Not Getting Results Asking about signs that neurofeedback is not working or is having negative effects is perfectly valid and answerable. It’s not working if the desired changes aren’t starting to happen within about 10 sessions or less. I know lots of folks (with knowledge bases 14 feet wide and 3/8 inch deep) who keep slogging along at the client’s expense for 30, 40, 50 or more sessions doing the same thing religiously and getting the same results–none. You can […]

Session Timing and Length When we set up designs, we don’t know if the trainer will be working in sessions that combine HEG and EEG, or doing EEG only, doing one exercise per session or three. The choice of training time is usually based on the degree of activation involved. If you are training to speed up brain activity–increase energy expenditure–then most of those protocols will be run for shorter periods. If I have a really slow brain, I may […]

In my work with clients, I have generally used the analogy of working at the gym. If you go once a week, you may feel better after the workout, but you are unlikely to produce any long-term changes. On the other hand, working out every day may not give a lot faster changes. I believe two-four times a week is ideal. Training the brain, like training the body, involves changing an energy set point. That takes time and consistency. I […]

Skull Thickness I’ve heard from a number of folks who are experts in EEG that the single factor that accounts for about 85% of overall differences in absolute EEG amplitudes is thickness of the skull.  The reality is that some people just have thick skulls.

Training Specific Bands I’m careful about trying to train down just a narrow frequency band (i.e. just delta). It’s very possible to reduce delta and increase theta or even (if there is dissociation involved) high beta. Squashes and windowed squashes are a good alternative in that they allow you to put a ceiling on a wide range of frequencies without necessarily training to increase anything. When the brain reduces amplitudes, it is activating its control circuits, which is usually what […]

When to Finish Training Usually by around 3 cycles through the blocks of training, you should be beginning to notice that changes are becoming more stable–not fading after a session. At that point I usually start stretching out the sessions. If you’ve been doing them 4 times a week, try dropping to 2; if 2 times a week, drop to 1. The idea is to verify that you are not regressing between sessions as you increase the period between them. […]