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Atlantic Monthly
ON THE TRACK WITH NEUROFEEDBACK
By Jim Robbins
Robbins is a freelance science writer based in
I used to
think of bio-feedback as a relic of the flaky 1970s. That was before I met Jake
Flaherty. Born in 1990, Jake was an infant in crisis: he arrived more than three
months before his due date and weighed just over a pound. At 3 days he required
open-heart surgery. He spent the first two months of his life in intensive care.
He survived, but with serious damage to his brain. At the age of 7, when I met
him, he was taking Depakote and Tegretol to control his epileptic seizures and
lacked the coordination to tie his shoes. He had speech and attention problems,
ground his teeth incessantly and often woke up 10 or 11 times during the night.
Three years
ago Jake's parents sought out a clinic offering neurofeedback, a form of
biofeedback that involves displaying a person's brain waves on a computer screen
and helping him control them. Jake would sit at a monitor with a sensor on his
scalp, and whenever his brain achieved the calm, steady rhythms that normally
eluded him, a Pac-Man would start gobbling black dots and beeping. Soon he was
controlling the screen action at will, by recognizing the way it feels when the
Pac- Man goes to work--and his brain was growing more stable. "It took care
of his teeth grinding in two sessions," says his mother. "It took care
of his sleep problems right away." Within a week Jake was using scissors
and developing a range of other fine motor skills. The number of seizures
dropped. His schoolwork improved dramatically. Several years later he still has
some problems, but his parents say he has gained far more than they dared to
dream.
Though
biofeedback is best known as a stress-reduction exercise, researchers in private
clinics, universities and even NASA are now working to refine the type that
deals with brain waves. The technology is still in its infancy, but it's
emerging as a tool to treat everything from epilepsy and attention-deficit
disorder to migraines, anxiety, depression, head injuries, sleep disorders and
even addiction. In the last few years, neurofeedback has made its way into the
offices of hundreds of reputable doctors, psychologists and counselors. No one
knows exactly how the technique helps people, but recent research shows the
brain is far more "plastic," or changeable, than previously imagined.
Some experts believe that regular brain-wave training improves blood flow to
particular brain regions, fostering stronger connections between cells. And
after 20 or 30 sessions, the changes seem to last.
Some health
experts dismiss the treatment as a fad, suspecting it' s just a high-tech
placebo. They question the wisdom of spending thousands of dollars to try
something so unproven. "Parents need to be fully informed about the lack of
research," says Russell Barkley, a researcher at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School and a leading expert on attention-deficit disorder.
"Basically, it's buyer beware." Proponents counter that since
neurofeedback carries no risks--and has been used successfully by thousands of
people--there is no reason to suppress it until costly clinical trials can be
performed. Joel Lubar, a
Though
neurofeedback appears to be very safe, it isn't cheap; evaluation and 20 or more
sessions can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000. And while that's about the
same as several years of medication, insurance reimbursement is spotty. As
schools begin to offer the technique to students, and the cost of the equipment
comes down, the cost should decline. The systems are simple to use, and a few
practitioners lease units to patients, who can, with an office visit and phone
counseling, take them home and do the training at a fraction of the usual cost.
But for now, the challenge is to find a practitioner who is well trained and
experienced. Start your search with a licensed professional, such as a
psychologist or pediatrician, who is familiar with the technique and can give
you a referral. If you find a practitioner by some other route, ask the
practitioner for references from doctors or psychologists. You should also find
out how long the person has been in business. And search the Web. Lubar's site,
brainwavebiofeedback.org, is a good place to start. EEG Spectrum (eegspectrum.com),
a company that makes neurofeedback equipment and trains people to use it, has
several hundred affiliates around the country. And ct-ed.com and
biofeedbacksolutions.com offer state-of-the-art brain-wave training for learning
disabilities and brain injuries.
Understanding
neurofeedback, and maximizing its benefits, will require years of research, but
the future looks bright. "I feel like someone has given us a piano and
we've learned to play a couple of keys," says Sue Othmer, executive
director of EEG Spectrum. For people like Jake, those few keys are already a
symphony.
Robbins is a
freelance science writer based in
By Jim
Robbins Robbins is a freelance science writer based in