EEG feedback training in the treatment of epilepsy: some questions and some answers.

A basic question in EEG feedback training of epileptic patients is whether the decrease in seizures is specifically due to the training or to other factors. Questions may also be raised as to what EEG changes are involved. Preliminary results in five patients suggest that seizure reductions can occur with training which are not due to placebo or nonspecific effects or to changes in medication compliance. These changes occurred rapidly during EEG-contingent feedback training but not when feedback was random in relation to the EEG. Reliable changes in the EEG were also observed, but the question of which mechanism accounts for these results has yet to be answered.