Abreactions Abreactions are any unwanted and usually negative responses to brain training. They are rare when one is carefully following a brain map, and no research has ever found that there are lasting negative effects to a few sessions with negative reactions. That said, there is usually never a time when a negative response such as headache, spaciness or extreme exhaustion is something we should work through. I would admit that there are times when a client may have a […]
Tips for Making Sessions Run Better Once you understand the basics of neurofeedback, including how to get good connections, open a design, and run a session, you are likely to have more nuanced questions. This section is intended to help you get some of the neurofeedback training answers you need to become a seasoned brain trainer.
If you watch the oscilloscope, you’ll get comfortable reading what EEG activity looks like: it is not generally repetitive or overly consistent. When all the wave forms are roughly the same height, instead of taller and shorter, that’s probably not brain. If the width of the waves are very consistent rather than shifting to wider (slower) and narrower (faster) patterns, again, that’s probably something mechanical rather than organic. Sudden spikes, especially when they are repetitive, probably also indicate a problem. […]
Physical Reactions For very stressed people, tingling in hands and feet as a reaction to neurofeedback can be a result of shifting into parasympathetic mode, so the blood gets back out to the extremities. Whole body tingling might just be a person actually being in touch enough with his sensory inputs to actually be aware of himself as a sensing being. Wild guess. Reaction vs Rebound The rebound effect is an autonomic phenomenon. When a person has high levels of […]
Blinking Blinking is very interesting. We used to use it as an indicator of progress in speeding up the brain. When a client was holding down theta relative to beta, blinking frequency dropped way down. This was very reliable. People who have a fair amount of slow activity OFTEN blink a LOT! Don’t know why that is, but it’s a commonly–if anecdotally–recognized finding. And as you speed up brain frequencies, commonly blinking becomes less of an issue.
I don’t think of anything that would be contra-indicated for brain training if you are willing to take on the person/support system that carries the brain around. We screened out families with split parents (one strongly favoring training, the other strongly opposed) and kids on three or more psychoactive meds. We worked with things that I didn’t think had much of a chance of responding, telling the client that up front and letting them choose to take the flier (e.g. […]
Cultural Differences I agree that it’s likely there are cultural differences in brains. Heck, there are large individual differences in their patterns, why not cultural. I don’t think I ever did an assessment in Switzerland or Korea that didn’t have hot temporals, but no one ever indicated an interest in training to reduce anxiety. High levels of fast wave activity were common in those (and other) places. I trained hot temporals and trainees found the changes pleasant in Switzerland. The […]
Eyes Open vs. Eyes Closed Training As for training down beta and high beta, in my experience it matters quite a bit whether you are training eyes closed or eyes open. Also what kind of feedback you are giving can make a difference. Using contingent feedback (beeps or clicks) only when the client passes on all filters can result in a highly beta-oriented person “trying,” which often will increase fast activity. I often use eyes-closed protocols with musical (continuous) feedback, […]
Falling Asleep During Sessions You can work with a “sleeping” client with any EEG equipment. Unless you see a significant spike in Theta, the client is not really asleep. Letting a client “sleep” and get the brain into a solid SMR/sleep spindles state for a few sessions is very positive. However, if in fact one has an unchangeable lifestyle that doesn’t allow one ANY down-time, no wonder he sleeps as soon as he has a chance to sit still for […]
Feedback Don’t think; don’t try. Just pay attention to the feedback. Meaning of Tones What does music mean?!! What do sounds mean? Of course an anxious, obsessive person, a person driven by the need to control, wants to know that kind of stuff. That’s exactly why I started playing with music feedback when my son first introduced me to the WaveRider back in the mid-to-late 90’s. Of course, those clients HATED closing their eyes, and even more HATED being told […]