1. How can Brain Training help so many different kinds of problems?
The answer is pretty simple when you understand that behaviour is a product of the brain. Focus problems (Attention Deficit Disorder), learning difficulties (Learning Disabilities), stuck mood patterns (depression and anxiety), redundant behaviour (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), and seizures (epilepsy) are all examples of a brain executing a specific performance characteristic poorly. The only difference between any of these so-called “brain disorders” is where and in what way the brain is mismanaging its energy. When the source of the neurological inefficiency is identified with the QEEG, and brain training has sufficiently assisted the brain in healing and repairing itself, the symptom(s), whether it be compromised attention, mood, or behaviour, is significantly reduced, or eliminated all together. How Brain Training builds peak and elite performance is just as simple. Because behaviour is a product of the brain, when your brain does its job with greater ease and efficiency, you do your job easier, more elegantly, and with greater precision.
2. How does Brain Training help my brain work better?
Brain Training works by returning narrow bands of information back to the brain on how it is performing a complex task. With the isolation and feedback of highly specific performance frequencies, the brain is able to rapidly build new performance circuits. Because the frequencies presented are those produced naturally by the high performance brain, even the most locked-down brain quickly becomes comfortable in unlocking protective mechanisms and re-starting the rebuilding process. Because our brain is self-building, Brain Training works at two levels: One, by providing highly specific information on how it is performing a complex task, the brain is able to rapidly restore and create performance circuit. Second, because the brain builds itself with its day-to-day experiences, it is able to learn and process information more efficiently: Performance and mood continue to improve for months after training is finished.
3. If our brain is able to build new circuits and repair itself, why aren’t we all geniuses, highly successful, and living an effortless life?
Neuroscience’s answer to this question is that our brain’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Because our brain is self-building, if chemicals, drugs, or trauma cause damage before or after birth, or our childhood was especially challenging physically or emotionally, our brain will likely begin to create performance circuits that are weak, inefficient, or even inappropriate for what we want or need to do in later life. From a “real world” perspective, this means that what was a rather minor or insignificant physical injury or emotional incident early in life can produce a serious attention, learning, or emotional problem in later life. Everything can seem to be going along quite well for the child who fell off a slide at age two – until she or he starts school and has to sit quietly, or later, needs to learn to read or do math problems. Then, it is discovered that the minor incident or accident was not so minor after all. The brain problem, like compound interest, has multiplied itself many times over. So, while our brain’s strength of building and re-building itself can cause us to become smarter and more adaptable, physical injuries or difficulties in life can actually cause our brain to make us less bright, more rigid, confused, and even depressed or anxious. Brain Training is specifically created to identify and correct miswired brain circuits and inappropriate frequency responses. With enhanced function, the brain is better able to maintain itself in a more efficient and resilient state. We are able to live in accordance with Nature’s original intention: To become wiser and more intelligent, with a greater memory and a more resilient mood, as we mature and move into our “golden years.”
4. Can Brain Training help me do better academically?
The availability of Brain Training means that the dysfunctional or inefficient brain of the child or adult with learning, attention, or mood problems can not only be identified, it can also be taught to overcome the difficulty. An early formalised Neurofeedback study shows an increase in IQ test scores of 15-22 points, and a grade point average increase of 1.5. Many have already gone from failing to passing. With brain training, the disadvantaged becomes advantaged, the average student can become above average, and the above average student has the potential to move into the superior range.
5. Can Brain Training improve my game?
Brain Training coaches your brain to more effectively focus on game play, to respond quicker and more accurately, and to not be overly distracted by crowd noise and the movement and activities of other players. For some, Heart Rate Variability, a form of biofeedback training is especially important: It teaches the player how to create a calm focus (“The Zone”) under the stress of game conditions. brain training assists weekend, amateur, and professional athletes alike in achieving new levels of performance. Professional athletes I trained have set personal, team, and league records, reporting increased endurance, greater adaptability, and improved accuracy under the pressures of extreme competition. Some have also noted enhanced bilateral strength, coordination, and dexterity.
6. I am expected to be creative and continuously come up with new ideas. Yet, deadlines are always looming and I get frustrated and distracted. Can Brain Training help?
Poor attention, focus, or mood, all products of the frontal lobes, will sabotage the manifestations any new ideas. Creativity, then, from problem-that-needs-a-solution to solution-manifested-into-the-physical world, is a “whole brain” process. If any of the functions are inefficient, an idea or production will only come reluctantly, the potential of possible solutions will not be adequately recognised, or manifestation into the physical world will occur only on a hit or miss basis, if at all. brain training helps the brain meet the requirements for the six essential phases. Neurofeedback assists the brain in “whole brain” processing by balancing left/right functioning and correcting energetic shortcomings; Heart Rate Variability and Neurofeedback enhances the heart and the deep brain to communicate release stress so the creative resources of the right hemisphere are fully accessed and the left brain receives and reacts to accurate information.
7. What can Brain Training do for my child’s Attention Deficit Disorder?
The only way to determine the root cause of an attentional deficit or learning problem is to use the Quantitative EEG to identify the neurological inefficiency. When the pattern has been identified, the brain can be taught to decrease the attention-dampening slow waves or the idling Alpha wave activity while working on a task. When training is complete, attention and focus are “automatic,” hyperactivity is reduced or eliminated, and self-esteem restored.
8. I have dyslexia. Can Brain Training help me read better?
Sometimes these weaknesses occur because of damage from a birth trauma or an early childhood injury. But, often as not, medical tests that detect structural damage in the brain fail to reveal physical damage. The answer is found in evaluating how the brain is able to manage its energy. The QEEG (computerised brain wave analysis) allows faulty brain frequencies and energetically defective areas to be detected and defined; the Normative Reference Database report (a statistical comparison of the brain waves to those of normal people) reveals where the brain is not effectively activating, connecting, and moving working energy. Brain Training assists the brain in remediating dysfunctional areas, and in creating the networks it needs to efficiently move energy from one performance area to another. Learning becomes fun; life becomes exciting; self-esteem soars.
9. Can Brain Training training help depression? My doctor has prescribed several different antidepressant medications, but none have helped.
When the Quantitative EEG has defined the neurological issue, brain training addresses the root of the mood problem: Neurofeedback helps the brain unlock constricted performance circuits and reduce inappropriate Alpha waves; Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback enhances emotional resilience by teaching the nervous system to more efficiently balance the “flight or fight versus relaxation” response. When the brain has the resources with which to do its job more efficiently, day-to-day stresses move from overwhelming to doable. Life’s challenges can be met head on.
10. My daughter has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which has taken over her life and is disrupting the routine of our family. She is refusing to go to school, and has trouble sticking to her home schooling. Will Brain Training help?
Brain imaging scans show OCD behaviour to be associated with an inappropriate neural loop between the caudate (a structure in the deep brain), the front of the brain just above the eyebrows (orbital frontal cortex) and the cingulate cortex (near the top of frontal lobes). The abnormal firing of the caudate triggers the urge to “do something,” the front part of brain says “something is wrong,” and the cingulate, that normally allows us to consciously shift our thoughts and focus from one thing to another, inappropriately keeps attention riveted on the feeling of unease. Experience has shown that when Brain Training remediates Coherence communication problems, or helps the brain activate the frontal cortex and improve communication networks between frontal lobes and the deep brain, redundant behaviour is dramatically reduced, or eliminated all together. The person is able, once again, to take charge of his or her own actions and live life to its fullest.
11. I have panic attacks and haven’t been able to travel for my work. Can Brain Training possibly be of benefit?
Panic attacks often occur “out of the blue.” There is a sudden feeling of being overwhelmed with fear and anxiety: Sweaty palms, a sense of dissociation, a pounding heart, and racing thoughts. Life literally comes to a standstill. Brain Training has shown the ability to pinpoint and remediate the root cause of panic attacks. Looking at the EEG evidence, the behavioural differences in OCD and panic attacks appear to lie in whether the basal ganglia in the deep brain sends information to a frontal cortex ill-prepared to manage the data (OCD), or the amygdala in the deep survival brain inadvertently “floods” the frontal lobes with emergency information (panic attacks). If either set of symptoms occurs, “we” (our “conscious self”) lose control: our deep brain is in charge. As with OCD, when the QEEG findings are successfully remediated, the panic attacks subside, usually disappearing all together.
12. I have had seizures since I was young. Is there anything that can be done to help me?
Scientific studies dating back to the late 1960s and early 1970s document Neurofeedback’s ability to reduce seizures. In spite of over 40 years of research and clinical studies, the neurological community has generally ignored Neurofeedback and its ability to help manage seizures. Perhaps it is because medicine is more oriented toward “drugs for a disease” than “training for regulation.” But, whatever the reason, the “Say no to drugs” campaign and the sometimes-serious side effects of anticonvulsant medication (such as sedation, memory deficits, cognitive (thinking) difficulties, permanent brain dysfunction) are causing parents and those with epilepsy to look for alternatives. Neurofeedback already has a long and successful history.
13. My son had a serious brain injury in a motorcycle accident several months ago. He is doing better now, but still has memory problems, gets confused, and has frequent headaches. Can Brain Training help him this long after the accident?
Brain Training is the perfect compliment to Physical, Rehabilitative, and Occupational Therapy. The Quantitative EEG and Normative Reference Database reveal where and in what way the brain is damaged; Neurofeedback provides information the brain needs to activate idling neurons and create new communication links. For those physically able to practice special breathing techniques, Heart Rate Variability biofeedback helps the brain modulate the deep emotional centres. Because information is being returned to the brain on how it is performing a complex task in this moment, brain function, even in those whose accident occurred decades earlier, is always enhanced with Brain training.
14. My father had a stroke and has difficulty speaking. Will Brain Training training help him talk again?
The devastating effects of a stroke results from trauma to the brain from inside the skull instead of the outside: A blood vessel swells and bursts – pressure inside the skull causes serious damage to the soft brain tissue. To add insult to injury, the escaped blood, being very toxic to brain cells, produces even more damage and destruction. While it is true that billions of nerve cells may die as a result of a stroke, it is also true that, given the right instruction, neurons in adjacent brain areas can be recruited to help restore lost functions. Brain Training assists the brain in activating idling, inactive, and damaged neurons, and in teaching brain cells in adjoining areas to do unfamiliar tasks. Brain Training greatly enhances and accelerates the therapeutic benefits of traditional Physical, Rehabilitative, Occupational, and Speech Therapy. The greatest possibility of recovering speech and other major brain functions is assured.
15. How does Brain Training training compare to prescription drugs?
Psychiatric drugs, such as the stimulants, Ritalin™ and Concerta™ (attention problems), and the mood-altering drugs, Citalopram™ and Effexor™ (depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive behaviour), may have immediate benefit for the short term. But, taken for an extended period, these powerful drugs can produce unfortunate difficulties. Side effects can be serious and permanent (such as tics and movement disorders); any positive benefit will probably last only as long as the drug is being taken; and, because the original brain dysfunction has probably not gone away, withdrawal will likely be physically difficult and emotionally overwhelming. Recent research has shown attention, learning, and mood problems to be more about faulty brain circuitry and an inability to effectively modulate frequency resources than a neurochemical imbalance. The Quantitative EEG defines where the brain is not efficiently managing its energy; Brain Training helps the brain restore and normalise faulty circuits and create the frequency resources it needs to do its job more effectively. Brain Training has helped many people alleviate their distressing symptoms, avoiding prescription drugs all together, or, under their doctor’s guidance, to naturally, safely, and almost effortlessly withdraw from prescription medications.
16. Does neurofeedback have potential side effects?
Neurofeedback is not a drug or medical procedure in which something is done to the physical brain. It is closer to personal tutoring, in which the teacher tests the student’s present knowledge and understanding, teaches the student what he or she needs to know about the subject, then retests to determine how well the information has been learned. With the neurological tutoring of Brain Training and Quantitative EEG determining where the brain is doing its job well and where it needs help, the brain is taught to better produce critical working frequencies and to re-wire circuits for enhanced performance. Because Brain Training only sends auditory information to the brain on the frequencies it is using to perform a task, there are no true side effects. A brief period of light headedness or a slight headache, a quickly passing sense of tiredness, or a short period of feeling highly energised, while unusual, can occur in those with a significantly damaged brain that has the resources to rapidly normalise its function.
17. Is neurofeedback safe?
The neurofeedback computer detects the energy the brain is using to perform a task (usually a strategic video game), rapidly divides the complexity of the brain waves into narrow bands of energy, then plays therapist-selected frequencies back to the brain as unique audio tones. Nothing is done to the brain… except give it information on how it is performing the task. Because the decision to increase or decrease any performance frequency is made solely by the brain, the process is perfectly safe.
18. Why haven’t I heard about neurofeedback?
Probably the biggest obstacle to widespread popularity of Neurofeedback is tradition. The medical community is trained to prescribe “drugs for a disease,” rather than teach “self-regulation for self-mastery,” psychological and counseling professionals have been taught to “talk about it,” and the insurance industry is structured around “diagnosis and treatment” of a “medical condition” (traditionally, drugs or surgery), or a “mental” diagnosis” and (talk) “therapy.”
19. I have a busy schedule. How long will the training take?
Training sessions are one hour each. A minimum of four sessions a week is recommended for the most effective results. For those coming from out of town and busy people wanting or needing to complete training quickly, two sessions can be done daily with one hour break between sessions. Working five days a week, the first 20 sessions can be completed in just two weeks. After 20 sessions, a week (or longer) break is taken to allow the brain to integrate the training. The testing is then repeated to determine how much has been achieved, and whether additional sessions are necessary to more fully optimize performance and mood. Most people complete Brain Training in just 30 sessions or less. However, those suffering from a traumatic brain injury, stroke, and serious birth injury may require more sessions for complete remediation. Training does not have to be complete for benefits to kick in. For most, focus, attention, memory, and mood are noticeably improved by session 10.