Neurofeedback is a non-invasive peek into the "black box" of the brain. The substrate of our consciousness, including feelings, thoughts and actions, is the neuronal activity within the brain which contains billions of neurons synapsing together. This communication between neurons creates different brain waves as we attend to different aspects of our life.
Sometimes our brain gets trapped in an electrical pattern that causes problems like anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, addiction, and so forth. The central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is the center of all other bodily systems so if it isn't working right then other systems reflect it. For instance, you might have stomach aches or insomnia due to the pattern the brain is firing.
These disruptive patterns have arisen from physical or mental abuse, chronic stress, emotional or physical trauma, anxiety and so forth. In response to these stressors the brain adopted a pattern to survive the threats it perceived. This maladaptive pattern presents a host of problems for individuals, but also an opportunity to retrain their brain waves through neurofeedback which uses EEG electrodes to detect the different brain wave patterns.
Slow frequencies, like Delta, range from.5-4 Hertz and are the sleep waves normally present when fully unconscious. An aberrant pattern is finding delta waves in the frontal lobe when you are awake which reflects a person with "brain fog."
Theta waves (4-8 Hz) signify a state just before sleep where thoughts are replaced by visual images. It is called the hypnagogic state and is suitable for hypnosis.
Alpha waves (8-12 Hz) indicate meditative awareness and are concentrated in the right hemisphere which is associated with holistic processing.
LoBeta (12-15 Hz) is an organizing frequency reflecting calm focus, such as a cat watching a gopher hole. Training this frequency gives people a locus of internal control so they can pause before reacting, rethinking their response.
Beta (15-22 Hz) waves predominate in the frontal lobe fostering alertness, computation, language processing, and focusing on details. Higher beta frequencies (23-38 Hz) indicate hyper-vigilance and anxiety due to PTSD, trauma or abuse.
Gamma waves (40 Hz) integrate all parts of the brain in brief flashes of insight.
One type of neurofeedback, called "infraslow," targets frequencies slower than delta. These brainwaves arise from the brain stem and balancing them regulates physiological state through the autonomic nervous system. Sympathetic arousal (fight or flight) dissipates when you balance the infraslow frequencies. Neurophysiologist Stephen Porges notes, "from a parsimonious perspective, the brainstem is a final common pathway through which most information comes into the brain and leaves the brain. It is useful to think of the brainstem as a building block upon which other processes are scaffolded. If we can't regulate physiological state, which is a brainstem responsibility, then we have difficulties accessing and processing higher cognitive functions."
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