VAN-DERHOEFFER
Hey Hey Hey, it’s the Bodacious Bonhoeffers here.
Today we are going to talk about Neurofeedback!
What’s neurofeedback you say? Contrary to what it sounds like, neurofeedback is not your brain distorting because you are experiencing something that’s just too awesome (such as being in a deep sea submarine, watching Stranger Things for first time, or eating a taco.) It is actually an up and coming new form of therapy.
How does it work you ask? My you are full of questions today. Neurofeedback, also known as neurotherapy or neurobiofeedback, is a form of therapy which harnesses the awesome power of electricity to develop self-regulation. The brain, being our favorite electrochemical body part, is constantly producing electrical signals, and we can detect the wavelengths produce by the electrochemical reactions. Here is an example.
Each part of our brain is producing a variety of these wavelengths (brainwaves). Depending on the activity we are engaged in, our brain produces more of a particular range of brainwaves than others. These ranges have been categorized in the following: Delta waves, most prevalent during deep sleep, Theta waves, prevalent when asleep or drowsy, Alpha waves, prevalent during relaxed focus, Beta waves, prevalent when actively thinking, and High Beta waves, prevalent when excited. Using an electroencephalogram (EEG), we can see the total amount of each brainwave produced in particular parts of the brain during particular types of engagement.
What is extraordinarily interesting is that those suffering from trauma produce different brainwave patterns than the general “healthy” individual. Tons of data has been collected by researchers over the years using EEG readings to observe how the human brain engages in certain types of activities. From this data, “statistically normal” brainwave patterns emerged; and, it has been observed that patients suffering from trauma have different brainwave patterns than what is statistically normal.
Neurofeedback is the process of “rewiring” the brain to produce healthy brainwave patterns, which in essence creates the ability of self-regulation. The patient of neurofeedback is hooked up to a machine which shows in live time the EEG readings of the patient. The patient does some type of activity, usually a game of some sorts, and the machine sends electric signals to the patient during the activity in order to stimulate healthy brain activation and correct the harmful brainwave pattern while showing the patient their brain activation during the activity.
Due to the expense of the procedure, the technicality of it, the stigma behind using electricity in mental health (electroshock therapy, am I right?), and the pervasiveness of the pharmaceutical industry, neurofeedback has not been popularized or properly researched to the extent that it should be. Van der Kolk summarizes the current research (as of 2014) that has been done, and the results are very encouraging. We do not have time to summarize it here, but our group believes that Neurofeedback has the potential to greatly aid in the treatment of traumatized patients.
Our group loves the idea of neurofeedback, and we all hope to see it both researched further and utilized more. As useful as pharmaceuticals are, neurofeedback is faster, less invasive, and provides greater independence and self-regulation in the severely traumatized patient.
So there you have it, that is neurofeedback. If anyone is interested in starting an amateur neurofeedback clinic using two car batteries and a Nintendo 64, please let us know, we might be interested.
Bodacious Bonhoeffers out.
PS: Credit to Ryan Chambers for making incredible pictures and just being awesome all the time.
