A Monthly Summary of News and Events
Vol. 13 No. 1 - Jan 2010
This newsletter is sponsored by EEG Spectrum International, Inc.,
the leader in neurotherapeutic services.
Past issues at start.eegspectrum.com and yahoogroups.com.
Opinions in this newsletter reflect those of the author only.
Copyright (c) 2010 by David and ESI. Some rights reserved.
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Links at http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain
A few months ago I had a request for new EEG-based applications that could be used to help athletes, airline pilots, and horse racing. Here are some techniques for using neurotechnology to improve the abilities of people and assorted species. I hope these ideas trigger others in those doing neurotherapy (feedback or modulation) in their practices.
Reversing selected patterns of aging in the brain
By the time we’re 45 our brain has become the most complex thing in the universe; flexible, intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate, and confident, letting the universe rest at its fingertips. As we continue into our 50s and 60s our frontal lobes fully connect but by this time much of the rest of the cortex has thinned and lost a third or more of its connections, and with this a firm grasp on the world. We can identify and monitor the effects of aging with electroencephalography (EEG); and with brain-based tools we can help an individual slow and even reverse the negative effects of aging. We can roll brain patterns back to a younger day using basic reward-guided learning, which has 40 years of research, or by inducing slower frequencies with magnets and stimulators, which is now popular.
Humans can learn forever if they care to, and we can help people along the way by any number of neurotherapeutic techniques -- here are three:
To determine an EEG profile, we record from electrodes spaced evenly across the scalp, using any reference (linked ears is conventional). EEG activity is analyzed using magnitude, power, variability and any number of coefficients. EEG connectivity refers to similar (shared) information between sites and is any function of functions that evaluate the similarity or difference between signals. Each measure shows us something different about the information processing going on in the brain. First we determine where an individual falls in the age function for each EEG index of value and compare this where s/he should be, using linear or curvilinear regression. We can quantify the degree of deviation from the group and this provides a relative measure of maturity or immaturity. We prioritize brain pattern indexes based on where they are (brain region, frequency in the spectrum) and the primary complaints of the patient. This is where some training in psychology or neuroscience comes in handy, because there is so much information we can evaluate in an EEG record, and we want to work with the most reliable indicators of maturation and optimum functioning. EEG samples the neurobiological substrata of our mind, the final representations of every action, every possibility we consider. A person’s words and actions reveal only the endpoints of a person’s thoughts and feelings whereas neurobiology is the matrix from which these actions emerge, the hidden layer of behavior. EEG gives us a glimpse of this brain behavior. When we challenge neurobiology, it becomes more flexible and capable of handling more responsibility and with responsibility comes freedom.
Improving performance of elite athletes with EEG training
Knowing what to do and doing it leads to success in sports. Fresher eyes, younger legs, with the mind of a coach is what wins. With EEG biofeedback we can condition sensory and motor areas of the brain to younger patterns while conditioning mature brain patterns in the prefrontal cortex, where actions and thoughts are coordinated (the internal coach). Given the right hardware and guidance anyone can develop a better brain. By rewarding brain patterns we want -- faster frequencies and more connections – and punishing brain patterns we don’t, anyone can learn to excel in brain function. We instill good brain habits with consistent training until they become second-nature and those unhealthy brain habits die off.
Because each athlete is unique, a neurotherapist tailors an EEG training program to each athlete, with the input of coaches and the athlete him/herself. Brain areas dedicated to motor and sensory processing may be functioning at speeds uncommon to most people so expert knowledge of brain function is essential for making this succeed for the athlete.
Racehorse optimization with EEG
Humans are mind readers. We are able to adjust our communication to match our audience's knowledge and recognize the intentions of strangers as well as friends most of the time. How we know the minds of others has been under investigation for decades, but only recently have we strapped electrodes onto head and body to help us in our study. What we have discovered is that we synchronize not only our minds but our brains to each other. Coordinated actions between individuals are preceded by coordinated action between brains (brain coupling) and we can use this phenomenon to measure the closeness between horse and rider.
I propose two techniques to improve jockey-horse performance based on brain wave activity (EEG): (1) jockey-horse selection and (2) “team therapy” in which we use brain patterns to shape synchrony between horse and rider. In jockey-horse selection we measure EEG of horses and potential riders during rest. Horse EEG has been studied since 1969, humans since 1929. We want a team made of a horse and a rider where each is a complement of the other. To do this, we measure the synchrony that naturally occurs between animal and jockey during interactions such as feeding, grooming, saddling, and racing. We measure the extent a jockey and horse overlap in sensory quiescence rhythms (alpha activity) during these experience and we partner up those horse and jockey who exhibit complementary brain patterns, dancing with each other even when standing still. In this fashion we fit a jockey physiologically to his or her horse.
In team therapy, we use interpersonal biofeedback or “couples therapy:” horse and jockey are partnered in standard biofeedback exercises where they must work together to win. (My money is on the horse, that it figures out how to shadow the jockey’s brain patterns before the jockey figures out how to shadow the horse’s.) EEG biofeedback usually rewards with images and sounds, but for horses we can use stroking and rubbing (tactile feedback) and food. We might train a horse to provide alpha activity whenever the jockey doesn’t, and vice versa; or we can train for both parts of the team to go into alpha at the same time. We track the results on the racetrack to know which strategy works best.
Standard EEG biofeedback tools can be used. We have recorded EEG from USAF pilots in-flight, from friends skydiving, and during sex. We have EEG hardware which is already movement-resistant.
Images at http://start.eegspectrum.com/Newsletter/jan2010.jpg
By David A Kaiser MFA PhD davidkaiser@yahoo.com New York February 2010
Reviews NEW &/OR USEFUL BOOKS
The Explosive Child
R Greene
Practical approach to helping "explosive" children.
Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism
R Grinker
An anthropologist and father of a child with autism describes what he knows about this condition.
Childhood Speech, Language and Listening Problems
PM Hamaguchi
Guide to determine what's best for your child with language problems.
All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome
K Hoopmann
Playful look at Asperger Syndrome .
Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome
L Jackson
Challenges faced by those with Asperger Syndrome described by one who had it.
Asperger Syndrome and Psychotherapy
P Jacobsen
Helping therapists understand non-neurotypical perspectives.
Intelligence Reframed
H Gardner
Gardner's ideas about creativity, leadership, and moral excellence as intelligences.
Executive Function in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder and ADHD
Differences in executive function in interference control, working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, and fluency help differentiate bipolar disorder from childhood ADHD.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20165924
Association of epilepsy and comorbid conditions.
Common epilepsy comorbidities include bone health and fractures, stroke, depression, migraine and ADHD.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20161538
Distraction and interruption on working memory in aging.
Older adults with working memory problems often exhibit a suppression-of-distractors deficit.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20144492
Neurophysiological correlates of executive function
Cultural differences were not observed in children ERPs but were not found in behavioral performance on executive tasks.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20161697
Childhood trauma and dissociation in patients with drug dependence.
Substance abusers should be screened for dissociative symptoms, especially women and younger abusers and those with likely childhood trauma.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20092967
Upcoming Courses
Our course is a hands-on experience right from the start. Attendees consistently say this format is a very good way to learn neurofeedback. "Neurofeedback should be viewed as one of the three essential or primary forms of intervention - psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurofeedback. In my experience, neurofeedback is every bit as important and powerful as the other two forms of treatment." - Dr. Laurence Hirshberg, Brown University Medical School, psychologist specializing in Developmental Disorders and Autism. Contact EEG Spectrumfor more information 818-789-3456 or see www.eegspectrum.com/Training * EEG Spectrum International, Inc. is approved by the APA to offer continuing education to psychologists. ESII maintains responsibility for the program. |
Conferences for Neurofeedback Clinicians & Researchers | ||
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| CONFERENCE | LOCATION | DATES |
| AAPB - aapb.org | San Diego, CA | Mar 24-27 |
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