Where is Alpha?

It has been clear for some time that a small percentage of people react badly to alpha-theta training. They may feel overly sedated, depressed or have increased pain after training. This appears to be a physiological effect in which they end up in a less functional brain state. It is different from the possible psychological effect of revisiting and working through past traumas. My response until now has been to train beta/SMR first to stabilize the control of physiological state and to keep training beta/SMR after alpha-theta sessions as needed for people with this sensitivity.

I have tried to figure out who these folks are and how to identify them before we get them into trouble. It is not so simple as looking at arousal level as indicated by the appropriate beta/SMR reward frequency. There is no obvious vulnerability in very high or low arousal individuals. There does seem to be some increased likelihood of a negative response in people with instability of brain states, which results in symptoms such as migraine, fibromyalgia, panic attacks and seizures. But this is not always a problem in such individuals. These negative effects have intrigued me for some while because I feel unpleasantly sedated when I train with a standard alpha-theta protocol. I am clearly missing the wonderful calming and clearing effects that people generally report with alpha training. Continue reading “Where is Alpha?”

Newsletter Regional Center

Today I was involved in another hearing before an
Administrative Law Judge regarding Regional Center funding for a child with
autism. It was, once again, surreal. The “fair” hearing is held
after Regional Center denial of funding for neurofeedback. The parents decided
to press their demands, and they invited us to help make their case. Since the
parents had already experienced five training sessions with their child, they
came armed with lots of reports of progress. I came with my Power Point presentation
on autism, and also armed with all the relevant books: Continue reading “Newsletter Regional Center”

Tech Update — The gadget requests are answered

Wednesday, – pre-setup at AAPB.
Siegfried Othmer and I caught our flight yesterday from Los Angeles to the AAPB conference here in Jacksonville Florida. This after Siegfried just got back from Cleveland the day before. Today was the rough switch into east coast time for me, but it was worth the price, because what we had in store for us was Thought Tech’s official unveiling of their new Procomp amplifier, the Infinity.

Thought Tech had arranged a special briefing for those of us who are going to be representing this product, as well as a meeting oriented more for clinicians that have played a special role in advising Thought Tech on their developments. I arrived to find Toby from Thought Technology and a small group of other tech guys like myself, some of whom I knew, and several were new faces. The LCD projector was running on the screen in the front of the room with some moving graphics. And all along one wall of the room was glass, overlooking the river that runs right out front of our hotel, with the very bright sun reflecting in on us–a delightful distraction that also serves to reset the circadian rhythms. It took me a moment to realize that the product I was seeing on the LCD projector at the front of the room was in fact the new Procomp Infinity. I had heard that it had been completely redesigned, along with a new look. I guess my wild imagination had envisioned something a little more space-age. But it sure is different from the old Procomp+. Continue reading “Tech Update — The gadget requests are answered”

Yoga of the Heart

“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. Continue reading “Yoga of the Heart”

Frontal Training: Theory and Practice

Early work in neurofeedback was primarily on the central strip, and for me, central and temporal placements continue to be the starting placements for training. But frontal training has become an important and regular component of training over the past year or two. I now think of training on the central strip for normalization and stabilization of arousal level. This is already very powerful in reducing symptoms that arise when one slides down the over or under arousal end of the performance-versus-arousal curve. Frontal training adds a new piece — organization and control of brain function.

The front half of our brains organizes and executes output, while the back half processes and integrates input from the body and outside world. The frontal lobes are involved in coordinating the selection of goals and plans of action, while initiating desired behaviors and inhibiting undesired behaviors. And they oversee the execution of behaviors to their successful completion. As the most recently evolved and slowest to develop part of our central nervous system, the frontal lobes are vulnerable to neurodevelopmental disorders. John Bradshaw’s book (see above) looks at Tourette syndrome, OCD, ADHD, autism, depression and schizophrenia as syndromes involving significant developmental deficits of frontal circuits. Continue reading “Frontal Training: Theory and Practice”

“Artistes and Autistes”

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” Albert Einstein

The debate continues on the various lists about the value of QEEG-based information to drive protocols. Whereas the fissures in the field are not as severe now as they once were, a divide still clearly exists, with people encamped comfortably on one side or the other. Each side claims to have science on its side, but if truth be told, we are each reinforced in our approach by what amount to a succession of dramatic case histories, plus a sprinkling of supportive studies.

What matters in determining which side of the divide we are most comfortable with is not simply the accumulating data, however, but who we are as scientists or clinicians. It is our personal style in confronting new information that determines which kind of evidence we will attend to. When this orientation is then graced with clinical success, it is continually reinforced. With a technique as powerful as neurofeedback, such reinforcers are plentiful. Continue reading ““Artistes and Autistes””