How did science and cats discover SMR EEG training?

In 1968, Dr. Barry Sterman, a neuroscientist at UCLA medical school, proved that cats in his lab could be trained to make more EEG activity at 12-15 Hz frequencies, using operant conditioning. He called it SMR – Sensory Motor Rhythm. Inadvertently, this experiment launched part of the field of neurofeedback.

Sterman then used the same cats for a NASA contract to investigate whether rocket fuel could cause seizure activity. The cats were exposed to a volatile fuel called hydrazine. Half the cats seized in a predictable dose response curve. The other half of the cats, those who had increased SMR brainwaves in the last experiment,  had a dramatic reduction in seizure thresholds versus the normal cats. It was a very unexpected outcome.

After additional research, EEG training frequency was tried on a woman with uncontrolled seizures who worked in Sterman’s lab (using 12-15 frequency training along the sensory motor strip). The training had the same inhibitory effect it did on the cats and the woman now has a California driver’s license.

These events launched the field of neurofeedback. Brain dysregulation (of which epilepsy is one of the most severe types) is reduced with EEG training. The research, particularly in epilepsy, is extensive.