One Million!
By Siegfried Othmer, PhD It is probably worth observing that sometime over the past several years the milestone was undoubtedly passed in which the one millionth person benefited from one or another of our neurofeedback protocols, implemented on one or another of our three generations of neurofeedback systems: NeuroCybernetics, EEGer, and Cygnet. It’s difficult to […]
Placebo Puffery
By Siegfried Othmer, PhD If the placebo is such a big deal, why is it not being diligently studied? Why is the ‘cause’ of the placebo ‘effect’ not being looked for? If this is such a huge factor that it governs all drug studies, surely it deserves some attention in its own right.
EEG Info Updates!
Quick update on the weekends events. Check out www.BrainSummit.com/neuro for a re-play of this week’s talks. Also check out www.eeginfo.com for the new east coast intro classes in Boston/Cambridge, and Atlanta.
The Baleful Realities of the Aging Brain
By Siegfried Othmer, PhD Years ago an event occurred in Los Angeles that every resident at the time surely remembers. An elderly man plowed through an open-air market in Santa Monica for which a street had been dedicated. There had been no evasive maneuvers, and the man may even have accelerated the vehicle during the […]
Patty Duke and Bipolar Disorder
By Siegfried Othmer, PhD The death of Patty Duke places the challenge of Bipolar Disorder front and center. In her case, it was not diagnosed for many years, which is not atypical. Her turbulent life even after it was diagnosed testifies to the fact that the condition was not under good control.
Neurofeedback and Cognitive Skills Training
By Siegfried Othmer, PhD In the previous newsletter on this topic we supported the case for cognitive skills training as a sister technology to neurofeedback, and we disparaged the case that the FTC has been making against Lumosity in particular. But how does cognitive skills training actually stack up against neurofeedback? This is a useful […]
On Lumosity and the FTC
By Siegfried Othmer, PhD Science Magazine has just weighed in on the recent sanctioning of Lumosity by the Federal Trade Commission for ostensible over-claiming.(Reference) From our perspective we regard cognitive skills training as a kindred technology to neurofeedback. It’s yet another computer-based method of enhancing brain function. So where do we come down on the […]
Are We Training Function or Targeting Dysfunction?
By Siegfried Othmer, PhD Amajor divide within the field of neurofeedback is the basic question of whether we are aiming to improve function or to expunge dysfunction. This distinction was highlighted crisply many years ago when one of the early researchers, Barry Sterman, said that if he could not identify a deficit in the EEG […]