For the week of April 16 - 22, 2003

Neurofeedback stages comeback

‘Biofeedback provides a visual
indication of mental states’

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By TONY EVANS
For the Mountain Express

During last week’s support group meeting of the Wood River Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill at Light on the Mountain Spiritual Center, 15 attendees were given small thermometers to hold between their fingers while they were induced, through diaphragmatic breathing techniques, into a state of deep relaxation. Sheila Del Signore, a trained biofeedback and neurofeedback practitioner living in Hailey, pointed out that almost everyone’s finger temperature had risen by a few degrees within three minutes of the meditative exercise. This demonstration by Del Signore of a basic form of biofeedback, shows how we can measure reduced levels of stress by an increase in hand temperature. According to Del Signore, "a relaxed mind relieves the ‘flight or fight response,’ sending a signal to the vital organs of the body that they can relax. This eases blood flow in the center of the body, resulting in warmer hands."

While many of the NAMI members were enjoying a moment of communal relaxation, my own stress level was on the rise. What I might ordinarily have concealed was made obvious to the NAMI group by a computer monitor that displayed changes in my breath rate, heart rate, and skin temperature. As the biofeedback guinea pig, I was publicly embarrassed (in the interests of journalism) by a series of math and memory problems that left me flummoxed. These stress tests are designed to produce physiological changes related to stress and anxiety. While silently recalling the experience of a broken collarbone, my heart rate spiked and other stress indicators rose dramatically. When instructed to focus on blissful circumstances for a contrast display, I found myself at a loss. Go figure.

Tom Hansen, director of NAMI’s Wood River Chapter, said after the demonstration, "Biofeedback provides a visual indication of mental states. The more we can learn about the ups and downs of stress with regard to brain chemistry, the better informed we are going to be as an organization."

One attending NAMI member said that biofeedback may provide a tool whereby a person can keep an eye on the "precursors to episodes of mental illness. Like anxiety."

Several mentioned an interest in anything that might reduce dependence on medications.

Perhaps the most promising form of biofeedback, in terms of the treatment of mental disorders, is also the most controversial. Neurofeedback, also known as neurotherapy, involves the measure of electrical brain wave patterns rather than the cardio-vascular rhythms. Neurotherapy works by training a person to self-regulate his own patterns of ongoing electrical brain activity as measured in brain wave frequencies.

Brain waves were "discovered" during World War II as a result of advances in electronic-sensing technology and assigned Greek letters along a spectrum from lower to higher frequency: Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta and Gamma. All the frequencies are necessary at different times throughout the day, depending on the task at hand.

One client of Del Signore’s has a particular interest in the area between Alpha and Beta known as sensorimotor, or SMR, which signifies a state of "calm and alert." SMR is the place from which optimum athletic performance is said to originate.

At least one amateur golfer from the area, Marc Longley of Ketchum, is putting this theory to the test by taking his putting practice into the Peak Potential Biofeedback office of Del Signore each week. He is "hooked up" to electrodes, instructed to relax, breathe deeply, and when the bell rings, take his shot.

"If he recognizes SMR in the office, he is more likely to recognize it on the golf course," Del Signore said.

Del Signore expects results after only 20 treatment sessions of neurofeedback. She also takes referrals from medical doctors for the treatment of various stress disorders.

Neurotherapy "treatments" come in the form of "protocols," which are time-tested parameters for the fine-tuning of these brain wave patterns. The electrical signals of brain waves are measured at particular sites on the unshaved scalp with electrodes. Auditory and visual rewards are given to the subject for staying inside these parameters. Driven by the will to complete a puzzle, or the desire to hear chimes, the brain somehow works its way into these parameters while simply watching the screen or listening for auditory signals.

Consistent training for Alpha waves, for instance, was once known to produce a holistic sense of connectedness and even mystical transcendence, described by some early researchers as a connection with God. Claims like these in the 1960s and 1970s caused neurofeedback to lose some credibility in the academic community. Another reason for the challenges faced by neurofeedback has been its interactive nature, which resists double-blind testing with placebos. These kinds of studies, with strict controls, are the gold standard of academic scrutiny. The lack of them have led to a marginalization of neurofeedback within academia and to a reliance on "anecdotal" case studies in the study of its effectiveness.

According to Jim Robbins, author of "A Symphony in the Brain," the anecdotal case studies in support of neurotherapy have been growing steadily over the last three decades, with the scientific community and the media finally taking more than a passing interest. With the growing acceptance of a "neuro-chemical model" for brain processes and brain disorders, what was once known generally as "personality" has, for better or worse, come to mean a host of other things. As a result of this new perspective on the brain, neurofeedback has found new applications, including the treatment of attention deficit disorder, addictions, closed head injury, epilepsy, and various forms of depression.

Theta waves occur on the lower end of the brain wave spectrum and have long been associated with the subconscious, since they occur just before sleep. A crude form of Theta-training biofeedback was used by Thomas Edison, and later, by the surrealist painter Salvador Dali, to access this creative, intuitive state of mind. Edison would hold a rock in one hand over a tin pie plate as he drifted into a doze. As he fell asleep, the rock would fall from his hand hit the tin and wake him up, whereupon he would scribble his notes for electrical inventions. Dali employed a similar technique to envision dripping clocks and flying tigers for his paintings. Interestingly, these states so essential to creative genius, are the very ones which are "trained out" of kids with ADD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to help them focus in the classroom.

One local teacher who is exploring the application of neurofeedback in the treatment of learning disorders, such as ADD and ADHD, is Catherine Parris, the occupational therapist at Ernest Hemingway Elementary School in Ketchum.

She currently oversees a small pilot program of Alpha-Theta training with students who have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. She is careful not to make any definitive claims so early in the program, but said there seem to have been some positive results from using a "Play Attention" neurofeedback computer program in conjunction with sensory integration, behavior modification techniques and other teaching modalities.

The "Play Attention" device attaches electrodes to a student’s scalp with what looks like an ordinary bicycle helmet. A student succeeds at the "game" by making a fish swim, a frog leap, or by moving building blocks around until he or she constructs a tower on the computer screen. All of this takes place without a joystick, or tweaking of knobs. What the students don’t know is that they are being induced into Alpha-Theta states by simply observing the computer screen and listening for auditory "rewards."

"When the kids are having difficulty focusing in class, I remind them how focused they were while doing Play Station, and it helps," Parris said.

While experimenting with "Play Attention" myself, I found that I could carry on a relaxing conversation with Parris, take notes, and still manage to move some blocks around out of the corner of my eye. This led me to wonder how much goes on in my brain without my mind being aware of it.

Biofeedback and neurofeedback can open a window on this invisible world, perhaps allowing a certain measure of control over the more subtle components of consciousness.

 

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