Neurofeedback began in the late 1950’s through the work of Dr Joe Kamiya at the University of Chicago.  He discovered that people were able to control their mind’s activity when provided with feedback (a reflection of their internal state, the same principle as biofeedback).

In the 1960’s, the technique caught the attention of NASA scientists, who used it in astronaut training, and still use it today.  

In the mid 1970’s, neurofeedback caught the attention of meditators as an aid in spiritual development. Conferences were attended by two people in beads and orange robes for each one in a white lab coat.  The backlash from mainstream medicine was so strong, that researchers were ridiculed and professionally shunned. Up until the last couple of years, neurofeedback research was career suicide.

A handful of researchers sacrificed their careers and continued research. By the late 80’s it was being used for attention deficit disorders, and through the 90’s it was successfully applied to a wide variety of psychological and central nervous system based physical conditions. Though they knew that neurofeedback worked, they didn’t yet understand HOW it worked, and this kept it regarded as ‘woo-woo’ medicine. To medical practitioners, neurofeedback is a very foreign way to approach health.

Today the view of the brain has changed completely. Neuroscience has come to realise the interrelation between the central nervous system, the autoimmune system, emotional, physical, and mental health. We have learned that the brain can change at any age, and that we create new neurones throughout life. The mechanisms behind neurofeedback are now beginning to be understood, and the field has come into its own.  Still, most healthcare professionals have a view of neurofeedback based on an old reputation rather than one based on modern research. Old views die hard, particularly when they relate to self-regulation methods used by spiritual aspirants.

This technology is no longer "experimental." It is common practice in scientific studies to assess how people's brains are functioning under various conditions of illness, stress and mental difficulties. Patterns in the EEG reflect emotional and cognitive states and predict whether people will be able to attention, or even what their mood is likely to be. 

Today neurofeedback is used by professional sports teams, Olympic athletes, and business people. In the US, Canada, and the Netherlands, it is commonly used as a non-drug solution for ADHD, post traumatic stress, and emotional conditions of all sorts. Advances in computer speed and sensor technology has vastly improved neurofeedback hardware. With 40 years of development behind it, the methods have become highly sophisticated.