Neurotherapy

Neurofeedback is EEG Biofeedback.  It is a form of computer-guided learning in which instruments detect and feed information about the brain’s electrical or metabolic fluctuations back to the client in a way that allows them to learn how to self-regulate their brain’s activity.  Neurofeedback provides information about the brain’s rhythms that is reflected back to the client through changes in sound, visual patterns, or tactile vibrations.  The brain easily recognizes that changes in its “firing and wiring” cause changes in the visual and auditory patterns.  It begins to interact with the feedback in programmed ways, allowing it to  gradually strengthen its self-regulation skills.

Through neurofeedback, clients are empowered to regulate their own specific cerebral functions including EEG amplitude and connectivity, event-related potentials, infra-slow frequencies and regional cerebral blood flow. Neurofeedback provides a stronger sense of self because the clients are directly empowered to change themselves.  As physical exercise strengthens and molds the body, neurofeedback (brain exercise) strengthens and molds the brain.

Neuromodulation is the use of medical device technologies to enhance or suppress activity of the nervous system for the treatment of disease. Neuromodulation works through the principle of entrainment--the tendency of the brain to attend to and mirror patterns that are repetitively presented to it.  (Entrainment is, for example, the way that binaural beats are used to influence state changes ).  The neuromodulation can stimulate a brainwave pattern that the dysregulated brain is deficient in. The dysregulated brain is being guided in what to do so the brain can then mimic or emulate the stimulation to regulate healthier brainwave patterns. Because the stimulation is so mild, the brain can copy it. The healthier brain wave patterns are then reinforced and self-generated with neurofeedback treatment/training.  While neuromodulation does not promote the permanent changes that are found from true brain exercise (neurofeedback), it can be a powerful, non-medication way to “bio-hack” brain state, helping the brain to rapidly up-shift or down-shift its state of arousal.

Every client interested in starting neurofeedback will undergo a qEEG. The qEEG is an assessment tool to objectively and scientifically evaluate a person’s brainwave function by placing a snug cap on the head, which contains small electrodes to measure the electrical activity coming from the brain. This is done while the client is resting quietly with his or her eyes closed and the eyes open.

Afterward, a careful process is used to remove artifacts that occurred when the eyes moved or blinked, from body movement, or tension in the jaw, neck, or forehead. The brainwave data that were gathered are then statistically compared to a sophisticated and large normative database that provides scientifically objective information on how the brain should be functioning at the client’s age and to quantify the power, amount, distribution and ratio of various brain waves.