Resonance Frequency Assessment: The Challenge of Standardizing Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Research

The resonance frequency (RF) is the rate at which a system, like the cardiovascular system, can be activated or stimulated for maximal variability. Precise RF measurement is needed to standardize training protocols to help researchers determine the importance of RF breathing in achieving clinical and optimal performance outcomes. Lehrer and colleagues have developed and standardized a psychometrically reliable RF measurement protocol that can facilitate training and replication. This article provides a detailed description of their protocol and explains the nuanced decision-making process involved in identifying the RF. The validity and reproducibility of results using this protocol depend on quality control in (a) confirming that individuals successfully follow a breathing pacer, and (b) manually removing artifacts from data records. While this protocol requires an electrocardiogram or photoplethysmograph sensor and a respirometer, professionals should consider the addition of autonomic, musculoskeletal, and respiratory measures to better understand the patterns of physiological activity produced by different breathing rates.

Biofeedback

Although evidence supports the efficacy of biofeedback for treating a number of disorders and for enhancing performance, significant barriers block both needed research and payer support for this method. Biofeedback has demonstrated effects in changing psychophysiological substrates of various emotional, physical, and psychosomatic problems, but payers are reluctant to reimburse for biofeedback services. A considerable amount of biofeedback research is in the form of relatively small well-controlled trials (Phase II trials). This article argues for greater payer support and research support for larger trials in the “real life” clinical environment (Phase III trials) and meta-analytic reviews.

Distinguishing Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Stress Responses: Implications for Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Training

Recent research has noted a significant overlap between symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and postconcussion syndrome (PCS). In this article, an argument is made for providing a specialized form of heart rate variability biofeedback that allows for the physiological discharge of trauma among patients who present with comorbid symptoms of PTSD and PCS. Recommendations for clinicians who encounter the manifestation of trauma during their work with PCS patients are provided. Future areas of heart rate variability biofeedback research among PCS and PTSD populations are further delineated.

History of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Research: A Personal and Scientific Voyage

This paper reviews the history of heart rate variability biofeedback. Interest in the method has evolved from several directions, eventually mutually influencing each other, and often through workshops provided by the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. My own work was influenced by long-term use of the technique in Russia, and from research by Evgeny Vaschillo using transfer function analysis among heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure, to show how the technique stimulates the baroreflex; also by Richard Gevirtz in frequent workshops given together. Work at the HeartMath Institute independently evolved from experience with music relaxation and “heartfelt emotion,” and other research evolved from American psychophysiological research. Brief descriptions of the development of interest and work in this field are provided by Richard Gevirtz, Rollin McCraty (HeartMath), Fredric Shaffer, and Robert Nolan, as well as myself.

Who Are We and What Are We Doing? A Survey of Biofeedback Professionals Working with Children

This article sought to understand the current training and activities of professionals providing biofeedback to children, via an anonymous survey administered though professional organization listservs. Based on 57 responders, we identified gaps in training and in the use of evidence-based interventions. However, these responders are communicating primarily with other biofeedback practitioners. The vast majority are not active in biofeedback research on children. We conclude by raising several questions for professionals and professional organizations to consider regarding the specialized training and evidence-based practice of biofeedback.

Global Initiatives Position BCIA as an International Resource for Biofeedback Certification and Training Standards

The mission of the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) is to certify individuals who meet education and training standards in biofeedback and progressively recertify those who advance their knowledge through continuing education. In strategic recognition of the growing international interest in biofeedback research and practice, BCIA has launched a number of programs in support of worldwide biofeedback certification and global standards for training and education. This article discusses BCIA's international efforts in support of its mission.

What Psychology as a Science Owes Neal Miller: The Example of His Biofeedback Research

Neal Miller did more to make psychology a science than any other investigator. His importance does not lie with any specific discoveries that he made, but rather with his way of doing scientific research, which involved pursuing a line of logic systematically through sequences of experiments, and paying attention to several alternate hypotheses that could answer each of the experimental questions addressed. His approach was a model of what has been called “Strong Inference” and that is characteristically used in the hard sciences. His biofeedback research is used as a case history of his method of approach.

A Report on the Work of the AAPB Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback and Related Sciences and Its 2010 Student Research Awards

The Foundation for Education and Research in Biofeedback and Related Sciences (FERB), more commonly known as the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) Foundation, was chartered in 1985 to support biofeedback-related research and disseminate information about the field to professionals and the public. In 2010, FERB awarded three graduate student research grants and additional travel and tuition scholarships in support of student attendance at the AAPB Annual Conference, totaling over $8,000. FERB continues in its mission to fund biofeedback research and promote its clinical efficacy and use as a health care alternative.