Archive: July 2007

Brain Booster

Injury to the brain and central nervous system and other forms of dysfunction can come from a variety of sources and exposures, from falling or hitting the head, intake of chemical substances, and various forms of emotional abuse and traumatic events. Damage can effect our cognitive, behavioral, emotional or motor functioning. It can be long-term or permanent, and can carry labels such as Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Parkinson’s Disease, Autism, Stroke, etc.

The exciting news is that our brains are much more capable of recovering from injury than what was previously thought. It is this concept that inspired the development of the “LENS” or “Low Energy Neurofeedback System” to help the brain to regulate itself and function better after exposure to trauma, genetic conditions, illness or other dysfunction.

As with traditional neurofeedback, the LENS system utilizes electrodes that are placed on the scalp and fed through an amplifier that delivers the brainwave signals (or, EEG) to the computer. The EEG is recorded and analyzed by the computer, and a brief (one second) stimulation is delivered back down the wires to the brain. This stimulation is in the form of radio frequency waves—but at many times less than the amount of radio frequency waves that are surrounding you in the air at this moment, and less than what is in your digital watch. And many times less than the radio frequency waves emitted by your cell phone. This stimulation encourages the brain to “self regulate”, which differs from traditional neurofeedback, where the client learns to self regulate through audio and visual feedback.

How can this small amount of radio frequency wave stimulation promote change? Well, partially because the computer is sampling the EEG several times per second, and adjusting the stimulation offset to target the highest amplitudes at that particular site on your scalp. High amplitudes can cause dysfunction, and when the signal is applied (even for a second), brainwave amplitudes are encouraged to drop. In this form of neurofeedback, the brain regulates itself. There is nothing for the client to consciously learn or control. This makes the LENS particularly useful in clients who have difficulty focusing or sitting still, like in some cases of ADD/ADHD, Fibromyalgia, Traumatic Brain Injury, and also in animals.

The LENS has been shown to produce rapid improvement/resolution of difficult cognitive, mood, anxiety, clarity, energy, physical movement and pain problems when compared with more traditional forms of psychotherapy and medication treatments. It is this reason that we decided to add the LENS to our practice. We are happy (and more relaxed - we use the system on ourselves, as well!) to report that with many conditions, we are seeing significant results in shorter periods of time than with traditional neurofeedback.