BIO FEED BACK
By: Tanya Shaik and Binish Ali
Definition
Biofeedback is a technique you can use to learn to control your body's functions, such as your heart rate. With biofeedback, you're connected to electrical sensors that help you receive information (feedback) about your body (bio).
History
Biofeedback evolved out of early laboratory research in the 1940’s. In the 1950’s and 1960’s researchers from different fields independently studied various applications of feedback mechanisms to modify physiological functions in animals and humans. H.D. Kimmel, Neal Miller and David Shapiro were among the psychologists using operant conditioning models to further biofeedback research, and it was in the late 1960’s that the term biofeedback was first used to describe this type of learning. Early researchers thought that the instrumentation itself exerted direct psychophysiological effects and that the feedback information functioned as a kind of behavioral reward which led to symptom reduction. As a result, early outcome studies designed to show clinical effectiveness underemphasized the important role of training in biofeedback.
Benefits
When you wave hello to a friend, or lift your knee to take another step on the stairs you control these actions. Other body functions -like heart rate, skin temperature, and blood pressure are controlled involuntarily by your nervous system. You don't think about making your heart beat faster. It just happens in response to your environment, like when you're nervous, excited, or exercising.
Mostly Common used
One technique can help you gain more control over these normally involuntary functions. It's called biofeedback, and the therapy is used to help prevent or treat conditions, including migraine headaches, chronic pain, incontinence, and high blood pressure.
The idea behind biofeedback is that, by harnessing the power of your mind and becoming aware of what's going on inside your body, you can gain more control over your health.
The idea behind biofeedback is that, by harnessing the power of your mind and becoming aware of what's going on inside your body, you can gain more control over your health.
What is biofeedback and neurofeedback? A Mind Media video featuring NeXus