Rheoencephalography

Domain IX · Biomedical, neuro & digital · Soviet Union

What it is

REG is a non-invasive way of recording the electrical impedance (conductivity) of the head through scalp electrodes. Because blood conducts electricity well, the pulsatile change in impedance was taken as an index of cerebral blood volume and blood flow. It is a measurement and monitoring method,…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• There are no published treatment phases, session counts or progression criteria for REG or REG biofeedback. The framework below is the psychotherapist's own process when a client brings an REG test result or an offer of 'REG-based' training.
• Current research use: the same authors call monitoring of cerebrovascular reactivity "the single application of REG which continues to this day", and propose combining REG with transcranial Doppler; Bodo and colleagues continue to test REG as a non-invasive index of cerebral autoregulation and intracranial pressure: in a 2024 study of 19 healthy volunteers, the REG pulse waveform changed during head-down tilt in the…
• Regulatory status: no FDA, EMA, MHRA or NICE document on REG, either as a diagnostic or as a biofeedback device, was identified.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• How change happens. For REG there is no published change model, because it is not a treatment. For the psychotherapist, the useful 'change' is in the client's decision-making: helping them understand what they are being offered, get a proper medical assessment for any physical symptoms, and choose…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• titles without a checkable register.
• a provider unable to say what the device measures.
• shame, mistrust of local services, a sense of being dismissed.
• therapy stalling while the client waits for a device to 'fix' the problem.
• a study that charges fees or promises treatment benefit; pressure to enrol.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.