What's New in Neurofeedback

Mental Fitness Programs

• Mental Fitness Training is a scientifically based, non-invasive program that identifies the unique strengths, goals and needs of each individual and provides training to optimize brain function for peak mental performance. The Mental Fitness Program empowers you to achieve positive change by facilitating enhanced self-awareness, smooth effortless mental performance, and a more conscious life style. Also known as Peak Performance Training.

• Personalized program for Golf   Assisting golfers into the "zone", that wonderful relaxed state where everything is effortless and it seems like you can't miss.

New Neurofeedback Clinicians / New Offices

Martha Bristor, Ph.D.
Lynn M. Darling, Ph.D.
411 W. Lake Lansing Rd., Ste B-130
East Lansing, MI  48823-1439
(517) 351-4888

Tamara Lorensen
10 Rockbourne Terrace
Paddington Brisbane Qld
Ph: 019 490 696
61 (0) 7 54829242
Fax: 61 (0) 7 54 836116
Email: tamara@tpgi.com.au

Allen Darbonne, Ph.D.
4676 Admiralty Way, #409
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 578-6400
(new office)

August is the month most associated with the Sun. As evidenced by the triple-digit temperatures around the country the last few weeks, August will continue to be a time for escaping the heat (at least for those of us whose heads are closer to the North Star than our feet). Not only does the Sun dictate our vacation plans, it dominates most processes within one or two light years of our location. And human EEG is no exception.

First I should provide some background on circadian rhythms. Well, about 4.6 billion years ago a star between 6 and 33 light years from here exploded and sent a formidable shock wave out in all directions. Encountering a large cloud of gas and dust in its path (which had been seeded with heavier dust from a more distant supernova two billion years before), the shock wave compressed the dusty cloud and started a process which produced a whole slew of familiar shapes. Ignoring some of the details, 4.5 billion years quickly passed on one of the spinning rocks and here we are today placing electrodes on the various descendants of a strange experiment in information transmission and storage, also known as life.... The important point is that we evolved on a spinning surface which faces the sun half the time.

Does our EEG reflect this evolutionary history? In other words, does human EEG exhibit a circadian rhythm, and if so, what relevance may it hold for neurofeedback?

Analyzing EEG from more than 150 subjects at various times of day I have found ample evidence of the Sun's influence on a wide range of frequency activity. A fellow scientist, however, recently questioned my data and suspected that any circadian rhythm apparent in the EEG was probably due to drowsiness or hunger or lunch. Now I agree that these factors do play a role -- however he believed that role was a starring one. If the drowsy epochs were clipped out of my data set, so his argument went, the EEG would remain relatively flat throughout the entire day. Essentially, this person, as others before and after him, argue that EEG is about the only physiological, biochemical, or endocrinological process in the human which evolved unaffected by the Sun.

What biological processes are influenced by a 24 hour day-night cycle? In short, nearly all of them. A search of the literature reveals 1000s of papers which describe circadian rhythms in various biological measurements -- body temperature, heart rate, motor activity-- far too many to relate here. A recent paper on ultradian cycles in event-related potentials (Polich, 1997) found evidence of ultradian rhythms in the background EEG and in the ERP signals themselves. So why do some neuroscientists and psychologists deny the existence or importance of circadian or ultradian rhythms in gross neuroelectric activity? Perhaps the clearer argument would be that such cycles, if they exist, are not relevant to neurofeedback assessment or training. Perhaps... But the following (true) example points to how time of day can be critical in neurofeedback training:

A woman with epilepsy undergoing neurofeedback learned that whenever she was supervised by her regular clinician she performed much worse than when he was out of town and she took her sessions with a substitute trainer. This effect (sometimes called the experimenter effect) is not unusual and could be attributed to numerous factors. With her regular clinician, she averaged around 5 microvolts each session, but when the substitute trainer was in the room it wasn't unusual to record a mean of 7 or 8 microvolts. Well, it didn't take long before both she was convinced that her regular clinician's approach was poor and inferior to the sub's. A logical conclusion, but totally unfounded. You see, the woman met with her regular clinician at 5 pm but the sub couldn't make it at 5 pm and always scheduled their sessions for 7. The change in time of day was altering the EEG baseline from which she worked, not any clinical approach.

There's nothing new under the Sun, so the saying goes. The woman and her new trainer had simply rediscovered what was already known. In November 1983, Gertz and Lavie published a paper in the journal Psychophysiology which should have focused attention on the possible confounding influence of circadian rhythms on EEG biofeedback. The paper was for, some ungodly reason, enigmatically titled:   "Biological rhythms in arousal indices: A potential confounding  effect in EEG biofeedback" The title alone may explain why few people in EEG biofeedback field seem aware of the problem to this day... Gertz and Lavie recorded EEG from 11 subjects for about 8 hours each. During this time, arousal was evaluated (albeit subjectively) and between EEG recordings subjects underwent a form of EEG biofeedback. They observed significant ultradian rhythmicity in the EEG (at about 200 min/cycle, the Basic Rest Activity cycle). The rhythmicity was also apparent in the arousal measure. They also reported a more prominent circadian rhythm during eyes closed than during eyes open conditions. They correctly concluded that because "the observed ultradian and circadian     EEG rhythmicities could be spuriously interpreted as learning curves under      a biofeedback paradigm, it is argued that future designs should      incorporate continuous baseline controls." Wise advice which has been almost entirely ignored.

In 1995 we reported that absolute magnitudes in all frequencies were similarly modulated across the day. This similar modulation suggested a common organizing influence on the cortical expression of thalamic input. In other words, the Sun had long ago set a timer or two inside the thalamus (as it had everywhere else) and we rediscovered this basic fact. For our efforts, our data and conclusions immediately came under suspicion. Those who should have recognized the obvious role of the Sun in neurophysiology and neurofeedback, who encountered it each and every day, were (predictably) the most obstinate. How many times must America be discovered before it stays discovered? At least five times.... and this is only round two or three for circadian cycles in EEG.

All in all, circadian rhythms are probably a big problem for neurofeedback training. Most people who see a clinician regularly do so at about the same time of day each time, due to work or school schedules. Time of day is more likely to vary between widely-spaced recording sessions (assessments) than between shortly-spaced sessions (training). And most clinicians nowadays work with reinforcement schedules (e.g., 70% above threshold, 80% above threshold, etc.) more than amplitude values. Assessments (which are usually widely-spaced sessions) are more vulnerable to time of day effects. The best solution adopted by many offices is to test people only at one time during the day, typically around 10:00 am in the morning. But what happens when the client is running late? When they appear at 11:30 am, are they rescheduled for the next day or are they re-tested anyway then and there? In other words, do you let the Sun into your data or not?

DK

NEW BOOKS

At least 5-8% of the school-aged children in this country are afflicted by neurophysiological disorders. These conditions often persist into adulthood with many people never understanding what continues to hamper their cognitive and emotional functioning. Brainstorms examines questions surrounding the possible neurobiological underpinnings of the emotionally hyperactive and hyperreactive components of ADHD and related disorders.

For more information, see [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765700808/]

Stranger Than Fiction: When Our Minds Betray Us
  by Marc D. Feldman and Jacqueline M. Feldman with Roxenne Smith
  270 pp, American Psychiatric Press, $23.95

A variety of complex psychopathologies are presented, both individual and group, including multiple personality disorder (MPD), false memory syndrome, and modern-day hysteria, by means of cases, theories, and references.

Click title for review. To order, [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0880489308/]

Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment & Recovery in America
  by William L. White
  Paperback; Chestnut Health Systems; $19.95

A comprehensive historical book on the history of addiction treatment and recovery in America. Includes numerous approaches as well as fake or ineffective treatments of alcoholism and drug addictions.

For more information, see [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/093847507X/]

JOURNAL PAPERS

Parent personality traits and psychopathology associated with antisocial behaviors in childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
  Nigg JT, Hinshaw SP
  J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1998 Feb;39(2):145-159