Biofeedback Therapy
Also called neurocognitive therapy, neurotherapy, neurofeedback or qEEG biofeedback--is a treatment process in which an interactive, computer-based training system augments and reinforces certain activity at locations in and pathways between the different areas of the brain. These new activations and connections correct many of the symptoms of attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities. The treatment is only about 25 years old, but already has been adopted in clinical settings and schools across the United States.
The approach presented on this website is considerably different than the approaches being employed by professionals in the field, which is why it is called neurocognitive rather than the other labels. Most approaches address 2-3 frequency ranges in 2-3 locations, for a possible 9 intervention approaches. The generally accepted approach in the field is to obtain an eyes closed sample and compare the subject's values to a normative database. While this approach can be valuable there are several conceptual advantages to the activation approach.
1. Data is collected under cognitive activation tasks, which allows us to analyze the brain's response when challenged. The evaluation procedure collects some 3000 variables per second with a resulting total number of over 5 million numbers by the end of the evaluation.
2. The frequency range is extended to 64 Hertz, doubling the normal frequency range sampled (usually 32 Hertz).
3. The data is analyzed according to what correlates with success at the task and norms are provided which allow the subject to understand the goal of the treatment.
The activation database described on this website indicates that normative information is available on almost 3000 variables in 19 locations, thus improving considerably the potential effectiveness of the interventions. The available research indicates that the results presented on this website can be obtained with the use of the activation procedure which provides the necessary information.
There is no published research indicating that the standard EEG biofeedback approach or any other approach can obtain these results.
In particular, interventions for traumatic brain injuries should be addressed with this approach as a major problem demonstrated in research by Dr. Thornton indicates that there is a significant problem is in the higher frequency range (32-64 Hertz). There is no other database, presently being employed, which has this type of information available.