Dr Phil Bate Orthomolecular Pioneer |
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It's sort of a loose secret as to how EEG Biofeedback actually works. It's obscured by many of the clinicians who don't want you (the public) to know just how simple it really is, and further confused by many who don't understand the electronics involved.
If you know how extremely simple EEG Biofeedback (AKA Neurofeedback), you might just lease or buy a unit, and do it at home. In 2000, when I found out, I started the first company to lease EEG BF units. (I quit this practice in early 2006 simply because it isn't moral to sell something at around $2000 when the same result can be done for less than $100! And even leasing the equipment is much more than that!
There is no question that EEG BF has been the best for all "brain problem" solutions. If you doubt that, click on "Scientific Proof" . That shows what EEG BF had proven up to 2003, and there's much more by now.
First realize that all animal brains continually generate electronic signals. We really don't know a lot about why, but we know enough to be able to use these signals. (We don't really know much about the brain, and exactly what causes these signals, but like electricity, we know how to use it.)
If you place a couple of electrodes (sensors) on the head (usually), very sensitive amplifiers and filters can separate out discrete bands of frequencies. Most of the research has been done to date on frequencies in the audio range, although signals go beyond that.
Scientists have separated these "bands" into several categories as follows:
If you record all the brain waves that are constantly varying, it sounds sort of like an orchestra "warming up" - a cacophony of sound - very discordant. It's been called a "brain symphony".
From the above, you can see that the major object in EEG biofeedback is to raise the SMR brain wave. Let's look at the mechanics involved.
From electrodes (sensors) that are connected to the head (usually), this very weak signal goes thru an amplifier that magnifies it millions of times, then thru a set of filters that can separate out any particular area of interest. (That's the hard part - the electronics).
Once we have such a signal, we can use it to drive a video display. The original display was a simple voltmeter which showed the strength, and this varied of course. Next came a video display - a simple colored circle (or square) that expanded on the screen as the amplitude of the signal increased. Now, actual video games can be played on different EEG BF units. (I learned that the "best games" are NOT the "action type. ADD/ADHD kids can play these for hours without improving at all. Play Attention and a few others use much simpler and more effective games.
The actual operation is very simple! Hook up the kid to the sensors, teach him to concentrate on making the SMR signal go up on whatever display, and to make the Theta signal to go down, or to at least NOT increase.
All that equipment just to have the kid use his conscious mind to "brainwash" his unconscious mind into changing his brainwaves!
In 2004, I had a bright idea! Why not use subliminal messaging to do the "brainwashing" instead of all that equipment? So, I did my first and second test, and proved (to me at least) that:
In 2005/6, lowering Theta was added to raising SMR, and volunteers proved that that combination was just as effective in solving ADD/ADHD/Autism problems. The test data may be found by clicking on "Latest Testing" on the home page.
Now you see how simple it is from the clinician's standpoint. All he has to do is hook up the kid, show him how to do it the first time, answer a few initial questions from the mother, and then let his low paid assistant do it from then on, while he sits and gets rich! And some even have the nerve to charge up to $250 per half hour. (And they do it without a gun!)
