Title: WHAT IS NEUROFEEDBACK AND HOW COULD IT HELP ME?

Author: KATHY ROGERS, M.S.W., LCSW

Neurofeedback or neurotherapy is biofeedback for the brain. Some therapists call it "brain training". Why would I want to consider brain training for myself or my child? If my counselor has suggested that it is time for a medication evaluation, but I wish to avoid the side effects of medication, then brain training may be an option. If my counselor indicates a problem with attentional issues but does not know if the culprit is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or anxiety, then neurotherapy may be a part of evaluation and treatment. If the medication dosage for ADHD behavioral symptoms is so strong that it interferes with attention then neurotherapy may be a more effective treatment modality. If medication and talk therapy are not providing relief from symptoms such as anger and irritability neurotherapy can calm the central nervous system. Neurotherapy can address symptoms of anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addictive cravings, eating disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tourettes Syndrome, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Autism, Sensory Integrative Dysfunction, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Students, athletes and individuals in the performing arts use neurofeedback training to enhance peak performance. Neurotherapy may be used instead of or as an adjunct to talk therapy.

A clinician trained in neurotherapy looks at how symptoms can be regulated by intervening on the level of brain functioning. An example is a child who is struggling with peer relationships and making slow progress with trying to build social skills. A neurotherapist would train over the right rear quadrant of the brain because this is the site that regulates emotional warming and the ability to read social cues. An adolescent with rage problems would be trained over the temporal lobes. An adult with a trauma history would receive training over the parietal lobes.

What happens during a Neurofeedback session?

The therapist attaches EEG sensors over the training site selected to address particular symptoms. Electrical activity is monitored by the therapist's computer. The client's computer then provides visual feedback in the form of a game presentation and auditory feedback in the form of short beeps. The client's brain is rewarded when it produces brainwaves that improve calmness and alertness. The idea is to teach the brain to idle in a calm focused state, much like a car idling at a stop sign. The feedback is like sprinkling a trail of crumbs that says to the brain, "Come over here. You'll like this."

How does it work?

Brain function is not only biochemical but is also bioelectric. It communicates with itself and the rest of the body by creating brain waves of different frequencies. These brain waves determine our mental and emotional arousal. Delta waves are large amplitude slow brain waves associated with sleep. Theta waves are associated with a dreamy state as when one is just awakening. Alpha waves represent an open focused relaxed meditative state; addictive cravings are a result of a brain that produces insufficient alpha. Beta waves at 12 to 18 hertz are responsible for calm focused or alert focused states needed to perform tasks effectively.

If the brain is producing too much delta, theta or high beta at a particular site its function at that site will be impaired. A brain with high delta in the right rear quadrant will be asleep on the job and unable to respond to social messages. A brain with excessive high beta at the same site will be too aroused to attend to those same messages. In either case training down these underarousal or overarousal states will allow the client to apply what is being learned in counseling. Neurotherapists train brains to achieve regulated arousal states and normalize client ability to function without disturbing symptoms.

How do I know this is not a placebo effect?

The first neurofeedback trainees were cats used in NAASA rocket science research to stave off seizures induced by exposure to rocket fuel. Their brains were trained to produce increased amplitude of brain waves at 12 to 15 Hz frequency. These cats were exposed to a volatile rocket fuel called hydrazine. The untrained cats in the control group seized at 1 hour. The brain trained cats were more resistant to seizures: 25% remained seizure-free and 75% of the cats were able to resist seizures for 2 hours.