The History and Practice of Biofeedback
Paul Enck,
Sibylle Klosterhalfen,
Roberto Merletti,
Paul Enck
University Hospitals Tübingen, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Tübingen, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorSibylle Klosterhalfen
University of Düsseldorf, Institute of Medical Psychology, Düsseldorf, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorRoberto Merletti
Polytecnic of Torino, Laboratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System, Department of Electronics, Torino, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorPaul Enck,
Sibylle Klosterhalfen,
Roberto Merletti,
Paul Enck
University Hospitals Tübingen, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Tübingen, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorSibylle Klosterhalfen
University of Düsseldorf, Institute of Medical Psychology, Düsseldorf, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorRoberto Merletti
Polytecnic of Torino, Laboratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System, Department of Electronics, Torino, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 15 May 2008
Abstract
Individuals tend to increase the frequency of positively rewarded behaviors and to decrease the frequency of nonrewarded or punished behaviors. Biofeedback involves measuring a subject's physiological variable, such as blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, galvanic skin response, muscle force and/or electromyography (EMG) signals, and conveying such information to him/her in real time to raise his/her awareness and conscious control of the related physiological processes for the purpose of enhancing or relearning such processes.
By providing access to physiological information about which the user is generally unaware, biofeedback allows users to increase (or regain) control over physiological processes.
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