Clinical Applications

From Early Research to Modern Clinical Practice

Neurofeedback emerged in part through a surprising discovery in the late 1960s at UCLA, where Professor Barry Sterman was studying brain activity in cats. His lab found that cats could learn, through feedback and reward, to increase a specific rhythm in the brain known as the sensorimotor rhythm, or SMR. The significance of this discovery became clear later, when SMR-trained cats appeared more resistant to chemically induced seizures than cats that had not received the training. What began as a laboratory experiment in brainwave conditioning helped open the door to a new clinical field: training the brain to recognize and modify its own patterns of activity in order to support better self-regulation. From these early discoveries, neurofeedback gradually developed into a clinical tool for supporting brain self-regulation. As the field evolved, its applications expanded beyond seizure research to include attention, sleep, anxiety, trauma, emotional regulation, developmental challenges, and performance optimization.