What is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is one of the more powerful transformative technologies available today. It is a gentle, non-invasive process that utilizes information about your brain waves to facilitate better mental performance, mental health, and overall well-being. It's like exercise for your brain, gently challenging it to develop the neural pathways it needs for better balance (resilience) and functioning (performance). As a result, you enjoy increased focus and concentration, more resilience to stress, and improved performance. 

With NeurOptimal® neurofeedback—the cutting edge in neurofeedback technology and the only system we endorse at NeuroEdge® Coaching—each client's brain directs its own learning and response to the feedback.  This is important because it means that each client will see benefits tailored to his or her own needs. 

What Benefits Do People See with Neurofeedback?

• Students see an improved ability to focus and concentrate, along with less frustration and a greater resilience to stress, resulting in improved academic performance.

• Neurofeedback helps Athletes hone their ability to find and stay "in the zone," put to better use what they've learned during practice time, and thrive in the face of challenges—both on and off the field—that are inherent to the world of sports. Neurofeedback helps address traumatic brain injuries (concussions) by helping the brain to form new neural pathways.

• Neurofeedback is perhaps best known for its help with symptoms of ADD/ADHD, as well as learning disabilities and anxieties/phobias. In many cases, symptoms are resolved to such an extent that ADD/ADHD medications can be dramatically reduced or eliminated. And because it helps train the brain to work more effectively and efficiently, people have reported increased test scores and higher grades. Kids often feel better and happier. And because they are better able to perform at the level they're capable of, they're more successful, which feels great. The benefits spill over into other areas of life.

• Musicians see improvements in areas including musical understanding, imagination, communication with the audience, and mastering their performance. Performers find an ease on stage and and an increased presence. Artists see improvements in idea creation, getting "unstuck," overcoming writer's block, and finding the artistic "flow." 

I’m new to neurofeedback… What happens in a session?

During a NeuroEdge® Coaching Session, which lasts about 50 minutes, you sit comfortably and we put a couple of sensor clips on each ear that have slender wires connected to them.  We also put two sensors the size of a pencil eraser on the top sides of your head which read your brain waves into the neurofeedback software. You feel nothing and need not work hard or "do" anything to facilitate the neurofeedback training. You and your coach are free to talk comfortably and work towards your goals; your brain knows exactly what to do, and the brain training happens naturally. With young children, the child and coach are free to "play"* and chat while the neurofeedback is running in the background. 

During the session, software is analyzing your brainwaves and providing feedback through music that is playing softly through a speaker near you. That music is responding to your brainwaves throughout the session; brainwaves that go "off-course" create slight interruptions in the audio, and these interruptions signal your brain to self-correct into a more natural, relaxed, and effective pattern. 

From your perspective, what happens during the feedback is that as the program picks up a variability in your brain signal, it triggers a brief pause, almost like a skip or static in the movie or music. The unexpected break in the rhythm then triggers your brain to scan itself to see what's going on and what needs to be done. It makes whatever correction is necessary to smooth things out again, and the movie or music starts again. This all happens in a second or two.

Unproductive patterns – repetitive thoughts, anxiety/worry, stress, distractibility, difficulty processing information – all have the opportunity to reorganize themselves into patterns that are more efficient, peaceful, clear, and centered. More efficient brain wave patterns increase your mind’s ability to be more flexible, creative, and resilient, allowing you to perform at your best, more consistently and more easily.

After a NeuroEdge® Coaching session, clients report feeling refreshed, relaxed, and in a higher state of mental alertness and flow. The effects are enhanced through regular NeuroEdge® Coaching sessions, with modest improvements after the first few sessions and significant benefits after 15 or more sessions. 

*Coaching with young children looks more like play - we chat while drawing together, playing with figurines, safari animals, or dolls, reading books, doing puzzles, etc. For very young children who may have difficulty sitting long enough for the neurofeedback training to happen, we can also play a movie of their choice in order to keep their attention.