Electromyographic biofeedback Therapy for Childhood tic Syndrome (III)

Abstract

Tic syndrome usually begins in childhood and the symptoms mostly fluctuating, persisting beyond adolescence or lifelong. The treatment has behaviorally involved providing negative practice, desensitization, aversive techniques and so on. Recently some researchers have tried EMG biofeedback training on tic syndrome patients and the results seemed to be effective. From March, 1980 to May, 1985,the author has tested EMG biofeedback therapy on 37 children who suffered from tic disorders. In order to control their forehead EMG activities, they tried to decrease the biofeedback signals of tone or hold down the swing of the meter needle which shows EMG voltage. At the same time binary signals of red and blue color were also given, as prescribed by criteria which the therapist arranged in advance. So the strategy by the patients to control their involuntary muscle movements is arbitrary to some degree. That is to say, some concentrated on binary signals of colors and the others chose the change of tone, or needle swing. The numder of sessions were from two times to forty, depending on the therapeutic effects. The author also tried EMG biofeedback training on the patients of multiple tics, measuring the change of EMG of muscles sternocleidomastoideus at the same time. This is the bimodal assessment of EMG activities of the tic patient. In this way generalized effects of biofeedback training would be studied. The results of generalization, however not yet to be definitive. Then family therapy was performed in all the cases. The parents or one of them, it was observed, were controlling, crushing or overprotecting as noticed previously. Generally speaking, multiple tic seemed to be intractable. Moreover, we cannot give a decisive conclusion about the result, because tic syndrome follows a process of wax and wane. So the conclusion of this report tentatively is as follows : The patients of tic syndrome have learnt how to control their involuntary muscle movements through biofeedback training. This method was useful with the therapeutic intervention regarding family situations. The bimodal assessment on EMG activities of measuring muscles sternomastoideus show that the generalized effects are somehow equivocal at the present stage.