Jeeves, there are different types of neurofeedback and different system manufacturers and a lot of infighting in the field as everyone thinks their system is best. It is unfortunate because pretty much all linear model systems are great in the right hands and the non-linear dynamical system is great in any hands but the infighting and competition for supremacy in the field has really impeded the overall growth and promotion of this modality.
Also, there are a bunch of cheap gimmicky toys flooding the market that call themselves neurofeedback and their lackluster results lead users to think all types of neurofeedback must not work.
I did a lot of research on it before trying it (you can read my thread from several years ago, if you have a couple hours lol). And now I can now confidently speak from 5 years of personal experience. I am a firm believer in this technology.
My experience has been with NeurOptimal dynamical neurofeedback: pretty much everyone benefits and there are no negative side effects. It isn't targeted treatment so it doesn't matter what your diagnosis is, your whole brain gets a chance to observe and optimize its functioning. This means no diagnosis is required to start training and there is no risk of over training or getting it wrong. It is just overall better functioning. Two Olympic rowing teams used it this year for peak mental performance and a competitive edge(England and the Netherlands).
I used it on my 7 year old rescue Border Collie who had severe storm anxiety and after 2 sessions she was like a different dog during thunderstorms so I think that ruled out placebo in my mind
After seeing what neurofeedback did for my daughter 5 years ago, I was determined to make it more accessible (affordable) for others, I have now been renting out NeurOptimal dynamical neurofeedback systems for home training for 4 years (this is the only kind of neurofeedback that I would recommend for DIY or home use because it is fully automated and requires zero expertise to use safely and effectively).
I have yet to have any parent tell me they didn't see big improvements in their child after training a month at home with a rental. In fact, several parents went on to buy systems after seeing what one month of training could do.
I have seen many kids avoid being medicated with training. I have also had a number of parents tell me their child has gone from hating reading to skipping several grade levels - 2 parents in the last 6 months told me their child is now losing the dyslexia label and dropping services because their reading fluency and comprehension now test well above grade level. I am hoping to get a study together on reading specifically. There have been a few very small studies on this topic that look promising already.
Additionally, I just wrapped up a year long placebo controlled double blind pilot study using it for employees in the workplace which yielded some pretty interesting and compelling results, I plan to present the findings at a conference this spring.
It is difficult to deign a good study because each person has a unique set of co-morbid factors and extrinsic constraints -outside variable that you can never really control for.
Here is a video on the use of NeurOptimal in a special needs school last year, note the school administrator says all children benefited regardless of their unique underlying issues and the time away from class was well worth it for the huge leaps that were occurring in the classroom:
http://neurofeedbackforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=44I hope this is helpful for anyone looking into neurofeedback. I couldn't find what I wanted when I began my search way back when so I am doing my best to put it out there for others.
