Fundamental Concepts of Neurofeedback

The BTI System

Monopolar vs. Bipolar Montages

Monopolar (or referential) montages are channels in which one electrode (usually the active, but that’s not necessarily true) is placed over an active EEG site on the head. Bipolar (or sequential) montages are channels in which BOTH active and reference electrode are placed over active EEG sites. T3/A1 has one electrode over a head site […]

Peak Frequency

Alpha peak frequency is the dominant frequency in the range. For example, if you looked at bars on the power spectrum in the alpha range, the bar that was tallest would be the peak frequency. This is another way of looking at level of activation. Alpha peak frequency should be around 10Hz (especially in the […]

Reversal

Reversal I don’t necessarily have a single protocol for limbic calming, because I think the brain establishes various strategies to deal with limbic over-drive situations. If the drive is related to later stress issues, then I am more likely to find the most common pattern in adults, which I call Reversal. The parietal and/or occipital […]

Pete’s First Rule of Neurofeedback

Pete’s first rule of NF is, “When you see something strange or unusual in the brain, first assume it is something you did or the client did before you assume it is the brain.” A corollary could be, “If you see something strange in the signal that you can’t fix, assume it is something the […]

Reading Placement Montages

Below are some concepts in understanding montages. For more information in understanding how to ready the montages in your Whole-Brain Training plan, please see our videos. Just to repeat one of the conventions we use, when a montage is listed, it should be listed as Active/Reference. If we follow that convention, then if someone writes […]

Rewards

Rewards Rewards in neurofeedback are the alerts the brain receives to let it know that it has done something worth repeating. Rewards are set in the computer’s protocol and usually come in the form of tones, or a video playing, or points accumulating in a game. When I trained with Joel Lubar in the early […]

Synchrony

Synchrony Synchrony indicates that two waveforms are coherent (consistent relationship between their peaks and valleys) and in phase (peak and valleys happening at the same time in both waveforms). If that is true when you add the waves together, the peaks are added to the peaks, giving the largest possible positive number, and the valleys […]

Slow Cortical Potential (SCP)

SCP refers to Slow Cortical Potentials. The brain produces both AC signals (the kind we usually train using neurofeedback), which oscillate between positive and negative numerous times per minute. When you train a signal at 14 Hz, for example, it has 14 positive and 14 negative pulses each second, which we see on the screen […]

Thresholds

Thresholds Here’s the way I look at the question of automatic versus manual thresholds: 1. Assuming one is talking about amplitude training only (i.e. not synchrony, variability or other options), generally a more healthy and mature brain produces lower amplitudes and lower variability. Even if you say you are training theta down and SMR up, […]

Two-Monitor Training

See also Dual Monitors. If you are using a laptop, you’ll already have ports for an external monitor (and perhaps a digital external monitor) if it is anything made in the last 10 years. If you are using a desktop, you may need to add a video card, most of which have dual monitor outputs. […]