Quackery Exposed: Neurofeedback/biofeedback

Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback. Neurofeedback is the direct training of brain function. Practitioners claim it helps the brain function more efficiently. The brain is observed in action from "moment to moment." The information is shown back to the patient. The brain gets rewarded for changing its own activity to more typical patterns. This is a gradual learning process. This is more like brain training.

The neurofeedback trains in self-regulation. Neurofeedback addresses brain dysregulation. The conditions that cause this are:

  • anxiety
  • depression
  • ADHD
  • behavior disorders
  • sleep disorders
  • headaches
  • migraines
  • PMS 
  • emotional disturbances
  • seizures
  • cerebral palsy
  • autism
  • brain injury
  • birth trauma
  • bedwetting
  • sleepwaking
  • sleep talking
  • teeth grinding
  • nightmares
  • night terrors
  • drug abuse
  • PTSD

How it works

Electrodes are applied to the scalp. This is done to listen to brainwave activity. The signal is processed by a computer. The practitioner extracts the information about key brainwave frequencies. The data is shown to the patient, then the patient attempts to change the activity level. The information is in the form of a video game with their brain. Eventually, the brainwave activity is shaped into what the practitioner desires. It feels like ABA for the brain. 

Who provides neurofeedback?

  • mental health professionals
  • nurses
  • clinical social workers
  • rehabilitation specialists
  • Medical doctors

Is it a cure?

With organic brain disorders, it is a matter of getting the brain to function "better" than being a cure. When it comes to dysregulation,  it is not a disease to be cured. Where dysregulation is an issue, self-regulation is a remedy. 

sources:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Puzzle Piece is Hated by the Autistic Community: the history and what to use instead

Image
A hate symbol. Why is the puzzle piece a hate symbol? I get asked this a lot. They tell me to reclaim it. As a Holocaust educator, no one tells the Jewish, travelers, LBGTQ, or any other people massacred in this horrific even in history to reclaim the swastika. I am breaking down the history and what to use instead.  The HistoryThe puzzle piece logo was created in 1963 by Gerald Gasson, who was on the board of National Autistic Society in London.It was formally called the Society for Autistic Children.  It featured a crying child in the middle of it.  It symbolizes that autistic people are hard to understand.

Helen Alison from the National Autistic Society explained this by saying,"The puzzle piece is so effective because it tells us something about autism: our children are handicapped by a puzzling condition; this isolates them from normal human contact and they do not 'fit in.' The suggestion of a weeping child is a reminder that autistic people do indeed suffer from thei…
Read more

The Blue Pumpkin and Why I will Never Get One for my Children

Image
With Halloween coming up, the blue pumpkin project has surfaced online. The blue pumpkin is to make the autistic children stand out so people know that the child may not be able to say "trick or treat." It seems innocent enough but the autistic community as a whole is against this.

Blue for autism was started by Autism Speaks. The blue signifies that it is a boy's disability. They control the tragedy narrative that we are working so hard to fight. They encourage parents to grieve the child they thought they were going to have. They are still the same child .

We are a Jewish family. I never hide this fact. Holocaust education is very important, even more so as an Autistic Jew. After going through my photos of the March of the Living, a Holocaust trip I took as a child, the parallel of the Jude star came through my mind. It may seem extreme. The blue pumpkin is meant to label every autistic child as autistic. It makes them stand out.  The Jude star labeled every Jewish pe…
Read more

MMS is OFFICIALLY BANNED IN THE United States!

Image
It finally happened. Yesterday the Genesis 2 Church had court at the Federal Courthouse in Miami. Miami is only 50 miles from where I live in South Florida. I took a drive with another member of my organization to see this happen. Unfortunately, it was a closed hearing. We knew this was a possibility. It was an emergency hearing to determine if the temporary injunction on the sale and promotion of MMS would become permanent.

Today it was released that there was a preliminary injunction placed on Genesis 2 Church:

"'Genesis 2 Church now has been banned from selling, promoting, signposting, distributing MMS Chlorine Diixide bleach! They cannot:
'label, hold, and/or distribute any drug, including but not limited to MMS, that does not have an approved new drug application pursuant to 21.' 1. The United States’ motion for a preliminary injunction (DE 3) is GRANTED. 2. Upon entry of this Order, Defendants and each and all of their directors, officers, agents, representatives, em…
Read more