What is Neurofeedback?

How It Works

Sensors are placed on the scalp providing you with visual feedback about your brainwave activity.  Normally we cannot influence our brainwaves because we lack an awareness of them.  However, being able to see them on the computer screen gives you the ability to influence and retrain them via operant conditioning which means your brain responds to the rewards it receives for producing the brainwaves you are trying to increase or decrease. With continued training and practice we can retrain healthier brainwave patterns enhancing cognitive flexibility and control.

Neurofeedback offers an alternative to medication to help with the following conditions:

• Woman’s Burnout      ADD/ADHD              Hyperactivity      Language Deficits                      
• Depression             PMS           Learning Deficits      
  
• Sport Peak Performance          Impulsivity          Insomnia          Emotional Instability               
• Anxiety           Post Traumatic Stress Disorder                                                
             

BRAINWAVES PRODUCE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF AWARENESS

Beta brainwaves (above 13 Hz) are small, faster brainwaves associated with a state of mental, intellectual activity and outwardly focused concentration. This is basically a “bright-eyed, bushy-tailed” state of alertness. However too much high beta will cause anxiety, ruminations and mental chatter.

Alpha brainwaves (8-12 Hz.) are slower and larger. They are associated with a state of relaxation and basically represent the brain shifting into an idling gear, relaxed and a bit disengaged, waiting to respond when needed. If we merely close our eyes and begin picturing something peaceful, in less than half a minute there begins to be an increase in alpha brainwaves. These brainwaves are especially large in the back third of the head.   Too much alpha in the frontal regions can cause problems with cognition.

Theta brainwaves (4-8 Hz)  represent a day dreamy, spacey state of mind that is associated with mental inefficiency. At very slow levels, theta brainwave activity is a very relaxed state, representing the twilight zone between waking and sleep.  Most people are in this wave when they are watching TV. Children with ADD/ADHD have too much theta causing it to be difficult to concentrate.

Delta brainwaves (0-3.5 Hz) are the slowest, highest amplitude brainwaves, and are what we experience when we are asleep. In general, different states of mind are associated with dominant brainwave states.

ADD/ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD) refers to a range of problem behaviors associated with poor attention span. These may include impulsiveness, restlessness and hyperactivity, as well as inattentiveness, and often prevent children from learning and socializing well. ADHD is sometimes referred to as hyperkinetic disorder.

When a child has ADD/ADHD they have a ‘slow wave disorder’ meaning that they have excessive slow brain waves (Theta and Alpha) in the frontal areas of the brain.  The frontal and prefrontal cortex is responsible for executive functions such as planning, concentration, memory, personality, organization, self awareness and behavior.  These slow waves make if difficult for the child to engage in activities and function on par with their peers.

Neurofeedback is used to train the frontal areas of the brain to produce more efficient waves such as Beta and SMR waves and to produce less Alpha and Theta waves. This will result in an increase in attention and executive functioning.  This can take up to or over 40 sessions although changes should start to occur by the fifth session.  In follow up studies on treatment with  Neurofeedback, recipients showed changes remained permanent 10 years after treatment. Unlike with medications where the benefit is lost once the medication is discontinued.

DEPRESSION

While antidepressant medications have been the most commonly used method of alleviating depression, a more recent treatment called Neurofeedback (also called EEG Biofeedback) is a promising new therapy for persons struggling with mood disorder related to an imbalance in their psycho-biological and biochemical processes.

For example, the treatment of depression by means of Neurofeedback generally involves increasing the activation of the left, prefrontal area of the brain relative to the right, prefrontal area. This may be done by training fast waves on the left and increasing slow waves on the right.

Preliminary clinical research reports not only indicate that depressed patients can learn to shift and enhance their brain waves in the right frontal region, but that the patients depressed moods subside and are replaced with clearer, more optimistic emotional and thought processes. In most cases this only takes 15-20 sessions.

ANXIETY

Usually anxiety results from one’s response to stress. The stress can be psychological physical, dietary and/or environmental challenges, like loud noises. Once a person gets locked into a pattern of anxiety, it can be hard to break. Learning how to modulate or turn off chronic stress responses is life changing.

There are various forms. Sometimes anxiety includes excessive worrying, a nagging sense of fear, restlessness, overly emotional responses, negative thinking, and defensiveness. Anxiety is involved in addiction, perfectionism, being overly controlling, and behavioral issues.

Anxiety suffers are often overwhelmed, exhausted and stressed out. Some can’t concentrate due to their intense internal focus. Others obsess about specific things. Anxiety is easily detected if someone appears outwardly nervous. At other times, anxious people can appear calm but their brain seems to never quiet. These people can’t stop thinking; they can’t shut their brain down. The constant internal chatter can get so bad that it interrupts their sleeping and steals their quality of life. They don’t live in the present; they constantly worry about the future or live in the past.

Helping people learn to calm or quiet themselves is by far the best and most effective solution for anxiety. Learning to decrease anxiety gives suffers hope as they take control of their lives. Biofeedback and Neurofeedback are two of the quickest and fastest ways we teach people to learn to help themselves and it’s easy to learn. These technologies have been used for many years with solid proven results. It’s true, one can learn how to decrease anxiety and remain calmer with Neurofeedback. Learning this life-long skill decreases the need for dependence upon medications.

With the proper amount of training. The brain learns to hold onto healthier patterns. Learning to correct anxiety- producing neurological patterns occurs with awareness, practice, and reinforcement.

Neurofeedback facilitates awareness, provides reinforcement, and allows one to monitor the quality of practice during a training session. Because we are neurologically hardwired to return to balance, as learning takes place patients can learn to decrease and/or eliminate anxiety. As learning improves, patients can begin decreasing their training schedules. Most patients can stop training once they reach their goals and the training is holding. A small number of patients with persistent or extremely resistant or complex issues require occasional “tune ups” or a greatly reduced maintenance training schedule.

BIOFEEDBACK

All of our nervous systems are made up of central and autonomic nervous systems. Our central nervous system consists of our brains and spinal cord. We can train our brains with Neurofeedback which is biofeedback for the brain. Our Autonomic or ‘ automatic’ nervous systems are part of the peripheral nervous  system that acts below the level of consciousness and controls things like blood pressure, digestion, heart rate and breathing.   autonomic system consists of two opposing systems called the sympathetic and parasympathetic.  When we are under stress our sympathetic system automatically takes over producing a ‘fight or flight’ response causing our pupils to constrict, sweat glands activate, blood pressure and heart rate go up, digestion slows down, blood sugar elevates to create readily available energy and we produce more platelets. All this occurs because our bodies see this stress as ‘physical’ and prepare the body to be under physical attack.  However we are most likely sitting in traffic or trying to do five things at once at work and are late for our next appointment.

The parasympathetic system should reverse these bodily reactions to stress once the stress or threatening situation is over.  However, with chronic stress the parasympathetic system starts to fail to be able to stop these bodily reactions.  Therefore, the increased blood pressure remains high, the extra platelets for wound healing are floating around waiting to cause a possible clot somewhere (stress really can cause heart attacks!), blood sugar remains high causing stress induced diabetes and the digestion remains sluggish causing reflux, constipation and other gastric problems.  This can also leads to insomnia because a person’s body is continuously in ‘fight or flight’ mode.

Biofeedback teaches a person how to control this mechanism by being able to bring on the parasympathetic response that will allow the body to get back to a relaxed state.  This can be done by learning to control skin conductance (sweating), breathing, muscle tension and heart rate. Usually 10 sessions are sufficient to teach someone these techniques.

“Eventually, patients should be able to use their biofeedback experience to lower their own heart rate or blood pressure, or to alleviate physical complaints. It’s a form of self-medication.”

-Dr. David Spiegel, Stanford University Medical Center

Heart Rate Variability

What is Heart Rate Variability?

By variability we mean changes in the interval or distance between one
beat of the heart and the next. Multiple biological rhythms overlay one another to produce the resultant pattern of variability.

Heart rate variability, have relevance for physical, emotional, and mental function. Many people confuse Heart Rate with Heart Rate Variability. The human heart is a bio-electrical pump beating at an ever changing rate: it is not like a clock that beats at a steady, unchanging rate. This variability in heart rate is an adaptive quality in a healthy body.

Biofeedback practitioners have found that biofeedback training can increase HRV, through several parallel training pathways. The
practitioner initially guides the subject to acquire three basic skills: 1) relax physically and emotionally, 2) reduce anxious thoughts and negative emotions, and 3) engage in smooth full diaphragmatic breathing.

What is the relationship between
Heart Rate Variability
and Biofeedback?

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback, or HRV biofeedback, is a new technique for training human beings to change the variability and dominant rhythms in their heart activity. The use of HRV biofeedback began in Russia,where it was applied to the treatment of asthma and manyother conditions. Research in now going on in many sites within the United States, applying HRV biofeedback to a variety of medical and psychiatric conditions, including: anger, anxiety disorders, asthma, cardiovascular conditions, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain.  Biofeedback training can teachpatients to increase the percentage of total HRV in specific frequency ranges. HRV biofeedback can therefore guide and reinforce trainees to shift their overall heart rate variability in order to improve their health.

Learning Deficit

Learning and language problems can have many causes. Although every case is unique,  I have found that many children with leaning and language deficits have under active brain waves.  The region concerned is ‘disconnected’ to other areas of the brain.

For example on the left side of the brain we have the speech centres Broca and Wernke’s area.  Broca area is responsible for verbal expression and Wernike’s area is responsible for verbal understanding.  If these two areas are not in communication then we will find understanding speech and speaking difficult.  We may also find these areas functioning at a slow brain wave also causing them not to function effectively.  With Neurofeedback we can train the both sites at the same time making the brain waves in those areas faster (Beta) and more “in sync” with each other allowing for the growth of new pathways between the two.

Some language and learning problems can be the result of under active auditory regions in the temporal lobes.  In such cases we train a more efficient brainwave in the auditory cortices helping to increase auditory processing.  With learning and language problems we recommend 20-40 training sessions depending on each individuals response to the training, although you should see progress by the tenth session.

Peak Performance and Neurofeedback Training

I laugh when I hear my husband complain how he had such a great round of golf during a casual round with my son but couldn’t even drive straight when he played in the club competition!  Why does this happen?  When we are relaxed we allow our natural skill to just flow without being interrupted by anxiety or concerns about previous mistakes.

A Wimbledon commentator hit the nail on the head when he described how players like Nadal and Federer have the ability to make every shot a new shot without worrying about the fact that they might be loosing that game.  Everyone knows that a sportsman with the ability to stay calm and focused will be more successful than his opponent that ‘looses it’ when things aren’t going their way.  Once you begin to ‘loose it’, you do poorly because  your negative mental chatter interferes with your body’s natural ability.

Studies have shown that mental focus accounts for up to 80% of an athlete’s success.  In the past training was usually only focused on the physical aspect but today many player’s are getting that mental edge with Neurofeedback. When we are in the ‘zone’ our minds and bodies are in harmony.  How do we achieve this harmony?  Using Neurofeedbck we are able to reprogram the brains frequencies in order to achieve the focused relaxed state needed to reach your Peak Performance.  Since the mind and body are connected, learning control is crucial to success.

Achieving your Peak Performance state of mind is not only valuable for athletes but also for managers, teachers, actors, surgeons, and even parents.  Imagine being completely calm and in control even if there is chaos happening around you?  This is attainable with Neurofeedback training.  In fact you may also find that other stress related problems (insomnia, headaches) may start to diminish after only a few training sessions.

(N.B. –  AC Milan attributes 2006 World Cup to Neurofeedback!  See ‘Links’ page for whole story.)