“The heart is the recording secretary for the ego.”
— Japanese Proverb

Caroline Grierson and Sue and I have been listening to a tape by Ira Rosenberg of a short course on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) training delivered at one of the meetings of the California Biofeedback Society. Rosenberg has been doing this work since the early eighties—another instance of clinicians in the lead in the development of a field. His experience with a variety of heart ailments is extensive, and most impressive.

The talk struck a chord with me on a number of issues. First of all, I am hopeful that self-regulation technologies will be the key to having people assume responsibility for their own health and well-being, with a diminished role played by an authority figure. Secondly, I am hopeful that the discipline imposed by self-regulation based technologies should be life-long, and not restricted to short periods in one’s life where one is paying tribute to a biofeedback therapist. Thirdly, I am hopeful that there will be a shift from a concern about deficits and diagnoses to wellness and optimal functioning. To have this idyllic future be realized, people must be able to understand the issues, on the one hand; they must not be hindered by expensive instrumentation over the long haul; and the techniques must offer multiple, broad-spectrum benefits so that they become habitual. (more…)

Author: Kirtley Thornton, Ph.D.

A nine-year hold female with a history of a learning disability was self-referred to our clinic. She was evaluated under cognitive activation procedures with the Lexicor 24 channel unit. The activation tasks involved auditory memory, reading memory, eyes closed, auditory and visual attention and problem solving with the Raven’s matrices. The sampling range was set to 256K to allow for information up to the 64-Hertz range to be included in the analysis. The normative comparison database was collected employing a 256K sampling rate.

Her QEEG results were compared to the activation database on the values relevant to success at the task. For this particular subject, she showed problems in the coherence and phase values emanating from the T3 location to the other 18 locations in the 10-20 system. Her values ranged from .50 Standard Deviations (SD) below the norm to 1.5 SD below the norm. Her problem was particularly evident during the recall stage as her phase alpha values from T3 were 2-4 SD below the norm. This problem was addressed by having her pause the audiotape and quietly recall to herself the information she had just heard. (more…)