When you have a neurofeedback training session, your brain activity is picked up through the sensors on your scalp and your brain waves passed to a computer and then onto a second screen that you can see clearly. As your brain waves change, you get instant biofeedback. Either the trace on the screen changes and you see that, or the music or the game stops and starts. You can see your brain activity measured on the screen and that makes it much easier to control it consciously.

This instant feedback is the key to learning to change your brain function because it allows many more opportunities to practise controlling your brain waves than you would get in everyday activities. It can take you ten minutes to notice that you have stopped working and have been daydreaming and staring out of the window. With neurofeedback, you are aware that you have started to wander off within seconds.

Neurofeedback gives you the means to learn to control your brain activity by showing you the type of brain waves you are producing at any time. If you want to learn to focus, you can use neurofeedback to practise producing more fast, regular beta waves. If you want to relax more, neurofeedback therapy can show you when your brain waves start to slow down so that you can focus on what that feels like.

Playing games with neurofeedback

Individual neurofeedback training sessions are designed to suit your needs. Pretty much everyone finds it difficult to make sense of brain wave traces, so we have the software to convert brain activity into action. Your trainer will set your neurofeedback training software up to link the brain activity you want to concentrate on to a display that gives you instant feedback. You can choose to use your brain waves to play an on-screen game, or to play a DVD or some of your favourite music. You can learn to produce the brain waves you want to keep playing the game or the music or the film.

Practice makes perfect

After you have used neurofeedback training, you might find you become much more aware of your thoughts and brain patterns. You may start to relax more easily, when you want to. Or you may find it is not such a struggle to stay focused on a task such as a piece of arithmetic, a piece of writing or planning your work. You can even practise producing the brain waves you want while you are actually doing the task you find difficult, such as reading or a maths task.

To learn more about how neurofeedback can help you, contact us for a confidential and informal chat.

Be Sociable, Share!

•