What is Neurofeedback & How Does it Work?

Facing tough times can have serious implications on our mental health. We go through change, disappointments, traumatic events, and loss, which affects our ability to build relationships, cope, deal with stress, focus better on ourselves and recover from hardships. Anyone is likely to suffer from mental health problems at some point throughout life. However, despite the prevalence of mental health issues, many people don’t focus on mitigating such problems and struggle with improving their situation.

Thankfully, some find Grey Matters of Carmel, and those who stick around do achieve recovery and strength through neurofeedback therapy.

Understanding Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is a medication-free approach to treating brain-based conditions, including autism, ADHD, depression, and anxiety disorders. It works by encouraging the brain to produce healthy patterns of activity. The purpose of neurofeedback is not just to change your thoughts and feelings,but also to bring an improvement in your brain on a biological level to ensure better functioning.

The brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change when given proper support. Neurofeedback encourages and speeds up the process of neuroplasticity. If you haven’t figured out by now, telling someone not to stress out or calm down won’t help! What helps is when neurofeedback training lets us speak to the brain in the form of brain waves- The language of the brain!

The brain waves have the following properties:

• Amplitude – How tall the wave is.
• Frequency – How fast the wave travels.

Brain wave patterns are likely to become disrupted when facing mental health issues which eventually leads to unhealthy biological behavior and activity. Individuals suffering from anxiety disorders and depression often have fast brain wave activity causing the person to feel panicky and hyper-aroused. In contrast, individuals suffering from ADHD tend to have slower brain wave activity and can face complications like trouble focusing, brain fog, and daydreaming.

How does Neurofeedback Work?

The following are the basic steps of a typical neurofeedback session and how it works:

• Settings goals for treatment– Depending on the condition of the patient and the type of neurofeedback system, goals are defined and the treatment is done accordingly.
• Measuring the activity of the brain– Electrodes are placed on a patient’s scalp in order to access a real-time measurement of the brain waves (qEEG). As the neurofeedback session begins, the patient can play a video game, watch a movie or enjoy listening to music.
• Training the brain with positive feedback– After the qEEG detects that the brain wave activity has accomplished and achieved the goals of the treatment, a reward is granted with positive feedback. for example a higher score on the video game or a musical tone.
• Repeat training– The patient’s brain waves are continuously monitored and positive feedback is given when the goals of treatment are achieved during each session.

Types of Neurofeedback

• Z-score training: Encourages an individual’s brain wave activity to begin moving towards the average of healthy people.
• Amplitude training: The size of certain brain waves is increased or decreased.
• Infraslow Fluctuation (ISF) training: This approach targets the slowest brain waves, helping with brain stabilization and emotional regulation.

Why Choose Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is definitely a powerful tool that aims to heal the areas of the brain that require healing! It has the ability to target specific areas and change the way neurons communicate and information is shared. Neurofeedback never fails to surprise us and our patients by its ability of healing and training the brain in new and better ways. So, we’re here to tell you that life doesn’t have to be this way! There is hope and a better solution to mitigating your anxiety, depression, migraines, and concussion symptoms. To find out more, contact our office today!

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