A Monthly Summary of News and Events
Vol. 3 No. 10 - October 2000
This newsletter is sponsored by EEG Spectrum International Intl, Inc.,
a leader in providing clinical service and training professionals.
Past issues are available at www.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) 2000 by EEG Spectrum International Intl, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Avoiding one's medication is a crime
A father of young children is reported by authorities to Child Protective Services for taking his seven-year-old son off a psychotropic drug. Child welfare officials inform the father that unless he allows his son to be sedated, he risks losing custody on grounds of neglect. Against his better wishes the father allows the State to drug his happy and productive son.
The State controls the mental health of its citizens. In order to promote peace and prosperity, workers are sedated into a continual near-stupor. Loudspeakers in the home and at work constantly remind individuals to take the appropriate amount of sedatives, reminding them that avoiding one's medication is a crime against the State. At home, the only entertainment is to watch mindlessly violent programs on the TV.
One story above is fact, one is fiction. One takes place in New York in the 21st century, the other in an underground colony in the 25th century. One stars Robert Duvall and was the directoral debut of George Lucas, the other gets no stars and is directed by bureaucrats.
After reading about the young father's plight in The Christian Science Monitor, I was reminded of an article I wrote two years ago for this newsletter, "THX-1138: Coming to a School Near You" (Dec 1998).
While the case of the blackmailed father may be extreme, it is not so rare. As the Monitor reports, "Parents who question the use of Ritalin increasingly find themselves at odds with educators, psychologists, and a medical community". What can be done to stop this disturbing state of affairs? It is stories like these which make a parent such as myself believe the school district is my adversary -- an adversary! -- when it comes to the care and education of my child.
Let's find alternatives to both these policies and treatments of ADHD.
Nearly 25 years have passed since the neurofeedback training was first used to remediate ADHD symptoms (Lubar & Shouse, 1976). That much of this work has escaped the recent notice of psychiatrists and psychologists is surprising given the ever increasing research into the neuroanatomical and neurophysiological origins of ADD/ADHD (and just about every other mental disorder). The recent issue of Journal of Neurotherapy (Volume 4, Number 1), published by the Haworth Medical Press, includes an outcome trial that examines the effect of neurofeedback training on the largest sample of an ADHD/ADD population yet investigated for neurotherapy results. A total of 1,089 subjects were tested and retested with the TOVA (Test of Variables of Attention) before and after 20 or more sessions of SMR-Beta neurofeedback, 186 of these subjects being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. Most subjects exhibited attentional complaints and no differences were found as a result of diagnosis in these results. Significant clinical improvement was found in 85 percent of all subjects on one or more measures of this test. This work should soon be surpassed, with a near-term goal of achieving a federally-funded research program that investigates the effects of neurofeedback on hundreds of ADD and ADHD patients using multiple functional measures, with significant followup. In the mean time, here are the relevant papers on this topic:
Handbook of Clinical Psychopharmacology for Therapists
Handbook of Epilepsy
Handbook of Attachment Interventions
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Pocket Guide to Brain Injury, Cognitive, and Neurobehavioral Rehabilitation
Diurnal variation in the quantitative EEG in healthy adult volunteers. : QEEG recordings (eyes open and closed) taken at 2-hr intervals throughout the day in 18 subjects revealed circadian rhythms in theta, low alpha, and low beta wavebands. Time of day confounds QEEG analysis and must be controlled for.
The EEG consistency index as a measure of ADHD and responsiveness to medication. : An EEG Consistency Index during the transition between two easy cognitive tasks differentiated ADHD from non-ADHD boys.
Tourette's syndrome in children: neurological, neuropsychological and psychiatric issues. : Reviews the complex interplay of clinical features of TS. The high psychiatric comorbidity (notably OCD and ADHD) is discussed along with the range of treatments
Substance dependence, family history of alcohol dependence and neuropsychological functioning in adolescence. : Family history of alcohol dependence and adolescent substance use are separate risk factors for poorer neuropsychological performance in youth, particularly in language and attentional functions.
Autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting communication and learning in early childhood: prenatal origins, post-natal course and effective educational support. : The importance of time, rhythm and temporal processing in brain function as it relates to autism. He suggests thepotential importance of empathetic support and music therapy in helping autistic children.
The mnemonic effects of kindling. : Kindling can alter performance on a variety of tasks including those that require spatial cognition, aversive conditioning, and object-related cognition
Spontaneous remission from alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse : Health concerns, social pressure, and extraordinary events often initiate spontaneous remission whereas social support, non-drug-using friendships, and identity transformation help maintain the change.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: perspectives from neuroimaging. : According to recent neuroimaging studies, dysfunction in arousal, inhibition, and attention may result from structural abnormalities in frontostriatal regions.
Chronic pain and neuropsychological functioning. : Chronic pain often results in neuropsychological impairment, particularly on measures of attention, processing speed, and psychomotor speed.
Autonomic dysregulation in panic disorder and in PTSD : Differences in autonomic regulation, as measured by heart rate variability, are reported for PTSD and panic disorder.
Functional neuroimaging and the neuroanatomy of OCD : Reviews functional neuroimaging studies of OCD, particularly of the orbitofrontal-subcortical circuitry. Phenotypic heterogeneity may underline inconsistencies among past studies.
Emotional and cognitive components of alexithymia and dependency in alcoholics. : Alcoholics often possess a cognitive style characterized by externally oriented thinking, affirmation of autonomy as denial of emotional dependency, and field dependence.
Circadian rhythms: interactions with seizures and epilepsy. : Seizures are susceptible to circadian modulation, and thus experimental research must take into account time-of-day effects on seizure threshold and occurrence.
Calabassas, CA (4-Day Beta/SMR)
January 25-28, 2001
February 22-25, 2001
March 15-18, 2001
More info at www.eegspectrum.com/course
Conferences for Neurofeedback Clinicians & Researchers | ||
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| CONFERENCE | LOCATION | DATES |
| Winter Brain 2001 | Miami, FL | Feb 2-6 |
The 9th Annual Winter Brain 2001 Neurofeedback and Brain Sciences Meeting, Feb 2-6, 2001 Miami FL
Lectures on Peak Performance, QEEG, ADDHD, Transpersonal experience, and more. Selected speakers include Karl Pribram, Thom Hartmann, Jay Gunkelman, Robert Gurnee,
Joel & Judith Lubar, Sig and Sue Othmer, & Barry Sterman.
Includes 30+ workshops and an exhibit hall.
Other People's Words
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