A Monthly Summary of News and Events
Vol. 10 No. 6 - June 2007
This newsletter is sponsored by EEG Spectrum International Intl, Inc.,
a leader in providing clinical service and training professionals.
Past issues are available at start.eegspectrum.com/Newsletter/
Information on how to subscribe or cancel a subscription appear at the end.
The opinions related in this newsletter reflect those of the author only.
Copyright (C) 2007 by David Kaiser or ESII. All rights reserved.
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All links at: news.yahoo.com/fc/Science/Brain_Research
EEG normalization training requires a clinician to choose, to prioritize what deficit or excess should be tackled first by training. I am a cognitive neuroscientist with limited clinical experience (although I started my psych education in clinical psych), so my list of what to tackle first is based on neuroscientific theory more than experience. [I train my son, myself, and eventually every one of my crazy kids, if they ever sit still.] In EEG normalization training, a QEEG assessment identifies those aspects of an individual's brain activity profile which are abnormal and potentially dysfunctional, and this is typically achieved by comparing him or her to a database of healthy individuals of same or similar ages.
So let's say we've run a Q with replicated conditions for eyes closed and open rest and low and high challenge tasks like reading and math, and now we are faced with 100 or so significant differences from our database. A hundred isn't many when you can see the full extent of the psychophysiological landscape, or brainscape, as I can with my analysis program (SKIL). So I have a 100 findings -- now what should I address first with training? All findings are equal but some findings are more equal than others. How do I decide where to start training? Which findings are most meaningful?
Below is my rankings for selecting a protocol -- if all I have to go on is EEG data and know nothing about a client such as his major complaint or disorder.
First I set "significant deviance from normals" at greater than 2 std deviations on all spectral parameter examined and require this criterion be replicated. Replications are critical to assessment and without them I am less confident in my conclusion even when the results fall 3 or more standard deviations away from a norm. Replications let me sleep at night peacefully. If a difference doesn't show up twice, or three times, or four times, how real can it be? If a finding doesn't replicate, it's unreliable (given the assumption that conditions were comparable). The more often a finding occurs, the more reliable it is, and the more likely it is a valid indication of abnormal psychophysiologic functioning.
In SKIL, replications can be identified mathematically, but that isn't as fun as using my eyeballs to see what's real. My simple stereoscopic technique (to give it a fancy name) instantly eliminates noise from signal. This is done by the following: Display Replication 1 for a spectral parameter (eyes closed alpha magnitude, for instance), and right beside it display another map with Replication 2 for the same parameter. (see http://www.skiltopo.com/images/replicate.jpg). Wherever red or blue duplicate (higher or lower than 2 standard deviations), I pay attention. If I see red in one map (e.g., frontal alpha) but green ( normal) in the same area in the other map, I ignore the finding -- which sounds harsh and overly conservative, but I have the entire spectral landscape in front of me to explore and if the unreplicated finding is real, it will find a way to show itself. It will bleed into other bands, other montages, other parameters, better than it even shows itself in its first appearance. [The image I refer to at skiltopo has a white-out option to eliminate the middle z-scores. Where there is white would be green when this option is turned off.]
Replicate, triplicate, tetraplicate findings to be sure. For multiple replications across the same condition (EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4, etc) or across conditions (EC1, EC2, EO1, EO2, etc).
Okay, so using this stereoscopic approach (or similar control for randomness), let's say we cut away half of the chaff and end up with 50 or more statistically reliable findings. Now what?
Here is my priority of deviance, in descending importance:
So a 2 standard deviation excess of Theta activity during eyes open replications should be addressed before a 3 std dev. excess of Alpha activity during the same conditions, according to my scheme.
A 2 std dev deficit at site F3 needs to be addressed before a 3 std deviation deficit at posterior site P3.
I pay attention more to eyes closed rest abnormalities than abnormalities present in a receptively active eyes open condition. When the eyes closed problem doesn't replicate into eyes open, its state-specificity may clue us into the dysfunctional dynamic of our client).
Deviance in Alpha coherence is more relevant than Alpha magnitude abnormality.
Theta coherence disturbances may indicate a more substantial problem than Theta comodulation problems. In fact coherence problems may never resolve without external guidance, whereas comodulation difference probably emerged later in life and can mend on their own in some cases.
Hypercoherence between homologues T3-T4 is more disturbing than a coherence excess between ipsilateral T3-C3 .
Beta hypocoherence between ipsilateral T3-C3 should be paid attention to more than hypocoherence between non-homotopic T3-C4 .
Deficits < excesses for connectivity; Deficits > excesses for energies.
And finally 3 std dev > 2 std dev
There are always holes is such generic schemes. Where does gamma magnitude rank -- after beta, or before? Where do phase and magnitude asymmetry or unity rank? Can a 4 or 5 std deviation of a lesser finding be more meaningful than 2 std deviation?
And what exactly is my rationale for this scheme?
Evolution.
Brain dysfunction can be conceived as primitive responses to events, subcortically-dominated behaviors, lacking integration with anyone's vast experience. The theory of microgeny was prominent around the turn of last century (1900s, that is) and in this theory brain injury was conceived in an evolutionary context. Injury was thought to expose earlier stages of our processing, pulling the tarp away from the wall to reveal the scalfolding beneath. Each brain event incorporated our entire evolution in a matter of milliseconds. We scale the fish-to-human evolutionary ladder in our head every second of our days -- except when we failed to do so.
Now my thinking, metaphorizing, steps in: Fear is amphibian, anxiety reptilean, control mammalian. So I rank EEG phenomena evolutionarily as best I can. I want to increase traffic of the mammalian brain and decrease influence of our ancient parts. So the cortex must be connected to everything below as directly as possible (i.e., delta suggest decortication or white matter injury), and the cortex should be governed by infiltration of the thalamocortical network (theta & alpha, and connectivity measures), which is mediated by frontal lobe systems that draw on our experiences and perceptions coolly and comprehensively to make us the full human we can be.
This priority list is independent of behavioral and symptom considerations. A client's complaints should obviously factor into protocol selection. Two brain loops might be broken, but our client will let us know which s/he can compensate for and which s/he cannot.
-DK
News & Reviews
NEW BOOKS
ADD in The Workplace: Choices, Changes, and Challenges
by Kathleen G. Nadeau
Discusses ways to maintain an optimal work environment for ADD adults.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0876308477/eegspectrum
The Neuropsychiatry of Epilepsy
by Michael Trimble, Bettina Schmitz
Recent findings for epilepsy and behavior disorders.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521005167/eegspectrum
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
by Michel Foucault
A timely look back at a classic (which is an oxymoronic statement, I guess).
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/067972110X/eegspectrum
The Computer and the Brain
by John von Neumann
A giant of 20th century mathematics and his thoughts on the brain and intelligence.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300024150/eegspectrum
Journeys Through ADDulthood
by Sari Solden
A response to how ADHD treatment focuses on overcoming its symptoms rather than leading a fulfilling life.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802713769/eegspectrum
Starting Again: Early Rehabilitation After Traumatic Brain Injury
by Patricia M. Davies
Practical advice on physical rehab of brain injured patients.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0387559345/eegspectrum
Beethoven's Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture
by William L. Benzon
Speculation on how emotion and physiology combine in music-making.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0465015441/eegspectrum
Asperger's: What Does It Mean to Me?
by Catherine Faherty
Workbook to help child learn more about himself.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1885477597/eegspectrum
Coherence in ADHD and excess beta activity
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Excessive beta power in ADHD children may be evidence of a frontal lobe dysfunction in this subtype.
No neurochemical evidence for brain injury caused by heading in soccer.
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Repeated low severity head impacts were not associated with neurochemical signs of brain injury.
Grandchildren at Risk for Depression Differ in EEG Asymmetry.
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Grandchildren with depressed parent and grandparent showed relatively less right than left hemisphere activity.
Can behavioural therapy influence neuromodulation?
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Reviews behavioral therapy impact on CNS function.
Testosterone-related disorders in women with autism spectrum conditions.
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Androgen theory of autism evaluated by surveying women with autism spectrum conditions. These women more often exhibited irregular menstrual cycle, epilepsy, and tomboyism, among other conditions.
Complementary and alternative medicine for epilepsy in Midwest
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Nearly 2 in 5 epileptics surveyed used CAMs, including prayer/spirituality, "mega" vitamins, and stress management (16%).
Electrophysiological activity underlying inhibition in late-life depression
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Frontal dysfunction in the depressed group was observed in p300b measure for Go/NoGo task.
Topographic brain: from neural connectivity to cognition.
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Broader understanding of topographic maps may link genetics, neurophysiology and cognition.
Correlation between EEG rhythms during sleep: surface versus mediotemporal EEG.
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Power density is negatively correlated between delta/theta and beta frequencies above 16 Hz during NREM sleep.
Event-related functional MRI study of working memory in euthymic bipolar disorder.
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Widespread fronto-cortico-limbic dysfunction may be inherent in bipolar disorder.
EEG power and coherence in dyslexic children
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Dyslexic children show increased slow activity in frontal and right temporal regions
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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 Karie Kramer, our training coordinator, for more information 818-789-3456 ext 847 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 |
| ISNR - www.isnr.org | San Diego, CA | Sep 6-9, 2007 |
| AAPB - www.aapb.org | Daytona Beach, FL | May 13-18, 2008 |