In most of the cases the modality used heretofore in biofeedback therapy has been decided uniformly by disease unit based on its pathosis. However, there are patients in whom this response relationship proves ineffective and also many cases with psychosomatic disorder for whom decision cannot be readily be made on what modality should be used due to the presence of various symptoms. The authors have pointed out in their previous reports that the therapeutic effects of biofeedback therapy do not depend on diagnosis and disease type and that biofeedback therapy is not effective unless the feedback indices accurately reflect the pathosis of the patient and unless the case possesses not only sufficient margin for learning in the direction toward the desired goal but also physiological responsiveness. In this study, an attempt from these standpoints was made to simultaneously feedback multiple physiological indices to patients with psychosomatic disorder. Twenty one patients diagnosed as psychosomatic disorder were treated with multi-feedback therapy, in which three psychophysiological measures, frontalis EMG, trapezius EMG, and skin temperature, were feedback at the same time. An effective rate was 76.2 % when slightly effective group was included. It was confirmed that the EMGS and skin temperature were changed correlatively during the practice. With the multi-feedback system, it is possible for a patient to select a modality or modalities freely which s/he can easily control. When the patient feels difficulty to continue the practice with the response s/he chose, then s/he can try another modality and continues the practice. This flexibility might lessen the patient's burden due to the unsuccessful practice and might motivate her/him to continue the practice. This clinical benefit of the multi-feedback was confirmed in this study.

View full abstract

In Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR), the pain reaction threshold tends to be much higher than that in normotensive rats. This insensitivity in SHR is considered to be attributed to chronic hypertension. Then, using naloxone to make the pain reaction threshold decrease we examined changes in the level of blood pressure in SHR. The present study consists of two sessions : l) measurement of pain threshold by hot-plate method and 2) that of blood pressure. Fourteen male SHRS and 14 normotensive Wistar-Kyoto strain rats (WKY) were used in the pain-threshold session. Each group of the two strains was divided into two subgroups of 7 rats each to make the drug effect clear; one of the subgroups was injected with naloxone (0.2mg/kg, IP) and the other with saline (1.0ml/kg, IP). For the blood-pressure measurement 10 male SHRs and WKYs were used; here too each group was divided into two subgroups. The result showed that the pain reaction thresholds in the SHR rats were significantly higher than in the WKY rats at pre-injection periods; twenty minutes after the injection the thresholds of naloxone-injected SHRS Were significantly decreased while those of saline-injected SHRS little changed. This indicated that naloxone could be effective in heightening the sensitivity of heat stimulation. Blood-pressure levels in the SHR rats were significantly higher than the WKY rats at pre-injection periods. After the injection of naloxone the blood pressure levels remained unchanged in naloxone-injected SHRs. Thus, naloxone had no effect on the blood pressure level in the SHRs. The chronically-generated insensitivity in SHRS is probably related to the action of endogenous opiate system within the brain rather than of blood pressure regulation system.

View full abstract

Modeling of psychophysiological processes in the technological framework is helpful in understanding them and also useful in modifying them when their regulation is necessary. In this paper, a new theoretical model of the learning process in biofeedback training is proposed which is closely related to the control theory and the neural network theory. In modeling, biofeedback is regarded as an acquisition technique of self-regulation ability, which is characterized by (1)addition of outer informational pathway to feedback the inner physiological condition to the sense, (2)mental training on the level of consciousness referring the information from the sense, and (3)eventual acquisition of ability to voluntarily control the inner condition without the outer pathway. These three aspects of biofeedback must be included in the model. The model is based on the recent theory of skill learning. For the skill maturation of voluntary control there has been proposed a learning model, in which existence of a self-organizing system to learn a feedback control system referring its input-output characteristics is hypothesized. In our model of biofeedback, we hypothesize applicability of the self-organizing system to feedback control activities in the subconscious level as well as its existence. The model system operates in either of two modes : learning mode and voluntary control mode. At first, it operates in the learning mode, where the self-organizing system organizes itself so that the error correction signal in the target feedback controller vanishes. When the learning process converges, its characteristic shows the inverse characteristic of the regulatory system which has been controlled by the feedback controller. Therfore, a new feed-forward controller of the regulatory system is created through the learning. The model system, then, changes its mode to the voluntary control mode. In the mode, the outer informational pathway is removed. If a voluntary signal to regulate the subconscious activity appears, it drives the newly created feed-forward controller. Since it is the inverse system of the regulatory system of the subconscious activity, it is easily (i.e. voluntarily) controlled following one's intention. In order to evaluate the model performance, it is applied to the first order control system with the learning system structured on the neural network. After some iteration learning converged, and the system became a feed-forward controller which override the target controller and output of the regulatory system smoothly pursued input waveforms. Moreover, at this stage it did not require the explicit information concerning the target controller, which means that it was operable without "outer pathway". Those results show validity and effectiveness of the model for biofeedback. Thus, it is concluded that this model involves three crucial aspects of biofeedback and enables quantitative approach to its learning process.

View full abstract

Recently, it has been maintained that odors in indoor air may have effects upon emotional states or efficiency of various mental tasks. Some physiological measures such as alpha component of EEG, CNV, or startle reflex of blink were used to examine the effects of odors. The purpose of the present study was to investigate such effects of odors using a new psychophysiological measure, that is. Fmθ (frontal midline theta rhythm). Fmθ is one of the EEG components usually elicited by mental arithmetics. It is known that the Fmθ component increases in states of relaxation and attentional concentration, therefore, a total appearance time of Fmθ in a certain period could be used as an index of such states. In Experiment I, thirty-six female subjects conducted two trials of either a high involved mental task (video game) or a low involved task (simple arithmetics). In the first trial no odors were presented, on the other hand, in the second trial one of three natural scents (Peppermint, Lavender, or Jasmin) was presented to subjects. The presentation of both Peppermint scent and Lavender scent significantly increased the mean appearance time of Fmθ and Jasmin scent significantly decreased it in the high involved task condition. In the low involved task condition, this effects of odors were not found. These results suggest that the Peppermint and the Lavender scents might be effective to facilitate mental relaxation and concentration during tasks. In Experiment II, Ammonia as an example of a bad odor was presented to twenty-nine female subjects in the same experimental design as Experiment I. Ammonia remarkably decreased Fm e in only the high involved task condition, and had no effects in the low involved task condition. It was confirmed that odors influenced psychophysiological states, and it was suggested that such effects might be stronger during tasks which one could be highly involved with and intrinsically motivated to do.

View full abstract

Previous biofeedback studies concerning electrodermal activities have used either skin conductance (SC) or skin potential (SP). This study was designed to investigate the temporal correspondence between SC and SP and to determine the most suitable indicator for electrodermal biofeedback studies. SC and SP were recorded simultaneously in 24 subjects under the mirror drawing test. The following results were obtained : (1) Intrasubject correlation coefficients between total amplitudes per minute of skin conductance response (SCR) and of skin potential response (SPR) were significant in all subjects, whereas correlations between skin conductance level (SCL) and skin potential level (SPL) were significant in only 17 subjects (70.8%). Correlations between SCL and SPL were low or significant negative in subjects showed a positive SPL shift caused by a burst of positive SPRs. (2) Although SCR and SPR, phasic components of EDA, showed a marked increase in total amplitude in the first half of the experiment, but a gradual decreasing of responsiveness was found in the latter half. On the other hand, SCL and SPL, tonic components of EDA, showed consistent responsiveness throughout the experiment. (3) Latency of changes in SPL were significantly longer than changes in SCL. These results suggest that SCL is the most suitable indicator for electrodermal biofeedback studies.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the Self-EEG feedback using photic driving treatment(PFB) is effective in the treatment of jet-lag. The subjects were Japan Overseas cooperation volunteers of Japan International cooperation agency (JICA). We treated the subjects with jet-1ag using PFB and measured their physical and psyclogical condition before and after the PFB session using Kansei Gakuin Sleepiness Scale (KSS) and the Visual analog scale of Quality of Life (VASs). According to KSS and VASs, we found that the major symptoms of jet-lag are sleepiness in the day time and a descrease in the score of Quality of Life (QOL). After the PFB session, sleepiness and the score of QOL were improved. These results indicate that the PFB is effective in the treatment of jet-lag.

View full abstract