biofeedback
Biofeedback is a system of teaching conscious control of body functions generally considered involuntary. Working from reports by Asian scientists on Zen monks and Indian yogis who claimed to be able to control their heart rate, oxygen consumption and other metabolic functions, New York physiological psychologist Dr. Neal Miller combined these observations with the experiments of Dr. B. F. Skinner to formulate experiments of his own, which found that patients who could watch electronic monitors of their own heartbeats or brain waves could learn to control them.
The technique is now used by psychologists to help patients relax by lowering their heart rate, to overcome tension-based speech impediments, or to control other physiologically based problems. Biofeedback is also employed by medical doctors to teach patients to control high blood pressure, asthma or even paralysis. Treatment typically consists of ten hour-long sessions with a psychologist, as well as practice at home.
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