生物反馈：三十年的“小”突破（一）

中文译文：

第一部分 摘自《身心联系》（Mind-Body Connection），身心医学中心（The Center for Mind/Body Medicine）

在生物反馈领域中，科学家们取得的重要进展并不是因为某一项单独的研究，而是因为许多年的不断努力和多项研究成果的累积。我们不仅要看近期的新研究，还要了解生物反馈技术的历史和发展过程。我们认为将生物反馈置于其历史背景中进行讨论同样重要，这样我们才能更好地理解它。

早在20世纪60年代，实验心理学家尼尔·米勒（Neal Miller）发现自主神经系统可以被训练来改变一些身体功能，这个发现让大家觉得生物反馈技术有可能改变世界。米勒的发现推翻了当时的主流观念，即自主神经系统或内脏神经系统基本上是“愚钝的”，不受自主控制。当时，一些科学家认为，通过生物反馈技术，患者有一天能够学会如何不生病，能够自己积极主动地管理自己的健康（Dienstfrey，1991）。

在接下来的三十年中，大约有3000篇文章和100本关于生物反馈的书籍相继出版。尽管科学家们没有找到一个可以解释所有问题的“统一理论”，但生物反馈已被证明是数十种特定疾病的有效治疗方法。这些疾病包括支气管哮喘、药物和酒精滥用、焦虑、紧张性和偏头痛、心律失常、原发性高血压、雷诺氏病/综合症、大便和尿失禁、肠易激综合症、肌肉再教育、多动症和注意力缺陷障碍、癫痫、更年期潮热、慢性疼痛综合症以及与化疗相关的预期性恶心和呕吐。虽然生物反馈已成功用于治疗某些心理和精神障碍，但似乎在与生理过程相关的患者中效果更佳（Futterman & Shapiro，1986）。

今天常见的生物反馈形式利用仪器来“反馈”关于身体状态的信息，如肌肉紧张度（肌电图反馈）、皮肤温度（热反馈）、脑电波（脑电图反馈）和呼吸。通过观察监测设备，患者可以调整自己的思维和其他心理过程，以控制身体过程。在某些情况下，受试者通过不断尝试，找出哪些想法或行为会影响他们的身体反应。在其他情况下，受试者会被教一些特定的方法，比如放松技巧或想象自己在一个平静的地方，这些方法被认为会对身体状况产生影响。

如今，生物反馈研究中令人兴奋的领域之一是使用α-θ来进行脑波训练。这种疗法已被证明在各种疾病方面能发挥作用，包括化学依赖、创伤后应激障碍、抑郁症、焦虑症、多重人格、恐慌症和饮食失调。尤金·彭尼斯顿博士（Eugene Peniston）和保罗·库尔科斯基博士（Paul Kulkosky）（1989、1990、1991年）发现，通过训练慢性酗酒者的大脑活动，增加低频α波和θ波，同时控制高频β波，能显著减少抑郁症状、减少对酒精的渴望和复发率。（心智能量译注：α波与宁静、平和的状态相关，而θ波则对应更深层的冥想状态。）

英文原文：

Biofeedback: Three Decades of "Little" Breakthroughs, Part 1

Excerpted from the "Mind-Body Connection," The Center for Mind/Body Medicine

Some of the most important "breakthroughs" in the field of biofeedback have come not from one definitive study but from the accumulation of numerous studies over many years. Rather than focusing only on the latest published articles, we felt it important to place the field of biofeedback in its historical context.

Back in the 1960s when experimental psychologist Neal Miller first demonstrated that the autonomic nervous system could be trained to alter some bodily processes, it was thought biofeedback would change the world. Miller's discovery uprooted the prevailing paradigm, that the autonomic, or visceral, nervous system was basically "dumb" and beyond voluntary control. At the time, some scientists predicted that biofeedback eventually would allow patients to "take a fully active and direct role in literally learning not to be sick" (Dienstfrey, 1991).

Over the next three decades, some 3,000 articles and 100 books on biofeedback were published. And although the research has not uncovered the kind of "unified field" originally hoped for, biofeedback has been shown to be an effective treatment for dozens of specific ailments. These include bronchial asthma, drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety, tension and migraine headaches, cardiac arrhythmias, essential hypertension, Raynaud's disease/syndrome, fecal and urinary incontinence, irritable bowel syndrome, muscle reeducation, hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder, epilepsy, menopausal hot flashes, chronic pain syndromes, and anticipatory nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. While biofeedback has been used successfully to treat some psychological and mental disorders, it seems to work best with patients in which physiological processes are relevant (Futterman & Shapiro, 1986).

The most common forms of biofeedback today make use of instruments to "feed back" information about such bodily processes as muscle tension (EMG feedback), skin temperature (thermal feedback), brain waves (EEG feedback) and respiration. By watching the monitoring device, patients can adjust their thinking and other mental processes in order to control bodily processes. In some cases, subjects learn by trial and error what kind of thinking or behavior affects those processes. In other cases, subjects are taught specific methods, such as relaxation or imagery, which it is believed will have an impact on bodily functions.

One of the most exciting areas of biofeedback research today is the use of alpha-theta brainwave training. This therapy has proven effective in the treatment of various disorders, including chemical dependence, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, multiple personality, panic and eating disorders. Drs. Eugene Peniston and Paul Kulkosky's (1989, 1990, 1991) pioneering work showed that training chronic alcoholics to increase the lower-frequency alpha and theta brain waves, while controlling the higher frequency beta waves, resulted in significantly less depression, less craving for alcohol and less relapse. (The alpha brain wave has been associated with a tranquil, serene state, while the theta wave corresponds to a deeper meditative state.)

英文来源地址：https://www.brainsync.com/pages/research-findings