Who we are, how we interact, how we feel, think, and remember are dependent on the health of our brain. If our brain changes - our experience of life changes. Neurofeedback based on the findings of a neuropsychological evaluation, and QEEG analysis, can help with a number of difficulties related to mood, cognition, and behavior.
Neurofeedback is biofeedback of brain activity. Research has reliably shown that people can learn to modulate their brain wave activity through feedback. At Catskill Neuropsychology we use cutting edge LORETA guided neurofeedback. By measuring brain activity from 19 locations,and using very sophisticated software, areas of the brain that are showing a deregulation (activity that is significantly different from normal) can be identified, and the source of the abnormal signal can be located. By training that brain area or brain network to operate closer to normal parameters, symptoms lessen, and function improves.
Most psychological difficulties are related to deregulation in and between different brain networks. Anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive patterns, ADHD, Autism, cognitive difficulties, chronic pain, all have altered brainwave patterns associated with them. If those brain wave patterns are normalized functioning improves.
Neurofeedback is an excellent approach to cognitive difficulties, learning disabilities, TBI, anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention problems. memory problems, executive function problems, and movement coordination problems.
neurofeedback can also be used to strengthen functioning for optimal performance.
Neurofeedback in combination with cognitive rehabilitation is an especially powerful approach to helping recover from TBI or stroke. Neurofeedback helps train neurological coordination, within and between the brain networks, while the cognitive rehabilitation program excersises the abilities that rely on those networks.
A typical course of neurofeedback starts with the neuropsycholological assessment and Quantitative EEG. This helps us identify the specific difficulties and symptoms a person is experiencing. The QEEG helps us link those sysmptoms to deregulation in specific locations in the brain. We then use neurofeedback and cognitive rehabiliation to normalize and strengthen those networks and the skills that depend on them.
Neurofeedback usually takes about 20 sessions to make a clinical difference, and an additional 20 sessions for the brain changes to be enduring. Treatment is usually conducted 2 times per week. While the treatment is time consuming,the effects are worth it. Medications only work as long as you take them. If you change your brain, the positive changes persist well beyond the treatment period.
Catskill Neuropsychology works with many people who have had traumatic injuries, and serious medical conditions. Our treatment protocols include psychotherapy, biofeedback, and neurofeedback.
