The Effect of Neurofeedback Training on Sleep Quality and Psychological Skills of Athletes with Psychophysiological Approach

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of neurofeedback training on sleep quality and psychological skills of athletes with psychophysiological approach. The research method was semi-experimental and application with pretest and posttest design and a control group. 31 athletes who were members of a sport team gained the criteria to enter the study. They were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and the experimental group received neurofeedback treatment. The neurofeedback training lasted 3 sessions a week, 45 min. each session for 2 months. This protocol was performed in a bipolar manner at C4-CZ points. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to extract sleep quality profile and OMSAT-3 and Elisa method were used to assess psychophysiological stress of participants. Covariance analysis and dependent t test were used to analyze the data. The results suggested that neurofeedback training can influence to balance stress and to improve sleep quality of athletes which greatly affects their performance.