Has anyone here tried Neurofeedback?

[Left coast liberal]

I have been doing some reading after I saw this article.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-19093-Seattle-Special-Needs-Kids-Examiner~y2009m9d7-Neurofeedback-101-what-is-it

Anyone have some first hand experience with this?

:-)

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Yeah, me.

I've been using it in treating various conditions since 1994, have published a little in the area, and have BCIA certification in the EEG (neurotherapy) specialty. I tend to use it for PTSD and addictions, but I do clinical supervision of a guy who mostly uses it for ADHD, autism, and some related disorders.

[Left coast liberal]

3. Fascinating!

I am curious if it might help my son who has Apraxia, severe speech delay.

Thanks for the info.

It sounds totally cool!

[Jackpine Radical]

It may very well be useful in a case like that.

You can address a wide range of problems with EEG biofeedback; consider the fact that you can get signals from most of the outside surface of the cerebral cortex depending on where you put your electrodes. Then you can vary just what it is you are training. For example, the most common protocol for ADHD involves putting one electrode about halfway between the top of the ear and the top center of the head, and training the brain to increase activity in the 23-20 Hz range while decreasing everything below about 8 Hz.

In addition to just raining one site like that, you can train two or more sites to function together--or, if they are too locked-in with each other, you can train those sites to function more independently of each other.

The main idea I'm trying to get across here is that neurofeedback therapy can be fairly complex, and you want a therapist with a really good background. The Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA) has an online list of people who are certified specifically in EEG therapy. I know of good practitioners who are not certified, but unless you have specific recommendations about somebody, you might want to look for someone in your area who is listed.

There are certain companies, like EEG Spectrum, and BrainMaster who have their own lists of providers, but you get on those lists mostly by paying for it. I would look for the BCIA cert.

I should also mention that there is a diagnostic procedure called QEEG (Quantitative EEG) assessment. In this process, a brain map--sort of a topographical map of different kinds of brain activity--is made of the examinee's head by reading activity at 19 sites simultaneously while she is doing various mental activities such as reading, doing math, or sitting with eyes closed. A brain map procedure of this sort is somewhat expensive, but can be very useful in guiding the clinician in selecting the right protocol. Most of the time you can probably do fine without the brain map; I would resort to it only if the initial attempts at training weren't getting anywhere. At least 80% of the time an experienced clinician can guess the right protocol just based on symptoms, without the brainmap.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. It may very well be useful in a case like that.

You can address a wide range of problems with EEG biofeedback; consider the fact that you can get signals from most of the outside surface of the cerebral cortex depending on where you put your electrodes. Then you can vary just what it is you are training. For example, the most common protocol for ADHD involves putting one electrode about halfway between the top of the ear and the top center of the head, and training the brain to increase activity in the 23-20 Hz range while decreasing everything below about 8 Hz.

In addition to just raining one site like that, you can train two or more sites to function together--or, if they are too locked-in with each other, you can train those sites to function more independently of each other.

The main idea I'm trying to get across here is that neurofeedback therapy can be fairly complex, and you want a therapist with a really good background. The Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA) has an online list of people who are certified specifically in EEG therapy. I know of good practitioners who are not certified, but unless you have specific recommendations about somebody, you might want to look for someone in your area who is listed.

There are certain companies, like EEG Spectrum, and BrainMaster who have their own lists of providers, but you get on those lists mostly by paying for it. I would look for the BCIA cert.

I should also mention that there is a diagnostic procedure called QEEG (Quantitative EEG) assessment. In this process, a brain map--sort of a topographical map of different kinds of brain activity--is made of the examinee's head by reading activity at 19 sites simultaneously while she is doing various mental activities such as reading, doing math, or sitting with eyes closed. A brain map procedure of this sort is somewhat expensive, but can be very useful in guiding the clinician in selecting the right protocol. Most of the time you can probably do fine without the brain map; I would resort to it only if the initial attempts at training weren't getting anywhere. At least 80% of the time an experienced clinician can guess the right protocol just based on symptoms, without the brainmap.

[Kceres]

2. News to me, however my father swore by biofeedback to treat his migraines.

The headaches were so debilitating for him he was suicidal at one time. He learned biofeedback as a last resort and claims he never had pain again. He said he still got the migraines but he didn't perceive the pain. I know it took him a week at a clinic to learn the technique and he would raise the temperature of his hands. This was in the mid-1980s. After learning the BF he lived the rest of his life pretty much migraine-pain free.

[PDJane]

4. Yep.

Biofeedback and meditation have pretty much saved what's left of my mind.

Pain has been driving me crazy for years.