Any conversation about neurofeedback has to begin with a look at the brain. The brain is really an information engine. It's really oriented toward processing lots and lots of information at the same time. And in fact, the brain is rather self absorbed, most of what goes on in the brain, is the brain talking to itself, about itself. One key aspect of brain function, is that neurons don't act alone. We've got ten billion neurons up there in our glorious cortex and if one of them does or doesn't do it's thing, that can't really matter. it can't matter, we can't suddenly have an automobile accident because some single neuron is acting up. So, when we're looking at the EEG for example we're looking at those bunches of neurons performing in groups. The EEG is composed of a range of frequencies all the way from zero to more than a hundred hertz, and the brain cares about each one. With our specially designed tools we can now teach people to generate more or less of these specific frequencies, and that has implications for brain function. What is Neurofeedback? We like to think of neurofeedback really as a brain exercise and specifically we're exercising the brain's ability to self regulate The headroom that we have available for better function through brain training is much larger then the headroom we have available through physical exercise. This allows you to wake up better, fall asleep better, pay attention better, calm down better, all of those state management issues that underlie good function. There are certain basic ways that the brain can fail to self regulate appropriately. A person could be stuck in high arousal, have difficulty calming down, falling asleep. He could be stuck in low arousal, have difficulty waking up and being motivated. Also the brain could just spiral out of its own control into a symptom like a migraine, or a panic attack, or a seizure. At my worst I was having a pretty major migraine several times a month that would last generally three days and sometimes would last longer like five days but I had headaches really every day, and I was taking medication throughout the day to try to control the headaches so they wouldn't become worse. And I was really at the point where they said the next step for me would be a preventative one and that I would probably have to take this medication that causes you to drop words in the middle of your sentences and it really effects your speech patterns, and it was scary neurofeedback can be helpful with a wide variety of people different ages from very young children, through adults, through old age, through people with very severe conditions, to people who want to improve their performance who are already functioning quite well. Recently my mother suggested that I talk to a friend of hers who had done neurofeedback and had had great success. You know I definitely feel that my stress level is so much lower now then it was. So the variables for us are where do we put the electrodes, and what frequencies do we reward, which turns out to be enormously specific from individual to individual. I basically go in and I watch a monitor and they teach my brain to stay in this certain range of levels. Within the first session and from session to session we need to dial in what is the most comfortable and effective reward frequency how much do we need to get a person more calm or more activated once we have that worked out then we can think in terms of placement and we can get quite specific in terms of which brain functions we want to target by where we put the electrodes on the head. Neurofeedback session starts with putting electrodes on the head to measure the brain waves. Nothing goes into the brain but we are measuring what the brain is already doing and then we use those brainwaves to drive the video game which is the feedback to the client for example with Inner Tube when the brain is achieving the goals that we set then the rocket ship accelerates makes more exhaust, which is a reward If your brain goes off in the wrong direction then a black fog comes in and obscures the tunnel. So we are finding these ways of twisting the arm of the brain if you will to get it to react and do our bidding and it is that push on our part and the push back on the part of the brain that effects then the gradual learning process by which the brain learns to behave better. From day one of my sessions in Neurofeedback my headaches have started to decrease I mean really it started to happen right away. So this is a skill that the brain learns and of course once it's learned it, it's going to hold on to that and use it everyday so it won't forget. We start to see change rather immediately with Neurofeedback it has some impact within the first session or the first few sessions then we like to think in terms of twenty session blocks because twenty sessions is enough to get a significant measurable change and at that point there is a decision to be made of whether to go forward or whether we're done. So how's your head right now? It's pretty good. Over a number of sessions we can get the brain to adopt a different style of functioning which it then owns and the person can then have a choice and say hey I don't need to live in anxiety anymore I can choose to live in a calmer state. I can really tell that my brain works differently it almost feels like there is a lid on that is stopping my brain from going to the place that it goes to to start the migraines. And I do feel a lot more peace in the way I look at my life It's really been an overall sense of calm that I have gotten out of the process in addition to the specific benefits of not having the headaches. Neurofeedback is such engaging work because the more we do it the more we learn the more people we can help and recently we have learned to do this training in a way that is more calming, which has extended our range to people with very high arousal such as the autistic spectrum severe chronic pain, agitation, anxiety. And then there are the surprises that we can be helpful even with the degenerative conditions of the elderly Parkinson's, the dementias and so forth. This is the frontier of Neuroscience and literally everything that the brain manages is coming within out reach. This has relevance to the children who are failing in our schools to the homeless who are mentally ill to the criminal population to the addict in our society to the elderly who are failing in their memory and their other capacities and at the other end it is useful to the sports performer who is at the top of his game - to the corporate executive - and to the stressed out housewife Across the board, name it, it is useful and worthwhile to train the brain to better function. The potential is huge. For more information or to find a provider please visit www.eeginfo.com