What is Neurofeedback and How It helps Brain Health [video]

Posted by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC on Sat, Sep 15, 2018

What is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a computer-based system that corrects brainwaves safely while you watch a movie or listen to music. Irregular brainwaves are responsible for many neurological conditions such as ADHD, learning issues, anxiety, depression, insomnia, migraines, memory loss, and more.

The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) defines EEG biofeedback (also called neurofeedback) as:

“EEG Biofeedback is employed to modify the electrical activity of the CNS including: EEG, event related potentials, slow cortical potentials, and other electrical activity either of subcortical or cortical origin. Neurofeedback is a specialized application of biofeedback of brainwave data in an operant conditioning paradigm. The method is used to treat clinical conditions as well as to enhance performance”

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Topics: Neurofeedback, brain map, Brain Mapping, Brain heatlh, Anxiety and Stress, Biofeedback, Mental Health

Improve your Brain & Body Health with Total Brain & Body O2

Posted by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC on Tue, May 01, 2018

Exercise with Total Brain & Body O2

We offer exercise with enhanced air therapy (sometimes called exercise with oxygen therapy or EWOT) to enhance brain function and energy production. The system we use is called Total Brain & Body O2 Therapy, manufactured by Ergo-Flex Technologies, LLC.

The basis of the protocol on Total Brain & Body O2 Therapy is to induce O2 deprivation and then once recognized by the software data, flood the body with O2 saturation and take advantage of the vasodilation/saturation by pushing it to as much tissue as possible via exercise (in this case our NordicTrack ® Commercial VR21 recumbent bike). Total Brain & Body O2 Therapy is designed to facilitate healing by super-saturating nearly all body tissues (especially brain, kidney, liver) plasma and lymph with very high levels of oxygen that permeates the tissues because of the exercise component.

Neuroplasticity Requires Oxygen

We can use Total Brain & Body O2 Therapy as a stand alone therapy or prior to neurofeedback training to increase oxygen levels in the brain. Total Brain & Body O2 Therapy is supplied via the Total Brain & Body O2 apparatus and is non invasive and painless. It can be combined with the Dr. Johnson’s neurofeedback therapy to provide faster and more synergistic results.

Total Brain & Body O2 Therapy ensures the maximum amount of oxygen reaches where it is needed the most; to damaged and inflamed tissues and allows them to return to normal aerobic metabolism. Total Brain & Body O2 starts a healing process where the process halted due to poor cellular healing capacity.

Oxygen is vital for every function of the body and brain. No matter what your present level of physical and mental health, you will benefit from flooding your cells with live giving oxygen.

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Topics: Neurofeedback, ADHD Treatments, Healthy Aging, Total Brain & Body O2, EWOT

How to Get Your Brain Working at Its Best

Posted by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC on Tue, Mar 06, 2018

Help Your Brain Work More Efficiently with neurofeedback

Neurofeedback (NFB), also referred to as neurotherapy, EEG biofeedback or brainwave biofeedback, is a drug-free treatment technique used to improve your brain's ability to operate more efficiently. Like otherforms of biofeedback, NFB uses monitoring devices to provide moment-to-moment information about biological functions in your body. This information is simultaneously "fed back" to you so that you can become more aware of and eventually learn to control processes in your body. The characteristic that distinguishes NFB from other biofeedback is its focus on the central nervous system and the brain.

Begin Your efficiency training with a brain map

Neurofeedback training typically begins with a computer analysis of brainwave patterns which provide results in the form of a quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG), also known as a brain map. The QEEG results are often displayed in a colorful map of the brain with different colors representing different brainwave frequencies or patterns. This information can be compared to an extensive normative database to determine appropriate treatment protocols.

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Topics: ADHD, Anxiety, Neurofeedback, QEEG, Brain Mapping

Beyond Medicating The Brain: Why We Need a New Approach

Posted by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC on Thu, Mar 01, 2018

What’s the generally accepted medical practice for treating someone with clinical depression, anxiety, ADHD, migraines, seizures, or many other “brain” problems?

The usual answer is to prescribe a pill, such as a stimulant, an anti-depressant, an anti-anxiety medication, or in some cases, a mood stabilizer/anti-convulsant, or an anti-psychotic

Disadvantages to medicating the brain are becoming more widely known. Many people who take medications still struggle with symptoms. For many others, stopping a medication causes the problems to reappear or even get worse. In addition, there can be side effects ranging from mild to severe.

Further, it is common to take medications for a very long time period, which is not only problematic as dependence can develop, but there are also growing concerns about the long-term use of medications and for good reason.

The pills don’t TEACH you how to change your own brain. They just temporarily help manage symptoms.

For certain “brain problems”, such as autism, Asperger’s, learning difficulties, PTSD, and even stroke and traumatic brain injury, there are no medications that really work well or work at all. Yet, these are clearly brain problems.

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Topics: ADHD, Brain Health, Neurofeedback, Medication, ADHD Medication

History and Development of Neurofeedback

Posted by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC on Tue, Jan 16, 2018

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEUROFEEDBACK

Neurofeedback began in the late 1950s and early '60s through the work of both Dr Joe Kamiya at the University of Chicago and Dr Barry Sterman at UCLA.

Dr. Kamiya was studying consciousness, and discovered that by using a simple reward system, people could learn to alter their brain activity. This was the first ever EEG neurofeedback training.

Along similar lines, Dr. Sterman ran an experiment to see if cats could increase their sensory motor rhythm (SMR). A simple machine gave them a food pellet every time they 'got it right', and they quickly learned to control their brainwaves to get the treat.

The NASA Connection

Several years later he was doing an experiment for NASA, again using the cats from his lab. This time, he was testing the effects of exposure to lunar lander fuel. For most of the cats, as the levels of toxic fumes increased there was a linear progression of brain instability; first drowsiness, then headaches, followed by hallucinations, seizures, and finally death.

However, some of the cats seemed to be immune. Sterman noticed that the cats who were immune were the same cats he had used in the SMR brain training experiment a couple of years before. The SMR training had given those cats utra-stable brains. Sterman moved on to train SMR in humans to control their epilepsy; 60% of his subjects reduced their seizure level by 20-100%, and the results lasted.

As a result, NASA trained their lunar astronauts to control their brain's SMR rhythms. Fifty years later, neurofeedback is still part of the astronaut training program.

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Topics: ADHD, Neurofeedback, Brain heatlh, History of Neurofeedback, NASA

Get To Know Type 7 ADD

Posted by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC on Thu, Dec 28, 2017

ADD - Type 7

Here we are at tht end of the series of articles on the seven types of attention deficit. Type 7 is also called Anxious ADD. The name for this type of ADD comes from the combination of ADD symptoms and anxiety symptoms. When these two come together, the ADD symptom become magnified. At Johnson Chiropractic Neurology & Nutrition & Michigan Brain Health (website that details my mental fitness treatment paradigm) we look at brain maps or qEEG's. The brain maps have a color coding to indicate the degree of brainwave activity as well as the assymetry of brainwaves. Red and yellow colors indicate higher than normal brain wave activity. When we see light and dark blue we know there is lower that normal brain wave activity. In Anxious ADD, it is common to see red and/or yellow in the alpha brainwaves (and sometime in beta) on the magnitude portion of the brain map clinician report. Typically the beta waves are predominant on the right side of the brain with anxiety as well on the assymety portion of the clinician report.

In Anxious ADD, it is very common to see the core ADD symptoms plus fear of being judged, predicting the worst, being conflict avoidant, and having physical stress symptoms, such as headaches and stomachaches. In addition, people with this type tend to freeze in anxiety-provoking situations, especially where they may be judged, such as in test taking. [1] As with all the other ADD types, a we correlate the patient's qEEG findings with their clinical history and brain map (qEEG) results will assist with correct ADD/ADHD classification.

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Topics: ADHD, Neurofeedback, Functional Neurology, Nutritional Help, Type 7 ADD, Anxious ADD

Get To Know Type 6 ADD

Posted by Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC on Tue, Dec 12, 2017

ADD - Type 6

Now about Type 6 attention deficit in the series of articles where I explain some of the details of the seven types of ADD. Type 6 is also called Ring of Fire ADD. The name for this type of ADD comes from underlying aspects of body chemistry imbalance that drives an overall increase in brain activity across the whole cortex. At Johnson Chiropractic Neurology & Nutrition & Michigan Brain Health (my new upcoming name for my mental fitness treatment paradigm) we look at brain maps or qEEG's. The brain maps have a color coding to indicate the degree of brainwave activity. Red and yellow colors indicate higher than normal brain wave activity. When we see light and dark blue we know there is lower that normal brain wave activity. In Ring of Fire ADD, we typically see an overall pattern of red and yellow in all the 4 brainwaves (delta, theta, alpha and beta). Dr. Amen postulates that, "Ring of Fire ADD may represent a variant of bipolar disorder mixed with ADD."

In Ring of Fire ADD, the core ADD symptoms are present along with the additional hallmark symptoms including; irritability, hyperactivity, excessive talking, overfocus issues, extreme oppositional behavior, and cyclic periods of calm behavior alternating with intense aggressive behavior. [1] As with all the other ADD types, a we correlate the patient's qEEG findings with their clinical history and brain map (qEEG) results will assist with correct ADD/ADHD classification.

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Topics: ADHD, Neurofeedback, Functional Neurology, Nutritional Help, Type 6 ADD

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