Self-Regulation of the Brain and Behavior

ISBN-13: 9783642693816 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 360 str.

T. Elbert; B. Rockstroh; W. Lutzenberger

Opis

The self-regulation of brain activity in humans by means of operant conditioning ( contingent reinforcement) represents a fascinating and promising new methodology in behavioral neuroscience and psychophysiology. Introduced in the early 1960s by Joe Kamiya, research in this area has produced a potentially significant clinical application in behavioral and neurological disorders. Feedback and reinforcement of aspects of electrical brain activity allow a noninvasive modification of human brain responses. Biofeedback of CNS activity may not only be useful as an aid in therapeutic interventions, but also serve as a valuable tool in basic research: physiological responses can be altered in a well-controlled manner and the de- pendent behavioral and autonomic variables can be monitored. It is still unclear whether the operantly modified brain responses and behavioral/autonomic con- comitants are directly, causally linked together; the possibility of motor and visceral mediation of the conditioned brain responses remains to be clarified. However, the contributions to this volume clearly demonstrate a rather specific relationship between different conditioned responses from various parts of the brain and some unique behavioral consequences. Operant conditioning of the sensorimotor rhythm in the postcentral area "produces" motor quiescence (see Sterman, Chapter 7 and Lubar, Chapter 8); first results suggest that the conditioning of left postcentral negative slow potential shifts are closely related to the contralateral sensoric task performance (as described by Rockstroh, Elbert, Lutzenberger, & Birbaumer, Chapter 15).

Spis treści

I: Neurophysiological Mechanisms That Regulate Brain Potential Changes.- 1 Neuronal Mechanisms Underyling the Generation of Field Potentials.- 2 Electrogenesis of Slow Potentials of the Brain.- 3 Central Gating Mechanisms That Regulate Event-Related Potentials and Behavior.- II: Self-Regulation of EEG Frequency Bands and Its Application to the Treatment of Human Epilepsy.- Section A: EEG Frequency Bands.- 4 Classification and Overview of CNS Electrical Activity Tested on Operant Conditioning.- 5 Focused Arousal, 40-Hz EEG, and Dysfunction.- Section B: EEG Biofeedback in the Treatment of Epilepsy.- 6 Operant Conditioning of Single Neurons in Monkeys and Its Theoretical Application to EEG Operant Conditioning in Human Epilepsy.- 7 The Role of Sensorimotor Rhythmic EEG Activity in the Etiology and Treatment of Generalized Motor Seizures.- 8 Applications of Operant Conditioning of the EEG for the Management of Epileptic Seizures.- 9 Biofeedback Control in Epilepsy and Neuroses.- III: Operant Control of Event-Related and Slow Potentials of the Brain.- Introduction: Event-Related Brain Potentials.- The Editors.- Section A: Self-Regulation of Evoked Potentials.- 10 Biofeedback of Very Early Potentials from the Brain Stem.- 11 Operantly Controlled Somatosensory Brain Potentials: Specific Effects on Pain Processes.- 12 Operant Control of Evoked Potentials: Some Comments on the Learning Characteristics in Man and on the Conditioning of Subcortical Responses in the Curarized Rat.- Section B: Meaning and Regulation of Slow Brain Potentials.- 13 Performance Enhancements with Cortical Negative Slow Potential Shifts in Monkey and Human.- 14 Regulation of Slow Brain Potentials Affects Task Performance.- 15 Operant Control of Slow Brain Potentials: A Tool in the Investigation of the Potential’s Meaning and Its Relation to Attentional Dysfunction.- IV: Theoretical Considerations and Models.- The Editors.- Section A: Subjective Experience and the Activation of CNS Activity.- 16 On the Relationships Among Subjective Experience, Behavior, and Physiological Activity in Biofeedback Learning.- 17 Dead Souls: Or Why the Neurobehavioral Science of Emotion Should Pay Attention to Cognitive Science.- 18 Goal-Directed Behavior and Self-Regulation in the Organism.- Section B: The Operant Approach and the Concept of Control in the Self-Regulation of the Brain.- 19 Concepts of Control in Biofeedback.- 20 Operant Mechanisms in Physiological Regulation.- References.- Author Index.