Trauma
Trauma can deeply impact brain function, leading to heightened stress responses, emotional dysregulation, and physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. The brain’s response to trauma often involves overactivity in the amygdala (fear processing), disrupted memory processing in the hippocampus, and reduced regulation from the prefrontal cortex. This imbalance can result in chronic stress, mood instability, sleep disturbances, and an increased sensitivity to triggers.
Neurofeedback is a non-invasive approach that helps the brain restore balance by promoting healthy brainwave activity. Trauma can cause either hyperarousal (an overactive stress response) or hypoarousal (emotional numbness and detachment).
Neurofeedback works by training the brain to shift away from these dysregulated states, fostering improved emotional control, relaxation, and resilience. By targeting the brain areas involved in emotional processing and stress regulation, neurofeedback helps individuals regain a sense of stability and well-being. It helps regulate brainwave activity in key regions affected by trauma, such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex. By reinforcing balanced neural communication, this approach reduces emotional reactivity, improves focus, and enhances overall stress resilience. Individuals undergoing neurofeedback for trauma often experience a decrease in anxiety, better emotional regulation, and an increased ability to manage daily challenges. Over time, neurofeedback supports long-term healing by encouraging neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt and form healthier patterns.
Studies
Gapen, M., van der Kolk, B. A., Hamlin, E., Hirshberg, L., Suvak, M., & Spinazzola, J. (2016). A Pilot Study of Neurofeedback for Chronic PTSD. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 41(3), 251–261. EEG Biofeedback, also known as neurofeedback, has been a clinical intervention for over 30 years but has had a limited impact on clinical care, partly due to challenges in designing real-world research to measure clinical change. This study serves as a “proof-of-concept” pilot for neurofeedback in individuals with treatment-resistant PTSD. Participants underwent 40 neurofeedback training sessions twice a week with randomly assigned sensor placements. Neurofeedback significantly reduced PTSD symptoms (from an average Davidson Trauma Scale score of 69.14 at baseline to 49.26 at termination) and preceded improvements in affect regulation (Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities-Affect Dysregulation scores averaged 23.63 at baseline to 17.20 at termination).
Hardt, J. V., & Kamiya, J. (1978). Anxiety change through electroencephalographic alpha feedback seen only in high-anxiety subjects. Science, 201, 79-81. Participants, categorized as either high or low in trait anxiety, utilized alpha feedback to modulate their electroencephalographic alpha activity—increasing and decreasing it. The observed alpha changes were strongly associated with alterations in anxiety levels, specifically in individuals with high-trait anxiety. This group’s anxiety decreased proportionally to alpha increases and increased proportionally to alpha suppression. Notably, subjects with low trait anxiety demonstrated superior performance in both enhancement and suppression training, although their alpha changes did not correlate with anxiety fluctuations. In both high and low trait-anxiety groups, changes in anxiety were generally unrelated to resting levels or alterations in frontalis electromyograms and respiration rate. These findings suggest that engaging in long-term alpha feedback training, spanning at least 5 hours, may hold therapeutic potential for managing anxiety.
Below you will find a PDF containing the studies provided above and more.