Neurofeedback

The Promise of Neurotherapy in the Future

From Biofeedback for the Brain by Paul G. Swingle, Ph.D.   

 “THE FIELD OF NEUROTHERAPY IS DEVELOPING AT AN ACCELERATED PACE.  For diagnosis and assessment, therapists are able to compare the brain functioning of clients to data banks of the brain functioning of many different groups of people.  When the brain map of a client is statistically compared with norms obtained from carefully selected people who report no psychophysiological symptoms or disorders, divergent areas of brain functioning are revealed.  Additional data banks of specifically defined groups are being developed.  Such groups include persons with TBI, adult ADHD, autism, various forms of psychoses, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s.  By comparing a brain map to the composite maps of these various groups, the neurotherapist can be increasingly precise in determining when a client’s reported symptoms indicate a specific disorder.  More important, the data-bank comparisons help tell practitioners how to treat the disorder rather than just how to label it.  Compelling evidence shows brain-system reorganization and remediation of problems can occur quite readily.  Studies have shown that changes in blood flow and nerve growth occur during neurotherapy   Damaged areas of the brain can be functionally replaced with healthy areas of the brain.  In one form of therapy called restraint therapy, for example, the good arm of a client with brain trauma is restrained, forcing the client to use the compromised arm.  New brain areas of the brain are engaged as the client gains mobility in the disabled arm.  The brain can, and does, recover from injury.  And the positive care of the therapist, in combination with an optimistic attitude on the part of the client, has demonstrable and profound effects on healing.”    pp. 184-185.  The brain is neuroplastic and can learn to correct many conditions, including ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, and Concussions/TBI.  If you are looking for an effective, natural way to heal your brain condition, call us at 260.432.8777 to schedule a brain map (qEEG.)  The map will tell us where your brain dysregulations are.  With that information, we will know if we are able to help you.

We get asked a lot, “What Is Neurofeedback?” Here is simple answer:

Imagine a musical quartet. 3 of you know a song by heart, but the fourth doesn’t. As a result, any performance will suffer, even though 3 of you know the song perfectly. The effect of that fourth player impacts the entire performance.

So how does that relate to neurofeedback?

Like a quartet, there are 4 primary brainwaves in your brain. Delta (sleep, regeneration), Theta (emotions, daydreaming), Alpha (subconscious, relaxation) and beta (cognitive thinking and decision making). Together they regulate your mind and body and help you function at your best. However, if one of these brainwaves are misfiring, it can affect your whole mind and body. Too much delta can impact sleep and make you irritable and affect decision making. Too little or too much theta can lead to anxiety or depression.

Neurofeedback is a computer-based technology that optimizes brainwaves to help them run efficiently. If delta is too fast, it can slow it down, which will allow you to sleep better. If alpha waves are being blocked, Neurofeedback can reduce beta to open them up. While there are many medications out there that can temporarily help with these issues, they do not fix the problem and do not offer a permanent solution.

Neurofeedback is ideally suited to address brainwave imbalances, because it is the only tool out there that targets them specifically. Neurofeedback works by using sensors on the scalp to detect and retrain brainwaves that are out of balance. Best of all, you simply watch a movie or listen to music while the system does all the work, slowly training your brainwaves to stay in balance. Neurofeedback has over 50 years of research and case studies to demonstrate its effectiveness. For anyone currently using drugs for mental health, neurofeedback is worth taking a look at.

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Stay In Control And Function Under Pressure

To understand how easily the brain can impact our ability to stay in control, imagine you are walking across a balance beam. If the beam is only 6 inches off the ground, this is a simple task. But if the beam is 60 feet off the ground, panic and terror can quickly take over, increasing the likelihood of falling off. The brain can quickly overload our arousal state in an instant, which can severely impact performance.

What separates elite athletes and performance artists from the average person is the ability to stay “in the zone” and remain calm during high pressure situations. This all comes down to the arousal state in our brains. Staying in the zone under pressure, whether it’s a pro athlete, a fire fighter or simply someone with a normal high stress job, is what separates the successful people from everybody else. Neurofeedback is a computer based system that monitors brainwaves in real time and helps the brain stay focused and operate at optimum levels, even under high pressure situations. Over time and with multiple sessions, the brain can learn to function optimally on its own and regulate stress and overarousal better. This means we can function in the zone on a regular basis.

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Sensitivity To Sound: There’s A Name For That…And A Solution

Misophonia is an over-sensitivity to sounds that can trigger feelings of anxiety, anger and fear. Many people suffer from this condition without ever knowing it.

Simple sounds that most people tune out, like the hum of an air conditioner, can become unbearable for those with misophonia. This can severely affect a person’s quality of life by impacting their ability to socialize and function in a public environment.

Misophonia is a brain issue, caused by dysregulation in the areas of the brain that process sound, located right above the ears in the temporal lobes. Currently there are no specific medications for misophonia, but there is another solution that may help.

Neurofeedback is a computer-based system that directly targets brainwaves, regulating them over time to function more efficiently. Over multiple sessions neurofeedback can help correct the areas of the brain that impact hearing and allow one to function normally in louder spaces. Neurofeedback sessions are easy, you just watch a movie while the system does all the work.

Neurofeedback is safe, non-invasive and has decades of qualified research and case studies on many neurological issues.

If you live near Fort Wayne Indiana, our clinic may be able to help you reduce or eliminate the effects of sound-sensitivity. Call us or click the link below to schedule an appointment. It could very well be the best decision you ever make for improving your health and well-being.

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Here’s How Neurofeedback Works For Most Mental Health Conditions

A lot of people simply don’t understand neurofeedback. This explains why many are hesitant to try it. But for anyone dealing with issues relating to their brain, neurofeedback could be the best option for healing. So let’s learn how neurofeedback works.

Imagine a series of islands connected by hundreds of bridges. To go anywhere, the bridges are your only means of travel. But what happens when one bridge is closed? People are forced to take other bridges to get around, which can take longer. Now what if dozens of bridges are closed? Getting around becomes a lot harder.

Your brain works in much the same way. The brain is made up of billions of neurons (islands) that connect to each other via synapses (bridges). In a healthy brain, all synapses connect to each other and the brain functions normally. But in other brains these synapses don’t connect. The brain must then seek out other ways (bridges) to make those connections. This can slow down the brain and even cause it to make irrational decisions. If enough synapses are not connecting, it can lead to mental health issues and irregular behavior. Neurofeedback is a computer based technology that tries to fix those bridges and make those synapses start connecting again. It achieves this by monitoring brainwaves and sending the brain subliminal messages while you are watching a movie or listening to music. Over multiple sessions, the brain starts connecting those bridges and the brain is able to function more normally. Neurofeedback does not target any specific condition, it just helps the brain to make those connections again. The brain is then able to heal itself.

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From Biofeedback for the Brain by Paul G. Swingle, Ph.D.     

Question and Answer about Autism and Breakthroughs:     

“Question:  My son is being treated for autism.  Recently he is crying more than usual and seems shy around people.  Histherapist says this is OK.  Should I be concerned?     

Answer:  When autistic children start to respond to the presence of other people, it is usually a good sign.  If your son is verbal, you might try telling some simple jokes to see whether he is developing a sense of humor.  If so, that is great news.”  Page 170.

Most people have some minor form of obsessive behavior. Whether it’s a simple routine of having your coffee first thing when you wake up or needling to organize a closet or room constantly. It serves as a minor therapy to make you feel better about the space around you.

However, for some people the obsessive behavior is more severe. It could be the need to keep items in a perfectly straight line, or constantly cleaning the kitchen to make it spotless. These actions point to a bigger problem in the brain.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is born out of anxiety as a coping mechanism. In both cases, the brain’s emotional areas are overstimulated, while the areas that handle regulation are under-stimulated. As a result, the brain seeks out some form of control to help provide comfort. Organization and cleaning are merely ways to assert some control over one’s environment. There are medications to help those with OCD, but most are actually designed for other conditions like anxiety. Plus the side effects can sometimes be worse.

For those who live in or near Fort Wayne there is a safer and more accurate alternative. Neurofeedback is a computer based system that directly targets the areas of the brain that are under or overstimulated. With multiple sessions, the brain can learn to regulate itself more easily, which can often lead to a reduction or elimination of obsessive behavior. The process is safe, non-invasive and enjoyable.

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FromBiodfeedback for the Brain by Paul G. Swingle, Ph.D.     

“Some of the studies on the efficacy of neurotherapeutic treatment of brain injury have been encouraging.  Jonathan Walker, a neurologist in private practice in Dallas, and his associates conducted a study of twenty-six patients with TBI treated with neurotherapy.  Of these patients, 88 percent reported at least a 50 percent improvement in symptoms, and all the patients who had worked prior to the brain injury returned to work after treatment.  Another promising neurotherapeutic technique for the treatment of head injury and, in particular, the immediate treatment of concussion is cerebral-blood-flow feedback.  This technique, called hemoencephalography (HEG), measures cerebral  blood flow and  instantly provides the client with feedback.  Hershel Toomim of the Biocomp Research Institute in Los Angeles developed an instrument to provide HEG feedback that has been used successfully with brain-injured clients as well as with children with ADHD and migraine sufferers.” p. 168.

It can be extremely hard to watch a parent or grandparent slowly slip away and lose their precious memories of family. While dementia is a terrible way to live one’s final years, it can be far tougher on those who are tasked to care for them.

Here is something you may not know: Previous studies have shown that dementia is associated with brain abnormalities including reduced blood flow in the brain, increased cortical slowing and a reduction in the dominant alpha frequency.

Alpha brainwaves are one of 4 brainwaves in our heads and are associated with long and short memory, amongst other things. when alpha waves are negatively impacted by factors such as age, concussion, stress and others, memory may be adversely affected. Think of the  brain as a series of roads, all connected to each other by bridges called (neurons). When neurons stop working, it’s like a bridge going out. The brain is forced to reroute to make those same connections, which can slow down response time. And as more connections are lost, some routes are lost completely. If memory data is stored behind these broken connections, then those memories can be lost as well.

Several studies on dementia have tried neurofeedback as a therapy option. Post treatment scores displayed significant improvement in verbal memory skills and recall. This means that those lost connections had been re-established and memory data was able to be accessed again. This is a positive sign that neurofeedback may offer hope for those dealing with significant memory loss.

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Let’s face it, young kids need constant stimulation. Their minds are still developing and they are curious about everything. This is a good thing and all part of growing up. But excessive energy or an inability to maintain control or focus could be a warning of a bigger issue.

Sustained Hyperactivity could signal a misfire in the brain. This is common in children, and often what leads some doctors to diagnose ADHD. But it could just be that the beta brainwaves in their heads are running too fast. Beta waves are one of four primary brainwaves in every person, and are responsible for conscious thought and intelligence. But if these waves are moving too fast, it could lead to hyperactivity.

Medications may help, but they do not solve the problem and can have side effects. A far better alternative is neurofeedback. This computer-based system can precisely identify those fast beta brainwaves and help slow them down over time. This process has many benefits: Less hyper, more focused, more organized and many others. Even better, it requires no medications and has no known side effects. But the best part is that it’s fun for kids to do: it just requires that they watch a movie or listen to music. The computer does all the work while they are engaged….and actually sitting still!

Neurofeedback has decades of research and case studies that show that it not only works, but results can be permanent. That is something that medications cannot provide. The first step in the process is getting a non-invasive brain map to identify which parts of the brain are not functioning optimally. From there neurofeedback session can help the brain function better, which can reduce or eliminate the symptoms associated with ADHD. Now wouldn’t that be a relief!

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There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that stress kills brain cells. Since stress is a “state of mind”, it would make sense that the part of the body most affected would be the mind. Stress often comes from many different sources, including work, family, relationships, money, and much more. While we may not have full control over these things, it’s HOW WE MANAGE IT that can make the difference.

The key to managing stress is to understand how it affects your brain. There are 4 main brainwaves in your head (delta, theta, alpha and beta). A healthy brain relies on all 4 to keep your mind and body regulated. But stress can lead to an increase in cortisol levels, keeping your mind racing all day with worry. When this happens we spend too much time in beta states (awake, focused) and not enough time in theta and alpha states (relaxed, calm, low power mode). Without a good balance between brainwave states, your whole system gets overworked and can lead to long term physical and mental health problems.

Here in Fort Wayne, we have a solution that can help. Neurofeedback is a form of brain training that can help regulate brainwaves to keep them balanced and functioning properly. Sessions are fun and easy: you watch a movie while small sensors on your head monitor brainwaves and help stimulate your brain to use more alpha and theta waves and less of the beta waves that keep you awake and on edge. Over time, the brain learns to regulate itself and can function properly on its own. Best of all, results are often permanent.

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PTSD is characterized by severe anxiety following a traumatic event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. PTSD can be a complicated and sometimes confusing disorder. Certain risk factors such as childhood experiences, past trauma, and a family history of depression may make a person more susceptible to the disorder.

Since PTSD is primarily a brain-based issue, it can be effectively addressed using a brain based therapy like neurofeedback.

There are numerous studies and research that have explored the effectiveness of neurofeedback for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults.  A recent controlled study showed that 24 sessions of neurofeedback significantly reduced PTSD symptoms. These studies all suggest that neurofeedback is a very promising approach to treatment. For many who suffer from PTSD, treatment options like drugs can have adverse side effects, while others can be too painful to tolerate.

Neurofeedback works so well because it is a drug free alternative that only requires the patient to listen to music or watch a movie. Although the technology is quite sophisticated, the process is simple, painless, and non-invasive. It is just learning. You learn to alter your brain activity the same way you learn every other skill – through feedback and practice. For those suffering from PTSD, neurofeedback is a viable, effective therapy worth serious consideration.

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