Clinical Evaluation of HRV Biofeedback in Functional Neurological Disorders Compared to Placebo

"Biofeedback (BFB), sometimes referred to as biological feedback technique, is a non-invasive and non-pharmacological approach based on physiological recordings that provide real-time feedback enabling people to learn how to control their physiological processes, which are typically unconscious and beyond their control. HRV-BFB specifically targets heart rate variability (HRV), which can help regulate the autonomic nervous system (including vagal tone and sympathetic-parasympathetic balance) as well as emotional states. HRV-BFB has been clinically and experimentally validated as a physiological intervention and has demonstrated its effectiveness. However, it has never been studied in an adult FND population."

The pseudo HRV-BFB intervention aims to implement the same HRV BFB methods with no specific effect on HRV.