Scientific American Mind: Train Your Brain

 ADHD, Depression, Peak Performance  No Responses »
Dec 182009
 

February 2006 Issue:

Train Your Brain – Mental exercises with neurofeedback may ease symptoms of attention-deficit disorder, epilepsy and depression–and even boost cognition in healthy brains.

By Ulrich Kraft

At first the computer game looks awfully easy for an eight-year-old–like something out of the Stone Age of arcades in the 1980s. A red triangle “arrow” appears on the monitor’s blue screen, and then the nose of a cartoon airplane glides into view from the left. If the arrow points upward, Ben must make the plane climb. When he succeeds, a spiky yellow sun beams.
     

A second glance shows that all is not as it seems. For one thing, Ben has no joystick. Instead several electrodes glued to the boy’s face and to the skin under his hair let him pilot the plane by thought alone. Such “mind reading” offers many possible applications. It has, for instance, enabled “locked-in” patients–who cannot speak or gesture–to communicate with caregivers [see “Thinking Out Loud,” by Nicola Neumann and Niels Birbaumer; Scientific American Mind, Premier Issue, Vol. 14, No. 5, 2004].

By controlling their brain waves, the patients manipulate letters and words on a computer screen. Practice with neurofeedback may also benefit those who suffer from epilepsy, attention deficits, depression and other debilitating mental disorders. The experimental therapy, also called EEG biofeedback, may even help rev up healthy brains, improving cognitive performance….

Read the full article here: http://www.neurofeedback.org/images/Scientific_American_Mind_Train_Your_Brain_02_06.doc

 Posted by at 10:55 pm

Neurofeedback Combined with Training in Metacognitive Strategies: Effectiveness in Students with ADD

 ADHD, Peak Performance  1 Response »
Oct 282009
 

Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, Vol. 23, No. 4,1998, L. Thompson, and M. Thompson

A review of records was carried out to examine the results obtained when people with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) received 40 sessions of training that combined neurofeedback with the teaching of metacognitive strategies. While not a controlled scientific study, the results, including pre- and post-measures, are consistent with previously published research concerning the use of neurofeedback with children. A significant addition is that a description of procedures is included. The 111 subjects, 98 children (age 5 to 17) and 13 adults (ages 18 to 63), attended forty 50-min sessions, usually twice a week.

Feedback was contingent on decreasing slow wave activity (usually 4—7 Hz, occasionally 9-11 Hz) and increasing fast wave activity (15-18 Hz for most subjects but initially 13-15 Hz for subjects with impulsivity and hyperactivity). Metacognitive strategies related to academic tasks were taught when the feedback indicated the client was focused. Some clients also received temperature and/or EDR biofeedback during some sessions. Initially, 30 percent of the children were taking stimulant medications (Ritalin), whereas 6 percent were on stimulant medications after 40 sessions. All charts were included where pre- and post-testing results were available for one or more of the following: the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA,n = 16), Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WISC-R, WISC-111, or WA1S-R, n = 68), Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT 3, n = 99), and the electroencephalogram assessment (QEEG) providing a ratio of theta (4-8 Hz) to beta (16-20 Hz) activity (n = 66).

Significant improvements (p < .001) were found in ADD symptoms (inattention, impulsivity, and variability of response times on the TOVA), in both the ACID pattern and the full-scale scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, and in academic performance on the WRAT 3.

The average gain for the full scale IQ equivalent score was 12 points. A decrease in the EEG ratio of theta/beta was also observed. These data are important because they provide an extension of results from earlier studies (Lubar, Swartwood, Swartwood, & O’Donnell, 1995; Linden, Habib, & Radojevic, 1996). They also demonstrate that systematic data collection in a private educational setting produces helpful information that can be used to monitor students’ progress and improve programs. Because this clinical work is not a controlled scientific study, the efficacious treatment components cannot be determined.

Nevertheless, the positive outcomes of decreased ADD symptoms plus improved academic and intellectual functioning suggest that the use of neurofeedback plus training in metacognitive strategies is a useful combined intervention for students with ADD. Further controlled research is warranted.

Full article available here: http://www.littlepsych.com/pdf/Thompsons.pdf

 Posted by at 7:32 pm  Tagged with:

Getting Your Head in the Game – Wall St. Journal article on Neurofeedback for Peak Performance

 ADHD, Anxiety, Peak Performance  No Responses »
Oct 062009
 

From the World Cup to youth tennis, a training fad
emerges; the science of finding the zone

By RUSSELL ADAMS The Wall Street Journal July 29, 2006

Members of Italy’s World Cup-winning soccer team have done it. A starting quarterback in the NFL has tried it out. And so has Jordan Kreuter, an 18-year-old golfer in North Carolina.

The thing they have in common: They’ve all turned to neurofeedback, a technique that promises to help athletes reprogram their brains so they can reach a zone of relaxed concentration during clutch situations.

Long used to treat medical conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy and dementia, it is beginning to emerge as a tool for pro and amateur athletes alike — with neurofeedback machines even starting to show up at some local public golf courses.

Mind Games: Several members of Italy’s World Cup-winning team, including Andrea Pirlo, second from lower left, did extensive neurofeedback in the runup to the tournament…

Read the full article here: http://www.neurofeedback.org/images/Biofeedback_devices_are_all_the_rage_for_keeping_calm2.doc

 Posted by at 10:48 pm