Andi
10-27-04, 04:17 PM
By JULIE WERNAU
Published on 10/22/2004
Waterford -The image of the patient with electrodes attached to his or her head is usually reserved for science fiction and horror flicks.
At Advanced Solutions, LLC in Waterford, Debra Burdick, a licensed social worker with a degree in applied math and 16 years in computer software engineering under her belt, sees it more as a workout ... for the brain.
Burdick practices something called neurofeedback, a not-so-new science that measures the frequency of a client's brain waves and allows them to gain control over everything from depression and anxiety to migraines, sleep disorders, autism and addiction.
Because the equipment only collects the data and spits it out, it comes with none of the risks or side effects of medication.
"It's different for everybody," said Burdick, "but I have had clients who have been able to reduce or eliminate medications they used to need."
Neurofeedback works by using something psychologists call operant conditioning, a system of punishments and rewards that helps reinforce behavior.
"If you reward the brain 100 percent of the time, it doesn't learn anything," Burdick said. "If its never rewarded, the brain takes a hike."
At Advanced Solutions, neurofeedback works just like a video game, rewarding its users with beeps and points.
Burdick attaches sensors to the skull above the parts of the brain she wishes to "work out." For someone with Attention Deficit Disorder, she attaches the sensors to the areas responsible for concentration, anxiety and daydreaming.
The sensors collect information, dividing the raw data into three different frequencies, each of which is represented, in this case, by a space ship on the screen. The space ship in the middle represents concentration. On the right, a ship represents anxiety at the highest frequency. The ship on the left represents daydreaming at the lowest frequency.
Burdick's only direction: Concentrate on making the ship in the middle fly forward while the other two ships remain at port. No joysticks, no game pads, no controllers at all - except the brain, barreling a cartoon spaceship through the outer reaches of the galaxy.
The better you do, the more points you rack up, the more beeps you get and the better you feel. When things are going really well, the ship reaches warp speed or diamonds fly out in front of it to be grabbed up like extra lives in a Nintendo game.
At the brain level, the person is learning to increase concentration and gain control over anxiety and daydreaming, both of which lead to difficulty concentrating.
After a while, the brain learns to regulate itself automatically, allowing someone with ADD to stay concentrated without anxiety or daydreaming standing in the way.
Burdick recommends from 20 to 40 sessions of neurofeedback in order to train the brain to regulate itself. At intervals, Burdick evaluates their symptoms to track progress. After that, most people don't need to come back, she said.
"This, your brain is learning, but you don't have to learn anything," she said.
Casey Alger, 14, has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. For years, he has had trouble concentrating, staying still and remembering his assignments, said his mother Lynn Alger.
"He doesn't sleep," she said. "I don't sleep. Nobody's sleeping. That's because his brain is going 100 miles an hour."
He's been on every medication prescribed for ADHD, said his mother, and while they were somewhat helpful, they didn't always work and many came with side effects. One of the drugs gave Casey severe weight loss, she said and she really wanted to find a way to get her son off medication.
"To tell you the truth," she said. "I'm looking at anything to help him ... to better the quality of his life."
Alger heard about neurofeedback from a friend and said Casey is on his 33rd appointment, off medication and better than he was while on it.
"This doesn't seem to have the side effects," Alger said, "... we noticed changes right away."
Burdick wasn't the only one who noticed a change. A study published in 2003 in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback found that neurofeedback relieved symptoms better or as well as Ritalin, a leading drug used to treat ADHD.
Alger said her son's ADHD had gotten so bad that she had trouble understanding him sometimes.
"He wanders around in his head," she said. "Now, since he's been doing neurofeedback, he can get his thoughts in a line. It is nice getting to know my son, finally."
In the case of children, Burdick trains parents to use the $16,000 worth of equipment themselves so that they can come in and use it even while Burdick is seeing another client.
Burdick said she thinks pretty much anyone can benefit from neurofeedback. She certainly has.
Burdick suffered from Fibromyalgia, a musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder for which the cause is still unknown, for 16 years. The slightest bit of exercise would leave her muscles sore and fatigued for weeks.
About three years ago, Burdick, who has been using neurofeedback at her practice for about five years, attended a conference at which she learned that Fibromyalgia is thought to stem from a disconnect between the brain's temporal lobes, located on the sides of the head.
Burdick attached the neurofeedback sensors to her skull above the temporal lobes, setting up the equipment in a way that would make the temporal lobes work together to complete a task; thus, strengthening the connection between those hemispheres.
It took, even her, a long time to admit it, but Burdick has been symptom-free for two and half years. She considers herself cured. She's even taking yoga, something she'd never have been able to do in the past.
Burdick said she is convinced that neurofeedback can help just about anyone as long as they are motivated to try.
"There's a theory that if you're just not motivated your brain isn't going to do it," she said.
She works hand-in-hand with a psychiatrist and will sometimes recommend patients take medication, depending on their symptoms. If someone were to walk into her office suicidal, Burdick said, she would want to put him or her on medication as a safety because it will work faster.
According to Burdick's own statistics, 93 percent of her patients that took more than three sessions saw improvement last year.
"People feel better and they think they don't need it anymore," Burdick said of those who leave too soon.
She's seen children with learning disabilities improve their scores with neurofeedback. She's seen the sleepless sleep, the restless relax and the pain and suffering stop, Burdick said, yet the procedure, which can cost about $100 a session, is not covered by most insurance companies.
She does what she can to bring the cost down for most patients and tries to find a way for those who can't afford it, said Burdick, but in the end, it comes down to priorities.
"What's it worth to you?" Burdick asked. "Oftentimes people tell me they have a new life. Is that worth half the cost of a wide-screen TV?"
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=c20985fa-c232-44ff-ba6a-5f6e2058d593
Published on 10/22/2004
Waterford -The image of the patient with electrodes attached to his or her head is usually reserved for science fiction and horror flicks.
At Advanced Solutions, LLC in Waterford, Debra Burdick, a licensed social worker with a degree in applied math and 16 years in computer software engineering under her belt, sees it more as a workout ... for the brain.
Burdick practices something called neurofeedback, a not-so-new science that measures the frequency of a client's brain waves and allows them to gain control over everything from depression and anxiety to migraines, sleep disorders, autism and addiction.
Because the equipment only collects the data and spits it out, it comes with none of the risks or side effects of medication.
"It's different for everybody," said Burdick, "but I have had clients who have been able to reduce or eliminate medications they used to need."
Neurofeedback works by using something psychologists call operant conditioning, a system of punishments and rewards that helps reinforce behavior.
"If you reward the brain 100 percent of the time, it doesn't learn anything," Burdick said. "If its never rewarded, the brain takes a hike."
At Advanced Solutions, neurofeedback works just like a video game, rewarding its users with beeps and points.
Burdick attaches sensors to the skull above the parts of the brain she wishes to "work out." For someone with Attention Deficit Disorder, she attaches the sensors to the areas responsible for concentration, anxiety and daydreaming.
The sensors collect information, dividing the raw data into three different frequencies, each of which is represented, in this case, by a space ship on the screen. The space ship in the middle represents concentration. On the right, a ship represents anxiety at the highest frequency. The ship on the left represents daydreaming at the lowest frequency.
Burdick's only direction: Concentrate on making the ship in the middle fly forward while the other two ships remain at port. No joysticks, no game pads, no controllers at all - except the brain, barreling a cartoon spaceship through the outer reaches of the galaxy.
The better you do, the more points you rack up, the more beeps you get and the better you feel. When things are going really well, the ship reaches warp speed or diamonds fly out in front of it to be grabbed up like extra lives in a Nintendo game.
At the brain level, the person is learning to increase concentration and gain control over anxiety and daydreaming, both of which lead to difficulty concentrating.
After a while, the brain learns to regulate itself automatically, allowing someone with ADD to stay concentrated without anxiety or daydreaming standing in the way.
Burdick recommends from 20 to 40 sessions of neurofeedback in order to train the brain to regulate itself. At intervals, Burdick evaluates their symptoms to track progress. After that, most people don't need to come back, she said.
"This, your brain is learning, but you don't have to learn anything," she said.
Casey Alger, 14, has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. For years, he has had trouble concentrating, staying still and remembering his assignments, said his mother Lynn Alger.
"He doesn't sleep," she said. "I don't sleep. Nobody's sleeping. That's because his brain is going 100 miles an hour."
He's been on every medication prescribed for ADHD, said his mother, and while they were somewhat helpful, they didn't always work and many came with side effects. One of the drugs gave Casey severe weight loss, she said and she really wanted to find a way to get her son off medication.
"To tell you the truth," she said. "I'm looking at anything to help him ... to better the quality of his life."
Alger heard about neurofeedback from a friend and said Casey is on his 33rd appointment, off medication and better than he was while on it.
"This doesn't seem to have the side effects," Alger said, "... we noticed changes right away."
Burdick wasn't the only one who noticed a change. A study published in 2003 in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback found that neurofeedback relieved symptoms better or as well as Ritalin, a leading drug used to treat ADHD.
Alger said her son's ADHD had gotten so bad that she had trouble understanding him sometimes.
"He wanders around in his head," she said. "Now, since he's been doing neurofeedback, he can get his thoughts in a line. It is nice getting to know my son, finally."
In the case of children, Burdick trains parents to use the $16,000 worth of equipment themselves so that they can come in and use it even while Burdick is seeing another client.
Burdick said she thinks pretty much anyone can benefit from neurofeedback. She certainly has.
Burdick suffered from Fibromyalgia, a musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder for which the cause is still unknown, for 16 years. The slightest bit of exercise would leave her muscles sore and fatigued for weeks.
About three years ago, Burdick, who has been using neurofeedback at her practice for about five years, attended a conference at which she learned that Fibromyalgia is thought to stem from a disconnect between the brain's temporal lobes, located on the sides of the head.
Burdick attached the neurofeedback sensors to her skull above the temporal lobes, setting up the equipment in a way that would make the temporal lobes work together to complete a task; thus, strengthening the connection between those hemispheres.
It took, even her, a long time to admit it, but Burdick has been symptom-free for two and half years. She considers herself cured. She's even taking yoga, something she'd never have been able to do in the past.
Burdick said she is convinced that neurofeedback can help just about anyone as long as they are motivated to try.
"There's a theory that if you're just not motivated your brain isn't going to do it," she said.
She works hand-in-hand with a psychiatrist and will sometimes recommend patients take medication, depending on their symptoms. If someone were to walk into her office suicidal, Burdick said, she would want to put him or her on medication as a safety because it will work faster.
According to Burdick's own statistics, 93 percent of her patients that took more than three sessions saw improvement last year.
"People feel better and they think they don't need it anymore," Burdick said of those who leave too soon.
She's seen children with learning disabilities improve their scores with neurofeedback. She's seen the sleepless sleep, the restless relax and the pain and suffering stop, Burdick said, yet the procedure, which can cost about $100 a session, is not covered by most insurance companies.
She does what she can to bring the cost down for most patients and tries to find a way for those who can't afford it, said Burdick, but in the end, it comes down to priorities.
"What's it worth to you?" Burdick asked. "Oftentimes people tell me they have a new life. Is that worth half the cost of a wide-screen TV?"
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=c20985fa-c232-44ff-ba6a-5f6e2058d593