QUANTITATIVE CRITERIA FOR VALIDATION OF ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM NEUROFEEDBACK TRAINING PROTOCOL: A PILOT STUDY ON NEUROPATHIC PAIN

Abstract

Neurofeedback (NF) training has been used for the treatment of neuropathic pain. This paper presents the results of assessment of the learning ability of five patients having neuropathic pain. The following two types of baselines were adopted: Baseline 1 refers to power on Day 1 in PreNF state; and Baseline 2 refers to power recorded on each training day in PreNF state. The result of the study demonstrated that not only the baseline its selection is also important to demonstrate the validity of training protocol. It was also found that Baseline 2 can be used to define cut-off time for training (when training should be stopped). All five patients can be classified as learner and alpha band was found to be most relevant for NF training.