What is Neurofeedback
Principles of neurofeedback
Mental or physical problems are often reflected in brain imbalances. Neurotherapy helps re-train the brain to function more effectively by providing positive reinforcement, therefore often resolving mental and physical disorders.
“By using what is called QEEG (quantitative electro-encephalogram) we are able to chart the brain frequencies, which is called brain mapping. You can see exactly what part of the brain lags behind (doesn’t show enough activity) or which parts are overactive.” Marty Wuttke
Brainwaves: The Key to Change
At the root of all our thoughts, emotions and behaviors lay the intricate networks of communication composed of billions of neurons within our brains. Brainwaves are what we use to measure this communication activity. Brainwaves are tiny pulses of electrical activity that are produced when neurons communicate with each other. By targeting these electrical patterns, we can modify and improve the brain’s communication capacity.
When communication among neurons is impaired, corresponding problems will often be expressed in the body. For example, when you are under stress you will often experience negative effects such as stomach ache, headache or heart palpitations. These symptoms are the result of specific communication patterns triggered in your brain, sometimes referred to as pathologically stable patterns. Such pathological patterns can arise from a variety of possible stressors, including physical or emotional abuse/trauma, chronic stress, anxiety, etc. As a response to a perceived threat, the brain has adopted a protective pattern based on past experience (it can be just a memory) or present trauma. The brain is simply doing the best it can to protect us and enable us to deal with the real or unreal dangers and threats it perceives. A wide variety of problems and disorders can be traced back to this underlying defensive mechanism.
Neurofeedback is a method to train the brain for optimal efficiency. Similar to training specific muscles for baseball, surfing or golf, neurofeedback technology enables us to train specific areas of the brain and their communication to achieve optimal brain function.
Neurofeedback is a science-based, non-invasive technique that involves measuring and analyzing brain activity to determine how efficient it’s functioning. Knowing which suboptimal routines, a brain exhibits allows to train the brain to self-regulate to achieve better overall performance.
Whenever the brain expresses a desirable performance state during a training session, visual and/or auditory feedback is given to encourage optimal performance – like a child learns through positive reinforcement. This feedback can, for example, be delivered through the brightness of the screen while watching a movie as the screen turns bright whenever the brain’s activity shows indications of higher efficiency. Through the principle of operant conditioning, the brain is getting balanced, its neural pathways are altered, and its activity optimized.
This process can be compared to a child starting to talk. As a child struggles forming its first syllables and words it is getting reinforcement from their parents whenever it is producing a word successfully. As it is positive reinforced through their response, it learns and will repeat the very same (desirable) behavior. Similarly, in a neurofeedback session, feedback about the activity of the brain is received and positively reinforced through the brightness of the screen enabling the perception of the movie, which otherwise is fading out.
