It has experienced a revival in recent years. It was first invented in the 1960's but lost interest as more developments in medicine were introduced. Nowadays people are tired of taking a pill or a powder in order to feel better.



They want a natural way to help their bodies become healthier and biofeedback is providing an answer to the problem of not feeling good. There are many reasons why biofeedback is used and many people are reporting that it does work and will continue to use biofeedback as a way to fight a plethora of medical conditions. But do you know what biofeedback is used for or even what it is? You are in luck because this article will provide you with some of the answers.

What is biofeedback?

Biofeedback is a way to use the body's signals to improve your own health. You have seen it used countless times in a physician's office when they monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and even your muscle tenseness.

Going on those results from the machinery, your treatment plan is put into action. If you have ever stepped on a scale at home and measured your weight you have used a biofeedback machine. You see the weight and then take actions based on what you have seen such as losing weight or subconsciously registering that you need to gain weight by eating more.

What are the origins of biofeedback?

It began in the middle of the 20th century with a psychologist and neuroscientist named Neal Miller. He was working and studying at Yale when he discovered that rats would respond to electric signals in the brain.

He would stimulate their pleasure centers and in turn conditioned the rats to control their own physiological and physical reactions such as heartbeat, anxiety and muscle tenseness. Other researchers later took this information and began applying it to patients as a way to monitor illness and stress level. They found that if certain areas were studied the patients would unconsciously make the changes they need to heart rate, breathing and stress.

What does efficacy mean?

Efficacy in relation to the medical field means that a result of a given test is deemed acceptable meaning that it does work as well as any other method currently being used to treat a patient. When it is used during a trial to study the effects it refers to the effectiveness of the given trail in comparison to real world applications.

How is biofeedback used in art?

In art biofeedback is used through measuring an audience's reaction to visual art work. When a pleasurable level is reached where the audience is relaxed and their muscles are not tense, the music of the pieces is changed to mimic that exact wavelengths being monitored by the machines.