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An Exploratory Study on the Effects of Tele-neurofeedback and Tele-biofeedback on Objective and Subjective Sleep in Patients with Primary Insomnia

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Abstract

Insomnia is a sleeping disorder, usually studied from a behavioural perspective, with a focus on somatic and cognitive arousal. Recent studies have suggested that an impairment of information processes due to the presence of cortical hyperarousal might interfere with normal sleep onset and/or consolidation. As such, a treatment modality focussing on CNS arousal, and thus influencing information processing, might be of interest. Seventien insomnia patients were randomly assigned to either a tele-neurofeedback (n = 9) or an electromyography tele-biofeedback (n = 8) protocol. Twelve healthy controls were used to compare baseline sleep measures. A polysomnography was performed pre and post treatment. Total Sleep Time (TST), was considered as our primary outcome variable. Sleep latency decreased pre to post treatment in both groups, but a significant improvement in TST was found only after the neurofeedback (NFB) protocol. Furthermore, sleep logs at home showed an overall improvement only in the neurofeedback group, whereas the sleep logs in the lab remained the same pre to post training. Only NFB training resulted in an increase in TST. The mixed results concerning perception of sleep might be related to methodological issues, such as the different locations of the training and sleep measurements.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen (Belgium), research grant FWOG.0067.05. Furthermore we like to thank Jela Illegems for her help with the organisation and execution of the tele-neurofeedback protocol, Brainquiry B.V. for providing the hardware and software and finally the help and support of Michiel Kleinnijenhuis is acknowledged in customizing the software.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Aisha Cortoos, Elke De Valck & Raymond Cluydts

  2. Brainclinics Diagnostics B.V., Bijleveldsingel 34, 6524 AD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Martijn Arns

  3. Behavioral Science Institute, Dept. Of Clinical Psychology, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Comeniuslaan 4, 6525 HP, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Marinus H. M. Breteler

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  1. Aisha Cortoos
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  2. Elke De Valck
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  4. Marinus H. M. Breteler
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  5. Raymond Cluydts
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Correspondence to Aisha Cortoos.

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Cortoos, A., De Valck, E., Arns, M. et al. An Exploratory Study on the Effects of Tele-neurofeedback and Tele-biofeedback on Objective and Subjective Sleep in Patients with Primary Insomnia. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 35, 125–134 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-009-9116-z

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