow Brain Potentials Affects Task Performance , 1984 .

[35]  James E. Skinner,et al.  Central Gating Mechanisms That Regulate Event-Related Potentials and Behavior , 1984 .

[36]  D. Sheer,et al.  Focused Arousal, 40-Hz EEG, and Dysfunction , 1984 .

[37]  Concepts of Control in Biofeedback , 1984 .

[38]  Thomas Elbert,et al.  Self-Regulation of The Brain and Behavior , 1984 .

[39]  Werner Lutzenberger,et al.  Operant Control of Slow Brain Potentials: A Tool in the Investigation of the Potential’s Meaning and Its Relation to Attentional Dysfunction , 1984 .

[40]  A. Wyler.  Operant Conditioning of Single Neurons in Monkeys and Its Theoretical Application to EEG Operant Conditioning in Human Epilepsy , 1984 .

[41]  William W. Finley.  Biofeedback of Very Early Potentials from the Brain Stem , 1984 .

[42]  Biofeedback Control in Epilepsy and Neuroses , 1984 .

[43]  Operantly Controlled Somatosensory Brain Potentials: Specific Effects on Pain Processes , 1984 .

[44]  B. Rockstroh,et al.  Asymmetry of brain potentials related to sensorimotor tasks. , 1985, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.