Explanation of Neuroptimal® neurofeedback

How Neuroptimal® neurofeedback works

Neurofeedback is EEG (electroencephalogram) or brainwave biofeedback. The general field of neurofeedback was originally developed in the 1960s-1970s and was carried out using large, cumbersome computers. Since then, significant technological advancements have made it highly accessible. Clinical psychologists, Drs. Valdeane and Susan Brown, founders of Zengar Institute, Inc., have created simple, interactive software that utilises this powerful technology in an easy-to-use program called Neuroptimal®. While based on technology that uses Dynamical Neurofeedback® (see more below), this form of neurofeedback is a non-invasive, drug-free, and highly personalised brain training system that helps the central nervous system (CNS) to make the most of your brain's natural resources.

Neuroptimal® Neurofeedback is a tool that provides each individual brain with real-time information about its own functioning. Each client is connected to the system with silver sensors placed on the scalp with a conductive paste. The system reads minute swirls of electrical energy that occur as brain cells communicate with each other. It is able to determine function and stability using complex mathematics.

While the client sits comfortably in a chair and is connected to these sensors, they watch a video of moving colours and geometric shapes while listening to pleasant music. When the software detects a moment of instability in the brain, the music and movement of the video are briefly interrupted. It is this interruption that signals to the brain that something has changed and may not be right. This audible signal encourages the brain to “reset” itself and act in a self-correcting manner, often with remarkable adjustments in its functioning. With this increased stability, symptoms decrease and sometimes disappear entirely.

Much of our suffering stems from persistent recurring thoughts and feelings in which our minds become emotionally stranded or cognitively “stuck.” Neuroptimal® neurofeedback training for the brain is similar to physical training for the body. It stimulates the brain to draw upon existing resources and pull itself out of these mental ruts. The result is a more open and positive mindset in which obstacles are more manageable and problems are more easily solvable.

The science behind Neuroptimal® neurofeedback

Just as you have developed the most efficient way to walk, given YOUR specific shape, weight, and size, your brain has been designed to find its own, unique, most efficient response to different situations, IF it receives the right feedback at the right time.

Dynamical Neurofeedback® is the key, a scientific technology developed by the Zengar Institute, used in its Neuroptimal® neurofeedback training systems. Instead of providing specific “directions” as other forms of neurofeedback do, Dynamical Neurofeedback® is designed to harness the brain's natural learning processes by encouraging it to function as originally designed. Neuroptimal® neurofeedback trainers simply promote and facilitate the brain's innate tendency towards self-regulation, resilience, and flexibility.

The Dynamical Neurofeedback® technology is unique to the Neuroptimal® trainer interface and is based on the following observations regarding brain physiology:

• Brain Dynamics: the brain is a non-linear, dynamic system that perceives information and adapts to incoming stimuli in a dynamic of endless, continuous processes.
• Process variability: the brain does not show absolute values for the amount of brainwaves required for specific cognitive functions.
• Functional Targeting: although some physiological functions are largely localised to a point in the brain, the greater reality is that the brain is a highly interconnected network of multiple, distributed functions and locations. It works much like the entire World Wide Web. This means, among other things, that there is a dynamic range of variability within different parts of the brain that determines the optimal psychological equilibrium for each individual person. This range also varies dynamically from moment to moment, depending on the processes active at that time.

These principles guide the design of the Neuroptimal® training systems and ultimately explain the effectiveness of Dynamical Neurofeedback® in addressing a wide range of concerns, across the various environments in which it has been used.

Brain dynamics

The brain is a dynamic organ focused on general, but not absolute, self-regulation. No one has to teach a young child the “best” way to walk. Through experimentation, the brain discovers and develops an internal balance and natural gait unique to that individual. The processes of adaptation and accommodation work as a dynamic pair to establish the individually unique and optimal way for each individual to function, given their overall physical status, including any limitations. This happens because the brain constantly processes and assesses feedback from the muscles and other aspects of the musculoskeletal system about their relative position and stability in space. In this way, it explores, expands, and solidifies the intrinsic resilience and flexibility needed to walk adaptively, regardless of the surface and however soft, bumpy, stable, or slippery it may be. By repeating this process with every step, the brain learns how to walk, all without any “expert” explaining which movements of which muscles are necessary.

In the same way, Dynamical Neurofeedback® enables the brain to assemble its own reaction and coping strategies based on incoming information. As a result, the Neuroptimal® system is intrinsically non-invasive and non-corrective.

Process variability

Besides being infinitely cyclical and self-regulating, the brain has no absolute values for how much of a particular brainwave is intrinsically “best” for certain activities. Such an “average” varies considerably from person to person and from moment to moment throughout the day. This amount depends on many factors: the task the person is engaged in; the time of day, blood sugar levels; recent amount of rest and sleep, general health, etc.

Given these multiple variables, Dynamical Neurofeedback® does not attempt to return brainwaves to a presumed “average” or “best” level. Instead, Neuroptimal® simply presents the central nervous system with information about what it has already done, allowing the brain itself to sort the value of that information. Harnessing the brain’s intrinsic intelligence to regulate the amount of brainwave necessary for that individual at any specific moment is infinitely more effective than handing the task over to even the most powerful computer processor.

Functional targeting

Given the dynamic, non-linear nature of brain physiological functions, designing a neurofeedback system to target specific conditions or complaints would be akin to chasing grains of sand in a sandstorm. Dropping a needle at a particular moment to address one function or another will ultimately miss the mark because the brain has already “moved on.”.

Instead, Dynamical Neurofeedback® is designed to monitor the brain's electrical activity and – through audible feedback interruptions – inform the brain when it is approaching the edge of stability in a specific functional area. There is nothing intrinsically problematic about reaching the edge of stability; it is precisely what happens when someone is falling asleep. The transition from wakeful consciousness to sleep occurs via a turbulent transition characterised by the sudden onset of stability: wakefulness collapses as sleepiness emerges and then rapidly transitions into light sleep.

Although essential at least once every 24 hours, this natural transition to sleep would be problematic if it occurred during rush hour driving. The Neuroptimal® system provides a signal, or feedback, to alert the brain that such a state transition is about to happen. This notification prompts the brain to determine whether the transition is desirable or problematic given the current circumstances.

Dynamical Neurofeedback® then allows the brain to reconnect with its own internal resources to determine what is appropriate in different situations and how best to manage this information. It is the permeability of the Neuroptimal® system with the natural processes of the brain that enables Dynamical Neurofeedback® to produce such positive effects for so many people, regardless of the specific concerns that have led to Neuroptimal® neurofeedback training. Rather than “chasing problems,” the Neuroptimal® system simply prompts the brain to find its own internal, information-rich approach to the world in all kinds of situations. This non-invasive encouragement stimulates the brain to return to much more efficient and effective functioning, irrespective of internal and external challenges and demands. As a result, symptoms and problems simply disappear, seamlessly for most people.

Content above provided and copyrighted by Zengar Institute, Inc.