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What is neurofeedback?
What is the difference between biofeedback and neurofeedback?
Who can benefit from neurotherapy?
How is neurofeedback accomplished?
What are brainwave frequencies?
What does the procedure do to me? Will I feel anything from the equipment?
What is FNS?
How is the FNS procedure accomplished?
How does this procedure work?
How do you decide who participates?
How many sessions are usually needed?
Is QEEG neurotherapy proven? And do the effects last?
Is neurotherapy covered by insurance?
Are there risks involved?
TopNeurofeedback or EEG Biofeedback is a process whereby a person can learn to change his or her predominant brainwave pattern.
With practice, these new patterns can be trained to stay within desired limits, and the person is able to maintain the new patterns even when not in the neurofeedback situation.
What is the difference between biofeedback and neurofeedback?
Biofeedback is a process for monitoring a body function (such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature) and learning to regulate the function through relaxation or imagery. Many people like biofeedback training because it allows them to be in charge, giving them a sense of mastery and self-reliance over their own health.
Biofeedback operates on the principle of operant conditioning. It makes it possible to reverse the habitual patterns created by the stress response. Biofeedback has been used for decades to decrease symptoms of stress-related diseases.
Neurofeedback also called EEG biofeedback or neurotherapy is a form of biofeedback and a technique designed to teach people how to control their brain waves. It's focus is on feeding back information regulating brain activity utilizing EEG.It's a training process which uses technology to provide you with more information about what your body is doing than your ordinary senses provide. This "feedback" helps you learn to develop greater control over your brain.
Neurofeedback involves increasing or decreasing brainwave activity of certain frequencies at certain locations.
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Who can benefit from Neurotherapy?
Neurofeedback is beneficial for just about anyone. Training sessions are customized to meet an individual's needs.
Neurofeedback can be used to help ADD, effects of head injury, extreme stress, anxiety attacks, depression, emotional trauma, autism, explosive disorders, developmental delays, learning disabilities, Alzheimers and fibromyalgia. Post-stroke deficits have also improved with neurotherapy.
Neurotherapy also has the potential to improve your learning ability, behavior, school grades, self-esteem, job performance, and overall interactions with others.
The technique is also useful for advanced concentration and peak performance.
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How is neurofeedback accomplished?
The process begins with an electroencephalogram (or EEG, for short). An EEG is a record of the electrical activity of the brain. This is obtained by sensors attached to the surface of the scalp. (The EEG only records electrical activity coming from the brain. No electrical activity is ever administered to the brain from the EEG.)
These sensors pick up a wide variety of signals or brainwaves. The sensors (electrodes) are connected to an EEG biofeedback instrument, which is connected to a computer. The signals are filtered and processed, and feedback is provided visually on a computer screen and auditorily from speakers or earphones.As you train yourself to control your brain wave activity you strengthen your attention, concentration, and learning abilities.
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What are brainwave frequencies?
Brainwaves are electrical impulses generated by different parts of the brain.
Of interested are the brainwave frequencies from 0 to at least 40 cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).
Brain activity exhibits a mixture of frequencies at any given time. But the dominant frequency varies depending on the state of consciousness (ie: awake, anxious, angry, calm, relaxed) and on individual differences.
Delta is from 0 to 4 Hz, which is the brain frequency most predominant during deep sleep or during experiences of empathy. It reflects the unconscious mind.
Delta waves, the lowest frequency is thought to represents the gray matter (cortical activity) of the brain.
From 4 to 8 Hz is called Theta and is the predominant frequency during the transition stage between wakefulness and sleep. It relates to the subconscious. Theta waves are noted during creativity, intuition and daydreaming. It is a repository for memories, emotions and sensations. Theta waves are strong during internal focus, meditation and prayer.
Theta waves reflect activity from the limbic system, feelings, emotions, etc.
The next frequency band along the spectrum is Alpha, which is associated with relaxation, or idling at 8 to 12 Hz. In this state you can move quickly and efficiently to accomplish whatever task is at hand. Alpha appears to bridge the conscious to the subconscious. When Alpha waves predominate most people feel at ease and calm.
Alpha waves represent the white matter or the connections throughout the brain.
Brainwaves of 12 to 15 Hz represent Sensory Motor Rhythm (SMR). This is associated with bodily relaxation.
The next frequency band is called Beta and is usually defined as being between 15 and 18 Hz. It is predominant when one is focused or during periods of analytical problem solving, judgment, decision making and processing information about the world around us.
Beta waves center around cortical activity and our ability to think and access.
For more information on brain waves please click here.
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What does the procedure do to me? Will I feel anything from the equipment?
The equipment does not send any electricity into you. It only reads the tiny electrical signals from your brain through the scalp. Once again, the EEG only records electrical activity coming from the brain. No electrical activity is ever administered to the brain from the EEG.
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LENS main premise is to break up inhibitors.
It is a neurofeedback system that is passive in approach which means the equipment controls the change. In contrast, EEG uses an active approach where the individual actively changes their attentional focus.
It is similar to EEG in that it measures and records electrical signals from the scalp. It uses the frequencies of those signals to guide the speed of a feedback signal. The recorded signals influence the equipment to increase or decrease the level of electro-cortical activity.
In contrast to other brain wave biofeedback procedures, LENS does not maintain that faster brain waves are better for some problems, or that slower brain waves are better for other problems. Rather, LENS supports the premise that brain waves at rest becoming quieter, and at work more flexible.
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How is the LENS procedure accomplished?
This is a passive process.
This procedure is non-invasive and painless. No needles, shocks, skin penetration. There is no conscious learning or need for attention.
The brain wave recording process may require the use of a mild abrasive gel or witch hazel to clean the skin. Non-toxic electrode gel or cream will be applied to an ear clip to improve the quality of the recording. A sensor will then be pressed to your forehead or other scalp sites, and held there with a wax paste. A second sensor will be clipped to your ear, as mentioned above. A third sensor will be placed either at the back of your neck or at the base of your thumb.
The sensor leads or wires connect to a computer for analysis.
During the sessions you will be asked to sit quietly. Your brain can detect the feedback. The speed of the feedback will be controlled by the signals picked up at the scalp.Top
When people are overly stressed, injured, or traumatized, their brainwaves may get fixed, or stuck in a pattern of predominantly low or high frequencies. Symptoms can include anxiety, depression, irritability, fatigue, hyperactivity, distractibility, spaciness, mood swings, confusion, disorganization, problems with sleep, lack of concentration, memory and attention problems and poor reading comprehension.
Neurofeedback helps restore the cerebral cortex integrating function, and acts as a direct means of affecting the symptoms listed above.
Neurofeedback interrupts the brain's processing system when it is trapped in a pattern of malfunctioning, restoring it to its own optimal functioning pattern. Most people have untapped resources to reach better functioning even if they have been told they could not improve.
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The brainwaves received by the computer guide the return of feedback to the brain. Feedback is provided by a set of tiny transducers sending either dim light or a weak energy field to the brain. The feedback reduces or increases brainwave frequencies allowing the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, to work more efficiently. This allows the cortex to exercise better control of mood, cognitive functioning, smoother and better-coordinated movement, and more restful energy. These changes support greater flexibility of functioning. At the culmination of therapy the brain no longer needs the help of neurofeedback.
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How do you decide who participates?
Participation in this program is determined based on the results of the Neurocognitive evaluation(CNAA), a comprehensive battery of screenings and a quantitative EEG (qEEG).
qEEG is another way of obtaining an EEG. Using a cap with built-in sensors it records 20 sites on the scalp. This brainwave activity is then processed by computer, utilizing FDA approved software, comparing your brainwave patterns to an age-normed database.
Several minutes of brainwaves are collected during the following conditions: with the eyes closed or with the eyes open or during a task such as reading, listening or playing Tetris.Based on the analysis of the individual's brainwave activity a program protocol is set up. This can include EEG neurofeedback sessions. In addition, the initial brain map is used as a baseline to show all future improvement.
The quantitative EEG helps identify which areas of the brain and its pathways need to be retrained.
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How many sessions are usually needed?
Depending on the sensitivity, complexity and duration of symptoms determines how many sessions will be needed. Typically ADD/ADHD requires a minimum of 40 sessions. Other conditions vary: for example, head injury or stroke may take many more sessions to obtain desired results.
You will have as many sessions as you need, each lasting between 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours in duration. Only a portion of the time may be spent in neurofeedback. The rest of the time will be spent utilizing other tools for improving areas of the brain systems that are out of balance.It is difficult to predict how many sessions will be required. Most people notice a within 2 weeks. However, in order to establish long term effects we have found completing the recommended number of sessions are necessary for optimal change.
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Is QEEG Neurotherapy proven? And do the effects last?
Neurotherapy has been found to be effective for many neurological based disorders such as ADD/ADHD, head injury, stress, anxiety, depression, memory disorders, dementia, emotional trauma, autism, explosive disorders, developmental delays, learning disabilities, Alzheimers.
Neurometric analysis received FDA approval as a diagnostic tool and presently is the only objective measure for many neurological based disorders. LENS has been studied clinically since 1990. According to research, 77% of the more than 2,500 people treated have experienced significant improvements in their central nervous system symptoms, and the benefits gained seem only to sustain or increase, unless a new trauma occurs.
Although clinical and experimental research continues, and more experimental research is planned, scientific research on LENS has not yet been published.
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Is Neurotherapy covered by insurance?
Some insurance companies will pay for brainwave biofeedback and neurotherapy. Check with your insurance provider to see if you are covered. We do ask for full payment at the time of the session. We will be happy to assist you with information you may need to provide to your insurance carrier.
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RISKS:
Neurofeedback and SeizuresThe visual feedback from LENS is, most of the time, invisible even in the dark , even though the feedback signals measured at the scalp are clearly present on the computer monitor. This means that the feedback signals used are many times dimmer than from any other kind of visual feedback system.
In practice, there have always been other medical reasons other than the use of LENS for the presence of seizures.
There have been reported seizures in those who have had prior seizures, generally contributed to by the presence of allergies, inhalant hypersensitivities, asthma, orthostatic hypotension, blood sugar changes, fatigue, overwork, and changes in medication.
When a desensitization process is undertaken, the brightness of the feedback signal is increased to the visible range. When done properly, this process has acts as an anticonvulsant and has led to medically supervised decreases in anticonvulsants.
One of the biggest sources of seizures is the hasty and medically uncontrolled decrease in anticonvulsants in attempts to decrease their side effects. We do not recommend such decreases, and urge patients to consult their physicians about their desires to decrease their medications of any kind.
Always consult your physician prior to beginning any new protocol.
Always tell Crossroads if you or your child is seizure prone or on seizure medication.
Brief Reactions:
On rare occasion, when the lights in the glasses are made brighter, the lights may be too bright, and may make you irritable, tense, or anxious. This rarely happens for more than a second at a time. But if this does happens, please tell the therapist and the settings on the equipment can be changed to make the lights less intense. Always tell Crossroads immediately if you feel any changes.
Longer Lasting Reactions:
You may experience a one or two week period of increased emotion such as anger, fear, or irritability. Or you may feel as if you have tremendous energy to do things, or feel very tired.
These increases in sensations and awareness of emotions are due to the limbic cortical loop and neurological pathways reorganizing.You are encouraged to report any and all changes you or your child may be experiences.
We also ask that you inform us of any medications you use while you participate, and are not to change your medications without first informing your physician and therapist.
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