Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Neurotechnology
Date Submitted: Nov 4, 2024
Date Accepted: Jun 11, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Experiences of a Neurofeedback-Based Mindfulness Meditation Intervention for Migraine: A Qualitative Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Migraine is a debilitating neurological condition often impacting quality of life and resulting in physical, emotional, and social burdens. Pharmaceutical interventions are the conventional treatment for migraine, however behavioural interventions provide safe alternatives. Both mindfulness meditation and neurofeedback are behavioural interventions that have been separately studied for migraine treatment. To date, no studies have investigated neurofeedback-assisted mindfulness meditation for migraine treatment and prevention.
Objective:
The objective of our study was to document the experiences of individuals with migraines who participated in an eight-week neurofeedback-based mindfulness meditation intervention.
Methods:
Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with ten participants (seven females and three males) aged 23 to 55 who had completed an eight-week neurofeedback-based mindfulness meditation program. The intervention was completed in participants’ homes using MuseTM wearable sensory headbands and the corresponding smartphone application. The interview data were analyzed utilizing reflexive thematic analysis.
Results:
Participants spoke to three themes: the positive impact of neurofeedback-based mindfulness meditation on migraine experiences, enhanced well-being and improved quality of life resulting from the intervention, and the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating the MuseTM technology into mindfulness meditation practices in the context of migraine treatment. Nine participants felt their ability to manage migraine symptoms was improved and all participants expressed benefits beyond migraine prevention and pain management. Participants also noted relationships between intervention outcomes and spoke to the interconnectedness of migraine symptoms, daily stressors, and the framing of lived experience.
Conclusions:
Notably, as the first study to evaluate the experiences of individuals with migraines using an at-home, neurofeedback-based mindfulness meditation intervention, this investigation adds to our understanding of non-pharmaceutical migraine treatment. Participants reported that this neurofeedback-based mindfulness meditation intervention improved migraine management, leading to significant reductions in pain intensity, migraine frequency, and medication use. They also described improved quality of life and emotional regulation related to this intervention, which they attributed to enhanced attentional control and body awareness. This research supports the consideration of neurofeedback-based mindfulness meditation interventions employing emerging technologies, such as the MuseTM device, as an accessible behavioural intervention for migraine management.
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