Neurofeedback
Also known as neurotherapy, neurofeedback is a non-invasive technique designed to teach people how to control their brain waves.
It is a training tool based on electroencephalography (EEG), the measurement of changes in electrical potential that accompany any brain activity.
The first clues that brain waves could be altered intentionally came nearly four decades ago. In the late 1960s sleep researcher M.Barry Sterman learned something interesting while tracking the EEGs of cats. He found a previously unknown pattern of brain waves with frequencies between 12 and 15 Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second, in a part of the brain called the sensorimotor cortex.
Sterman, now professor emeritus at the Unviersity of California, Los Angeles, dubbed this pattern the sensorimotor rhythm, or SMR. SMR was always present, he learned, in relaxed and awake felines. When he rewarded the animals at those moments with snacks, they began to produce stronger SMR. Through this conditioning experiment, Sterman demonstrated that it is possible to change one's own brain waves deliberately.
More than 30 years after Sterman's initial work with SMR's scientists are exploring how neurofeedback might be used to treat a variety of ailments. In addition to SMRs other brain waves at different frequencies characterize certain mental states.
In deep sleep, for example, delta waves, with frequencies of up to 4 HZ and high amplitudes, dominate. Frequencies around 10Hz, known as alpha waves, are present in a relaxed but awake brain; they emerge, for example, when we lie back with our eyes closed. If we then begin to concentrate on something, beta waves, with frequencies greater than 13 Hz, travel across the cortex. Lower frequency theta waves appear when the brain relaxes. Theta waves, with high amplitudes and frequencies falling between those of delta and alpha waves, normally appear in adults during light sleep and meditation.
Treatment method
Neurofeedback uses computer technology to measure the brain's electrical activity and feeds back that information to the person via a video image. Each time the brain activity changes in the desired direction, the individual receives a reward by way of an audio feedback or movement in the video.
The objective is to keep the brain operating in this ideal environment.
Neurofeedback has been used by NASA astronauts, PGA golfers, musicians, Olympic athletes and Fortune 500 CEOs to enhance their performance.
People with attention problems produce more slow brain waves (theta) and fewer fast brain waves (beta). Theta waves are a sign of mental drifting, while beta waves are associated with concentration. Neurofeedback sessions attempt to increase beta waves while reducing theta waves.
Treatment, administered by a trained professional, involves attaching electrodes to the scalp to listen in on brainwave activity. The signal is processed by the computer, and based on this information, the brainwave activity is shaped towards more desirable performance. By training the brain in this fashion, the user strengthens his attention, concentration and learning abilities.
Neurofeedback has been shown to effectively reduce symptoms from a range of ailments including attention deficit disorder (ADD), epilepsy, mood swings, anxiety and sleep disorders. It has also helped patients recovering from head injuries and stroke by helping the brain function better.
