AUTHOR=Birch Nick , Graham Jon , Ozolins Christine , Kumarasinghe Kaushalya , Almesfer Faisal 

TITLE=Home-Based EEG Neurofeedback Intervention for the Management of Chronic Pain

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pain Research

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pain-research/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.855493

DOI=10.3389/fpain.2022.855493

ISSN=2673-561X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Chronic pain and associated symptoms often cause significant disability and reduced quality of life (QoL). Neurofeedback (NFB) as part of a Brain Computer Interface can help some patients manage chronic pain by normalising maladaptive brain activity measured with electroencephalography (EEG).</p></sec><sec><title>Objectives</title><p>This study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of a novel home-based NFB device for managing chronic pain by modifying specific EEG activity.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A prospective, single-arm, proof-of-concept study was conducted between June 2020 and March 2021 among adults with chronic pain (registered with <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://ClinicalTrials.gov" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ClinicalTrials.gov</ext-link> NCT04418362). Axon EEG NFB systems for home use were provided to each, and 32–48 NFB training sessions were completed by the participants over 8-weeks. The primary outcome was self-reported pain. Assessment of central sensitisation, sleep quality, affective symptoms, change in QoL, adverse events during use and EEG correlations with symptoms were secondary outcomes.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Sixteen participants were enrolled. Eleven reported pain relief following NFB training, eight reporting clinically significant improvements. Central sensitisation symptoms improved by a third (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), sleep quality by almost 50% (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), anxiety reduced by 40% (<italic>p</italic> = 0.015), and QoL improved at final follow-up for 13 participants. The majority (69%) of participants who upregulated relative alpha reported improved pain, and those who downregulated relative hi-beta reported improved pain, reduced anxiety and depression scores. There were no adverse events during the trial.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>Home-based NFB training is well-tolerated and may provide relief for sufferers of chronic pain and its associated symptoms.</p></sec><sec><title>Summary</title><p><italic>Axon</italic>, a home-based NFB training device, can positively influence pain and associated symptoms in a proportion of people with chronic pain.</p></sec>