You Don’t Change It, The Brain Changes Itself It’s really hard for many who are trained in the area of mental health care to get this concept: it’s the BRAIN that is changing. You aren’t changing it; it’s changing itself. If you’ll just let it look at itself in a series of mirrors (feedback) until […]

Theta Theta is defined by some as 3-7 or 3-8 Hz and others as 4-8 Hz. Many more experienced trainers tend to prefer staying away from the Greek letter denominations and just talk about frequencies themselves. 3Hz activity is kind of a crossover point between delta and theta. It is a frequency which you generally […]

Alpha Alpha is primarily found in the rear of the brain, over sensory areas. Alpha is the bridge between conscious (beta) and subconscious (theta) states.  Alpha peaks should be around 10Hz.  Alpha would be expected to be higher in back and on the right (except that O1 is probably higher than O2).  The alpha frequency […]

Low Beta/SMR SMR is the frequency above alpha in the sensorimotor cortex, between C3 and C4.  In adults, alpha is expected to have its peak at 10 Hz, in a band from 8-12 Hz, so SMR is likely to be around 12-15 Hz. In children of 8 years, the peak alpha frequency is often around […]

Beta The useful range of beta for most folks is from around 15 to around 22 Hz.  Studies as far back as the 1970s have shown that some people experience the faster range (18-22 Hz) as intense focus, curiosity and engagement; others experience it as anxious and obsessive.  Above 22 Hz, it’s pretty safe to say […]

High Beta When a person is anxious and can’t stop thinking, you’ll usually see high beta.  High beta or beta 3 is 23-38 Hz and should not be trained up.  It’s not a frequency brains ordinarily make much, because it’s tremendously wasteful of energy and not particularly useful unless you are in a seriously threatening […]

Gamma Gamma represents a pretty small share in most brains, and the overall band has increased from 40 to 42 Hz. Jay Gunkelman did a fascinating presentation at FutureHealth in which he reviewed studies on gamma and its role as the binding frequency going back several decades. He showed quite impressively that gamma appears to […]

Peak Performance There is a valid point about “peak performance” training that says that ALL neurofeedback is just that.  Unless you happen upon a perfect brain, whatever that might look like, everyone, even high performers, have issues of anxiety or low energy or obsessiveness or lapses of attention of impulsive behavior or whatever.  If you […]