Neurofeedback is the name for the computer-assisted Brain Training to combat Functional Brain Disorders. This light-hearted video explains how it works: Motivation as well as Feedback about success and failure enable the learning of new skills; in this case, and with the help of a Brain-Computer-Interface, to improve Brain function.
Key Points
• Neurofeedback is computer-assisted Brain training using a Brain-Computer Interface
• Functional Brain disorders are linked to faulty patterns of brain activity
• The Brain is a learning system that can acquire new regulatory skills
• Effective learning requires motivation and clear feedback about success and failure
• Neurofeedback provides real-time feedback on Brain activity via visual or auditory signals
• “Better” Brain activity is rewarded, while dysfunctional patterns receive negative feedback
• Through repetition, the Brain learns to reduce faulty activity and improve function
• The goal is lasting improvement in Brain regulation, not temporary symptom suppression
B-Roll: Neurofeedback is the catchy, yet misleading name for the computer-assisted Brain training
that addresses Neurological and Mental Health challenges by improving basic Brain functions.
A-Roll: Hi, I’m Martin from Body Mind & Brain. By the end of this video, you will have a solid understanding of “Neurofeedback” and how it works. To make this even more entertaining, I will ask you a few simple questions which you should be able to answer easily.
Get ready, here we go:
B-Roll: Question number 1: Everything humans think, feel or do is the expression of electrical activity in … • our heart • or Our muscles • or Our Brain?
A-Roll: Okay, you’ve got the first one right. Number 2:
B-Roll: Functional Brain Disorders — like Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, Headaches etc. — are directly caused by … • Air-born Viruses • or Parasites in the gut • or Chemical Imbalance in the Brain • or Faulty Brain Activity?
A-Roll: Two out of two. Not bad. Number 3:
B-Roll: When we identify faulty Brain activity, we can conclude … • that the person is of questionable character • or That the Brain is lazy • or That the Brain lacks a particular skill.
A-Roll: Let me show you.
B-Roll: The recording of electrical Brain activity is called EEG which stands for Electroencephalography. This is a normal EEG from a healthy brain; small and uneventful (video of normal EEG traces). In contrast, this is an EEG recording of one of our clients (video of abnormal EEG traces). At the time, he had a serious psychiatric disorder. Everybody with normal vision can see, that the client’s EEG is abnormal and that his Brain lacks the skill to stop this bad electrical behaviour.
A-Roll: But how can the Brain learn to stop the faulty pattern and thereby get rid of the respective problem? And learn this corrective skill from scratch? Let’s find out, Question 4:
B-Roll: How do human Brains learn a new skill from scratch? Let’s think of Toddlers trying to learn to walk. • Do Toddlers read an instruction manual? • or Do Toddlers attend a Walking School? • or Do they just try and fail, try again and fail a bit less, and after a lot of practice, their Brain figures it out?
A-Roll: Well, that’s how learning from scratch works. But there are certain preconditions. Question number 5:
B-Roll: “This is Oliver. He loves computer games and Golf, but his mum wants him to learn to play the piano. Oliver attends expensive piano lessons, but he shows little interest and never practices at home.”
B-Roll: What are the chances that Oliver will play Beethoven anytime soon? • very high •or Zero. No chance?
A-Roll: Right, what’s missing in Oliver’s case is the first precondition for learning a new skill: Motivation. But Motivation alone is not enough. Question number 6:
B-Roll: “Imagine Oliver is very motivated to practice his Golf skills, but his Mum won’t let him. At night, he sneaks out of the house and rides his bike to the Golf club’s putting green. And although it’s pitch dark, Oliver practises putting, even though he can’t see the hole, the flag and barely the ball.”
B-Roll: What are the chances that Oliver becomes the Champion of the US Challengers Masters Golf tournament any time soon? • very high • or Zero. No chance? If the Brain doesn’t receive visual feedback about Oliver’s attempts to sink the ball, it can’t learn to get better at Putting.
A-Roll: That was easy; next question:
B-Roll: What’s her problem? (video clip of a deaf woman trying to speak words) • She is from Finland and doesn’t speak English • or She is deaf and her Brain never received the auditory feedback that is so critical for learning to speak?
B-Roll, infant voice, video of a toddler saying: “Because the Brain needs feedback about success and failure in order to learn and improve a skill. Every Toddler understands that.”
A-Roll: We’ve now established that any learning requires motivation as well as feedback about success and failure. Before we can put all this together and apply it to the Therapy of Functional Brain Disorders, we need to add a third component: A tool or interface. Let me show you:
B-Roll: “There is this deaf lady — who is not from Finland. Her Brain has learned to speak with her hands. And because we haven’t, we need to read the subtitles (video of the deaf woman “speaking” in sign language). In Oliver’s case, the Brain uses his arms and a golf club as a tool to move the ball towards the hole (video of Oliver putting). And without arms, the Brain can find other ways do what it wants:
This lady’s Brain learned to use her mouth to paint (video of woman painting with a brush in her mouth); and this woman’s Brain uses her legs and feet for typing, writing and using scissors (video showing exactly that).
A-Roll: When technology is involved, tech nerds don’t call it a tool, they call it an Interface. A Mouse is a computer interface (holding up a computer mouse).
B-Roll: Here is a different Computer interface, a mouth pad that allows paralysed people to use their tongue instead of their hands to interface with a computer (video of Augmental mouth pad).
A-Roll: My point is that Brains can use different tools or interfaces to exert an effect on the outside world, if there are Motivation and Feedback allowing for Learning. How can we use that for the Therapy of Functional Brain Disorders?
B-Roll: Well, we connect the client to a Brain-Computer-Interface, for example an EEG amplifier and a PC, and then show them something they’re motivated to watch: For kids, that may be some sort of Game or Animation and for adults we pick an interesting video.
Whenever the Brain misbehaves more, the computer applies some negative feedback on the screen, like black dots on videos, which is less enjoyable, thereby signalling failure to the Brain. When the Brain behaves better, which is success, the picture is clear, thereby rewarding the Brain for good electrical behaviour.
A-Roll: Over time, the Brain figures it out, it learns and gets better and better at curbing the faulty activity. Because that’s what Brains do with Motivation and precise feedback. Got it?
B-Roll: Last question: What is the best way to permanently resolve Functional Brain Disorders like Anxiety, Depression, PTSD and so on? • Prescription medication • or Magnetic stimulation • or “Neurofeedback”, which uses a Brain-Computer interface to help the Brain to master its challenges and become a champion of neurological and mental health.
B-Roll, infant voice, video of a toddler saying: So, if your Brain is giving you grief and you’re keen to get better, Neurotherapy and Neurofeedback-Brain-Training is your best bet. — And for that, I wholeheartedly recommend BODY MIND and BRAIN in Gold Coast.
A-Roll: I hope you’ve learned something and enjoyed this video. Thanks for watching.
“This therapy
works, and works so well”
(Jess, Google Review)
“Neurofeedback worked when no other treatment did”
(Tania, Google Review)
“I found the entire process easy, relaxed and even fun”
(Sam, Google Review)
Neurofeedback is the catchy, yet misleading name for the computer-assisted Brain training that addresses Neurological and Mental Health challenges by improving basic Brain functions.
In essence, clients sit in a comfy chair with sensors on their head. While they are watching an interesting video, their Brain gets a workout, practicing to reduce faulty Brain activity.
Neurofeedback is …
and the sessions are even fun!
Everything; because everything humans think, feel or do is the expression of electrical activity in the Brain.
When Brain activity is faulty, due to dysregulation of functional networks, it obviously affects Thoughts, Experiences and Behaviours. We call that a Functional Brain Disorder, not a “Mental Illness”.
That’s why computer-assisted Brain-Training (Neurofeedback) to correct faulty Brain activity can be a real and permanent solution, unlike life-long prescription medication.
The beneficial effects of training Brain-Rhythms was an accidental discovery in a NASA study with cats in the late 1960s; human studies followed. The first Neurotherapy clinic opened in 1975 in California and focussed on Brain Injury Rehabilitation.
Today, about 15-20,000 clinicians worldwide utilise ‘Neurofeedback’, most of them Psychologists, Counsellors, Psychiatrists and other therapists. In the US, at least 26 Veterans Affairs Medical Centres provide ‘Neurofeedback’ in-house for blast injuries and PTSD; many others refer out to external clinicians.
Yes. There have been more than 3,600 scientific articles/studies about Neurofeedback since the 1960s. Modern imaging research has shown that Brain activity changes when proper feedback is given. Clinical outcome studies typically report positive results.
Neurofeedback is the general idea to measure Brain activity and to provide positive and negative feedback, depending on criteria defined by the therapist for the individual client.
In clinical practice, the benefit of Neurofeedback is determined by the quality of the assessment, the competence and capabilities of the therapist, as well as the particulars of the respective client — just like in any other Behavioural Therapy.
The highly lucrative, global market for psychotropic medication is in the ballpark of 150 Billion $US annually and growing; and you wonder “Why have I never heard of this safe, non-invasive, drug-free, pleasant therapy that typically eliminates the need for medication?”
The reason is, that we don’t have Billions of Dollars to spend on “Advertising” (= bribing the media), “Lobbying” (= bribing politicians), and so-called “Prescriber Incentives” (= bribes for doctors).
“Before Neurofeedback, I was highly dependent on ADHD medication”
(Sarah, Google Review)
“I am now 100% medication free, have total mental clarity and feel fantastic”
(Cameron, Google Review)
“I have been medication-free for over 10 years since Neurofeedback”
(Malinda, Google Review)
Neurofeedback Brain-Training is as safe as a Piano lesson or an Online course; and much safer than a cooking class. Neurofeedback does NOT apply electrical currents or magnetic fields or toxic chemicals to your Brain … phew.
Frequently reported ‘side effects’ are better sleep, brighter mood, less stress and anxiety, improved focus and the return of humour.
Brief abreactions or negative effects can usually be traced to the client’s medication which may then be slowly reduced.
So far, there haven’t been any credible reports of Neurofeedback clients turning into Werewolves from Brain-Training alone.
When people struggle with negative Experiences, bothersome Behaviours or sub-standard Abilities, they typically end up with a diagnostic label from the catalog of so-called “Mental Illnesses”.
In reality, it is likely that faulty Brain activity is the real problem, which explains why “Medicine” cannot “cure” them. Instead, such conditions are Indications for Neurotherapy with Neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback is not a passive medical treatment and it doesn’t “work” on its own. It is a Behavioural Therapy — a form of training. That means, whether Neurofeedback “works” depends on how it’s done.
Based on more than two decades of clinical experience, we can report that the vast majority of our compliant clients have had good, very good or excellent results from Neurofeedback with us.
However, success depends on the client’s neurological flexibility, active engagement and consistent attendance. Certain medications, hormonal imbalances, lifestyle factors or toxic circumstances can impede good outcomes and may need to be addressed.
So, let’s together make it “work” for you.
