BIOFEEDBACK NEWS 1999

BIOFEEDBACK NEWS

November 1999

Biofeedback in treatment of Tinnitus

September 1999
Science Finds Brainwaves That Make Shoppers Spend
Jonathan Leake, Science Editor, (c) London Times

The Mind of the Market

SCIENTISTS studying how women's minds work while shopping have discovered "buy, buy, buy" brainwaves that are generated when women find an item they like. The same team has also isolated the signals that correspond to rejection and "I'll come back later".

The research is the first to show the unconscious workings of consumers' minds. It was sponsored by some of the largest corporations which hope it will enable them to create products, shops and advertisements that subconsciously stimulate similar brainwave patterns - and so encourage people to buy without realising it.

Critics have condemned the research as sinister and accused the corporations sponsoring it - including Coca-Cola, General Motors and Procter & Gamble - of seeking to brainwash shoppers.

The researchers say their work will help manufacturers and consumers. "We are lighting up the shadows of the mind and showing what happens when consumers make decisions," said Gerald Zaltman, a professor at Harvard Business School where the work is being carried out.

Zaltman's research is based on the idea that consumers choose which products and brands to buy almost entirely subconsciously. By contrast, the questionnaires upon which most market research is based probe only the conscious mind. This, he says, explains their lamentable inaccuracy.

"When it comes to shopping, what people say and think are very different from what they actually do. There are unconscious processes at work," he said.

Working with Stephen Kosslyn, Harvard's professor of psychology, Zaltman used positron emission tomography to measure the changes in blood flow and electrical activity in different parts of the
brains of women exposed to mock-ups of a variety of retail environments.

One, a car dealership with pushy sales staff and a dirty showroom, provoked a rapid surge of blood to the right prefrontal cortex - an area already linked to the "flight or fight" reaction. Similar flows went to the insula and the hippocampus which are also linked with negative reactions.

By contrast, a salesroom that offered helpful staff and perks such as valet parking produced blood flows to the left prefrontal cortex and to the visual cortex where activity is linked to heightened pleasure.

The researchers tested the women's responses to a wide variety of shop types to build up a detailed picture of their reactions and to pinpoint those occurring when a customer was likely to buy - or to walk out.

The Harvard team has already used its unpublished results to advise an American car maker, believed to be General Motors, on the best design for its showrooms. Those which have undergone such redesigns are reported to have seen sales soar by more than 30%.

This weekend the research was greeted with interest by top British retailers. Among them was Jimmy Choo, one of Britain's most sought-after shoe designers, who said the appearance of a shop could make or break a business.

"We based the design of our Knightsbridge shop on the principles of feng shui. We know it makes people feel good but we don't know why," he said.

Theo Fennell, who creates handmade jewellery and silverware for customers including Naomi Campbell and Elton John from his west London shop, was more sceptical. "Knowing that your customers were likely to buy would spoil the fun of retailing," he said.

British academics are impressed, however. Robert East, professor of consumer behaviour at Kingston University, Surrey, said: "It could save manufacturers spending money marketing something that would have no appeal."

The prospect of goods and shops becoming even more difficult to resist has horrified some consumers. Jane Green, author of the bestselling Mr Maybe, one of whose themes is the single woman's compulsion for "retail therapy", was concerned that shop owners and manufacturers would use such knowledge to manipulate their customers' emotions.

The Harvard team is undeterred, however, and has already started work on a new project: to find out how people respond to advertisements and to use the knowledge to create powerful new marketing techniques, including the "everlasting jingle" which consumers will find even more difficult than usual to get out of their heads.

One researcher said: "We don't want to manipulate people's preferences; we just want to speak to their desires."

August, 1999
New Biofeedback Related eGroups:

Biograph Users eGroup - This egroup is designed for users of Thought Technology's ProComp+/BioGraph Clinical Biofeedback System. This is where you can exchange files and ideas with other users and discuss the latest upgrades and make suggestion for further development of the system.

MultiTrace Users eGroup - This is a users group for Stens MultiTrace users to exchange information ideas and files. All MultiTrace executable updates will be posted on this forum.

July 1999
President Clinton and Biofeedback

President Clinton was helped by biofeedback. He acknowledged it in a letter to ThoughtTechnology, Inc. The letter is from the President, thanking TT for a gift of the STRESS CONTROL with BIOFEEDBACK program. A friend of this company, and an F.O.B. had treated then Governor Clinton for a hoarse voice, teaching him to speak with less effort, and enabling him to continue campaigning. A letter from the President of the United States of America could help to bring attention to how broad the scope biofeedback is being used in.

June 28, 1999

American College of Physicians has released a paper on 'Biofeedback for Hypertension' (Annals of Internal Medicine,1985:102:709-715.) They recommend that after lifestyle changes "For patientswithmild hypertension or adverse reactions to medication, biofeedback maybe useful adjunctively to reduce medication requirements."

A more recent mainstream postive review appeared in JAMA (1996;276;July 24-31, 313-318) the National Institute of Health (NIH) Technology Assessment Panel on Integration ofBehavioral and Relaxation Approaches Into the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Insomnia concluded that "A number of well-defined behavioral and relaxation interventions now exist and are effective in the treatment of chronicpainand insomnia."

Advertise in the Biofeedback Webzine

June 11, 1999
Healing with Virtual Reality

ABCNEWS - The use of Biofeedback and Virtual Reality for treatment of drug addiction.

June, 1999
New Biofeedback Society

There are some efforts have been made to create a new American Society of Biofeedback Professionals. The leader of this efforts is Tom Allen. To subscribe to the new society egoup, send e-mail to asbp-subscribe@egroups.com or visit the ASPB online.

Biofeedback Effective Long-Term Treatment For Constipation

LONDON, ENGLAND -- Biofeedback improved constipation and associated symptoms in over half of the patients who practised it, reports a study published in Gut.

Although the technique has been used to treat intractable constipation for some time, no one was certain of its long-term benefits. The study showed that the improvements in bowel function were maintained at long term follow up.

Constipation is a common ailment in the United Kingdom, especially among women. In some patients, certain types of surgery, depression, sexual and physical abuse can be contributory factors. Most of these patients do not respond either to laxatives or to dietary changes.

Each of the 100 people in the study practised biofeedback with a therapist every one to two weeks for up to five sessions. A third of the patients had been constipated at some time since childhood. During each session, a balloon was inserted into the rectum and inflated with air while two electrodes recorded anal sphincter activity. In this way, patients were taught to relax the anal sphincter. Patients were also taught how to use their abdominal muscles effectively, to avoid the need for straining.

The need for laxatives, suppositories and enemas was still reduced by more than half when the patients were followed up an average of two years later. More than half the patients said their symptoms, including bloating, which can be very resistant to treatment, had improved and remained so.

June 1998

New section of the Biofeedback Webzine - Biofeedback Chat is available for you. Discussion groups can be formed and the chat schedule will be posted upon your request. Please send us your questions or suggestions.

April 1998

The 29th Annual Meeting of the Association of Psychophysiology and Biofeedback has been held April 1-5, 1998 at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel adjacent to Disney Village. The Meeting has highlighted the movement from "Fantasy to Reality." Biofeedback and Applied Psychophysiology began with a vision of enhanced voluntary control over human physiology, and a dream of achieving higher levels of health and human potential through self-regulation. Now research and physiological monitoring are making those dreams a reality. For more information on the next AAPB Meetings, please visit the official AAPB site or e-mail to aapb@resourcenter.com .

June, 1997

Just a note to let you know that recent Symposium on Technology for AD/HD was a big success. Here at Old Dominion University, we didn't expect this response from the community at all!

Drs. Alan Pope and Palsson spoke on Neurofeedback and potential use of EAST system for treating AD/HD. The room was packed with an attendance of 100 people or more. We had to get extra chairs in the last minute. Local TV news and papers covered the Symposium indication the potential of NEUROFEEDBACK.

This Symposium was organized by couple of us students. It just turned to be a real professional one. Thanks to Old Dominion University's support in organizing this event. I would like to thank all the members on this list for their support.

Satish Boregouda

April, 1997
Biofeedback under the skin?

A programmable tattoo is being patented by Interval Research of Palo Alto, California (WO 96/39977). A small liquid-crystal display is inserted just beneath the skin on the wrist, where most people wear a watch. Because human skin is partially transparent, the display is clearly visible.

The display is connected to a control chip and power comes from a small battery. Both of these are implanted beneath the skin. Implanting is an outpatient operation and the battery can be recharged inductively, by holding the wrist near a charger.

As well as being a fashion accessory, the tattoo could contain biosensors to monitor temperature and blood pressure, and display these readings--with a clock showing the time. But the device could have a more serious purpose. It could be used for electronic tagging.
(NewScientist, March 1997)

March 23 - 26, 1997
The Biofeedback Foundation of Europe has held its First Annual Meeting at the Dutch Asthma Centre in Davos, Switzerland. Five intensive workshops have been presented by well-known leaders in biofeedback. The workshops covered Soft Tissue Injury, Incontinence, Muscle Imbalance and Pain, Neuro-behavioral Disorders in Children, and Respiratory Dysfunction.

March, 1997.
The Biofeedback Foundation of Europe was founded in Netherlands. As we have mentioned earlier, Mt.Eric Paper became a president of BFE. Advisory Board members are: John Basmajian MD (Canada), Paolo Di Benedetto MD (Italy), Knut Berndorfer Dr. rer net (Austria), Niels Birbaumer PhD (Germany), Shmuel Brown EdM (Israel), Carmen Clot PhD (Spain), Bjorn Ellertsen PhD (Norway), Göron M. Hägg PhD (Sweden), Marek Jantos MA, MAPs S (Australia), Joe Kamiya PhD (USA), Peter Nixon MD (UK), B. Reitsma MD PhD (Holland) ,Gabe Sella MD (USA). For an annual fee of $US100 all practicing health professionals, as well as recent graduates in a health related field can become members of the BFE. For more information please contact André Verhoeven, BFE.

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