WHAT IS DOING NEUROFEEDBACK LIKE?

When a person does a neurofeedback training session they are watching a video or listening to music that responds to how fast or slow their own brain is functioning. EEG electrodes are placed on the scalp and simply monitor how fast the neurons are producing neural impulses, or brain waves, and sends this information to the computer that controls the video or music feedback. 

When the brain is working too fast or too slow the movie will fade or skip. When the brain is working in a calm, relaxed, and focused manner the video plays more smoothly. Thus the brain is receiving information about how it is functioning and adjusts in order to get the video or music to play.

When you give the brain information about its own activity through video or music based on how the brain cells are firing, you can teach it to calm down or speed up, to shift more smoothly and become more efficient. 

Once the brain has learned the pattern of activity that makes the video play smoothly it wants to continue working in this pattern even more so it can watch the video. This process is known as positive reinforcement.  

The brain gradually learns to shift from the FIGHT OR FLIGHT mode induced by stress to the more desired REST AND DIGEST state.

How Long do you have to do neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a gradual learning process where the brain learns how to function in a more efficient balanced manner and over several weeks of repeated training sessions the brain begins to remember this new pattern of activity and maintains and memorizes it. Similar to how learning to ride a bicycle becomes automatic and you no longer have to try to balance, your brain has just learned how to do it. In other words, once you have achieved and maintained your desired goal and outcome you do not have to keep training. You only have to do it until you have learned to maintain your progress. 

Every individual is unique, different people respond at different rates, therefore, some may be able to do fewer sessions while others may want to do more based on their specific goals.