Immediate and intermediate effects of intensive Alpha Neurofeedback training on mood states and pain symptoms in Tension Type Headache: A randomized sham controlled study
Keywords:
Alpha Neurofeedback, Tension type headache, Sham controlled, Depression and anxiety levelsAbstract
Abstract:
Aim: The current study aims to explore the effects of neurofeedback training on primary and associated symptoms of tension type headache (TTH) using a randomized sham control study design.
Methods: 20 participants with the diagnosis of tension type headache with or without mild to moderate level of depression were recruited for the study after which they were randomly allocated to either the active intervention or the sham group. They underwent ten sessions of alpha enhancing or sham neurofeedback respective to their groups within a span of two weeks. Participants completed an assessment on three baselines i.e. pre intervention, after 5th session and post intervention on domains of mood states, anxiety levels, pain intensity and level of depression in both groups. The groups were compared using repeated measures ANOVA and spearman correlation coefficient was also computed.
Results: The active neurofeedback group was associated with significant changes in mood states, state anxiety, affective and sensory domains of pain and depression levels when compared to the sham group (p<0.05).In addition significant negative correlations were found between the sensori-motor rhythms (SMR) and reported sensory pain.
Conclusion: The present study provides evidence for efficacy of using alpha neurofeedback training in tension type headache as it has shown to be effective in reducing levels of anxiety, depression and pain in addition to being a non-invasive and time efficient process with minimum placebo effects.
Key Words: Alpha Neurofeedback, Tension type headache, Mood states
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