What's New in Neurofeedback
A Monthly Summary of News and Events

Vol. 11 No. 3 - March 2008

This newsletter is sponsored by EEG Spectrum International, Inc.,
the leader in providing neurotherapeutic services and training
professionals. Past issues at http://start.eegspectrum.com/Newsletter/
To subscribe via yahoogroups.com or cancel a subscription, see info
at the bottom. Opinions in this newsletter reflect those of the author only. 

Copyright (c) 2008 by ESII or David Kaiser, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

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Announcements        - News
In the Spotlight     - SABA 2008 Conference
News & Reviews       - Books & journal papers
Events & Locations   - Conferences, Courses
Last Word            - PTSD in US warfighters
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Announcements

* When Following The Leader Can Lead Into The Jaws Of Death
* Electrode Re-implantation Helps Some Parkinson's Disease Patients
* Asthma Linked To Higher Suicidal Thoughts With Attempts
* Multiple Sclerosis Can Affect Children's IQ, Thinking Skills
* College Student Sleep Patterns Could Be Detrimental
* Medical Research Should Include More Women Participants And Examine
* The Role Of Gender In Disease, Researchers Urge
* New MRI Technique Detects Subtle But Serious Brain Injury
* Memory Lane: Older Persons With More Schooling Spend Fewer Years w/cognitive Loss

Links at http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/
 
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In the Spotlight

SABA 2008 Conference

I wanted a field in which nobody, not even the experts, knew anything - E Canin

The Society for the Advancement of Brain Analysis (SABA) held its 7th
annual conference in Sarasota last week. It was one of the most
successful meetings, with notable speakers drawn from neuroscience.
Elkhonon Goldberg, author of Wisdom Paradox and The Executive Brain,
both books I've read recently and recommend, discussed the functional
homogeneity and heterogeneity of the frontal lobes. His most
interesting insights was that the full range of executive functions
correspond to the functional heterogeneity of the prefrontal cortex
and he demonstrated gender differences in the dorsolateral frontal
lobe (DLFC): to force men to be field dependent (sensitive to
context), you must know out the right DLFC; women become field
dependent if either left or right DLFC is impaired. Later, in a 2nd
talk, he addressed how traditional approaches to understanding
attention deficits and memory disorders, that have focused on the
subcortex, the mesial temporal lobes and the cyngulate gyrus were
incomplete, and showed data relating frontal lobes and brain stems.

Mario Beauregard followed with his approach to integrating
neurotherapy into the larger psychotherapeutic field. He tested the
effect of a QEEG-guided psychoneurotherapy (PNT) upon brain
electromagnetic tomography in 22 individuals with major depressive
disorder. Training was reduction of high-beta (18-30Hz) activity in
right fronto-temporal/paralimbic regions and BDI-II scores dropped
signifiantly in response to training and 20 out of 27 (74%)
participants no longer meet DSM-IV criteria for MDD after the study.
Absolute power of high-beta dropped in right lateral prefrontal
cortex, right orbitofrontal cortex, right insula, right subgenual
cingulate cortex and right anterior temporal pole.

Barry Sterman and David Kaiser (myself) discussed QEEG analysis of
frontal lobe issues. We focused on functional connectivity, which the
entire field has recognized as a central principle of brain
maturation. Coherence and comodulation of low and moderate
frequencies were found to increase with age at most sites in a sample
of 101 children and adults. Of interest were frequencies modulated by
thalamocortical and corticothalamic collaboration (4-30 Hz). Site-
centered comodulation increased consistently with age at all sites
whereas site-centered coherence only increased with age at posterior
sites. Both measures evaluated site-specific brain immaturity in
children and adults. A model that associates coherence with
feedforward activity and comodulation with feedback activity of the
brain was proposed.

Bill Lambos discussed how the clinical interview and relevant
neuropsychological testing serve as independent and convergent
sources of data in producing a comprehensive evaluation of client
condition. Client history and neuropsychological abnormalities help
disambiguate EEG findings. Johanne Levesque, who will replace Tim
Tinius as one of the editors of Journal of Neurotherapy, presented
reviewed the literature of neurofeedback treatment in children with
AD/HD or learning disability and discussed recent fMRI findings after
EEG training. Joel Lubar reviewed the history of studies regarding
quantitative EEG, LORETA, and neurofeedback relevant to ADHD. Denise
Malkowitz MD presented a remarkable neurofeedback outcome with severe
brain damage and seizures.

Barry Sterman presented "The SMR Story: Sleep, Attention and Motor
Regulation". Given the significance of the origin of SMR training,
here is his abstract unexcerpted: "The discovery of an EEG rhythmic
pattern in the sensorimotor area of cortex in alert but motionless
cats, dubbed the Sensorimotor Rhythm, or SMR, was of particular
interest because of its similarity to the unique "spindle-burst"
pattern seen in the EEG of cats and humans during quiet sleep
(Sterman & Wyrwicka, 1967). Both were in the 12-15 Hz frequency range
over this general region and both were associated with the absence of
spontaneous motor behavior. Additionally, the SMR appeared when
animals were trained to suppress a learned motor response. To test
the possibility that the changes in motor regulation in both states
were related, a study was carried out in which cats were trained to
produce the SMR directly in an operant conditioning paradigm, and
sleep EEG and structure were measured before and after this training
(Sterman et al., 1970). When compared to an alternate EEG training
condition in a counterbalanced, crossover design, sleep spindle
density was significantly increased and the duration of sleep periods
prolonged only following the SMR training condition. A follow-up
study with random assignment and double-crossover design provided SMR
and control EEG training conditions to human subjects. Sleep studies
obtained before and after these training periods revealed a
significant and unique increase in sleep spindle density specifically
following SMR training. Collectively, these finding suggested a
functional link between the SMR and sleep-spindle EEG patterns that
was subsequently investigated by others. Hauri (1981) found that SMR
neurofeedback training significantly improved the sleep of so-
called "idiopathic" insomniacs who were not suffering from stress or
transient tension. More recently Verstraeten, in a blinded,
randomized, placebo controlled study, found that SMR training
sessions prior to sleep significantly improved sleep latency, sleep
stability, and sleep efficiency in a group of healthy adults, while
Shabus and Hoedlmoser obtained similar results in a randomized,
controlled study of SMR training and sleep but also demonstrated a
significant increase in sleep SMR frequency and spindle number.
Further they found significant improvements in memory performance in
SMR-trained subjects after sleep (papers submitted, 2008). The
involvement of SMR training in motor regulation and learning
potentiation appears to mediate these outcomes. "

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News & Reviews

NEW BOOKS

The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul
by Mario Beauregard, Denyse O'Leary
A review of scientific investigation into mysticism and modern forays
into finding where God comes into the brain (everywhere?). --
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195156307/eegspectrum

The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind
by Elkhonon Goldberg
A review of frontal lobe function for layperson and scientist alike.
-www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195156307/eegspectrum

The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger As Your Brain
Grows Older
by Elkhonon Goldberg
Explains how come we get smarter the longer we are out of school. www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592401872/eegspectrum 
 

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JOURNAL PAPERS
Resting electroencephalogram asymmetry and posttraumatic stress
disorder. : PTSD sufferers do not differ from controls on resting EEG
asymmetry. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18404640

Emotion and resilience: hemispheric electroencephalogram asymmetry :
EEG asymmetry across central cortex distinguished resilient from
nonresilient children. Resilience, maltreatment status, and gender
interacted for asymmetry at anterior frontal electrodes.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17705904

Regional brain electrical activity in posttraumatic stress disorder
after motor vehicle accident. : Exposure to trauma-related material
produced enhanced right anterior and posterior activation in PTSD
sufferers. Symptomatic motor vehicle survivors exhibit right
hemisphere activation to traumatic information.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17100526

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Events & Locations Upcoming Courses

4-Day Comprehensive Course on Neurotherapy (dates subject to change)
 
Arlington VA, Jun 19-22
Albuquerque NM, Jul 10-13
Glendale CA, Aug 7-10

Our course is a hands-on experience right from the start. Attendees
consistently say this format is a very good way to learn
neurofeedback.

"Neurofeedback should be viewed as one of the three essential or
primary forms of intervention - psychotherapy, psychopharmacology,
and neurofeedback. In my experience, neurofeedback is every bit as
important and powerful as the other two forms of treatment." - Dr.
Laurence Hirshberg, Brown University Medical School, psychologist
specializing in Developmental Disorders and Autism.

Contact Karie Kramer, our training coordinator, for more information
818-789-3456 ext 847 or see www.eegspectrum.com/Training

* EEG Spectrum International, Inc. is approved by the APA to offer
continuing education to psychologists. ESII maintains responsibility
for the program.
 
Conferences for Neurofeedback Clinicians & Researchers

CONFERENCE              LOCATION        DATES
ISNR - www.isnr.org   San Antonio, TX    Aug 28-Sep 1 

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Last Word

PTSD in US warfighters

The greatest thing, then, is to make the nervous system our ally... - W James

As we continue to funneling our children's college fund into the
Middle East, with every dollar spent fighting the relic radiation of
the holy war begun by Moses when he left Goshen for Canaan now IOU'd
to Eastern Palaces (China), we as clinical neuroscientists and
therapists need to redress the ongoing aftermath to the personnel
fighting these wars. (Military-related references were provided by
Col Stetz and Col Russo.)

Nearly 1 in 5 warfighters returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom
(OIF) screen positively for stress, as do 1 in 9 returning from
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) (Hoge et al., 2004). Untreated
stress impairs attention and mental flexibility (Brandes et al.,
2002; Russo, Stetz, & Thomas, 2005), making it difficult to screen
out irrelevant sensory cues (Neylan, et al., 1999). Stress makes
people especially sensitive to new information so that it interferes
with facts and procedures (Vasterling et al, 1998) and individuals
suffering from PTSD are slower and less accurate in detecting targets
(Veltmeyer et al., 2005). To achieve situational awareness dominance,
our warfighters must stay focused and alert in the modern battle
space and these requires inoculation to stress reactions and treating
those already compromised by stress.

Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) has had limited success in
preventing stress reactions. Psychological debriefings produce few
long-lasting effects (Kavanagh, 2006). Psychotherapy and medication
fare no better in alleviating the aftermath of traumatic stress: less
than half of those who enter psychotherapy improve, and
antidepressant medications fare no better (Bradley et al, 2005;
Hamner, Robert, & Frueh, 2004). Stress and depression are common
reasons why warfighters are medically evacuated from theaters (Stetz
et al., 2005).

In order to effectively treat posttraumatic stress we need to
understand its neurobiology. Neuroimaging suggests that traumatic
stress acts as a partial callosotomy, disconnecting left and right
cortices as if by surgery (Karl et al., 2006; Teicher et al., 2002;
De Bellis & Keshavan, 2003). The corpus callosum connects a billion
neurons in the one hemisphere to a billion neurons in the other via
200 million axons (Aboitiz et al., 1992). Traumatic stress
significantly prunes the anterior and midsection of this pathway
(Zeitlin et al., 1989; Villarreal et al., 2004), resulting in a loss
of connectivity which presents itself as deficits in memory,
emotional regulation, and social relations as well as a decline in
left hemisphere dominance (Zaidel & Iacoboni, 2003). Left hemisphere
dominance is typical for members of industrial societies whereas
right hemisphere dominance is typical of pre-industrial and low
population density cultures (Rabe et al., 2006a; Metzger et al.,
2004; Saltzman et al., 2006; Spivak et al., 1998; TenHouten, 1985;
1986). The left hemisphere provides our analytical, reductionistic
competence, the right hemisphere our emotional and perceptual skills.
PTSD patients often rely on more aboriginal modes of processing as
evidence by impairments in visuo-executive monitoring (Clark et al.,
2003), visually guided task performance (Vasterling et al., 2004;
2000), and control of aggressive impulses (Pavic et al., 2003). Those
who recover most from traumatic incidents typically exhibit EEG
evidence of dominance restoration (Rabe et al., 2006b).

As we continue to deploy the same warfighters to the Iraqi and Afghan
theaters, we need to rapidly identify those who suffer from
posttraumatic stress and minimize its impact on performance.
Electroencephalographic (EEG) operant conditioning is the culmination
of 80 years of scientific inquiry into brain activity and mental
function (Berger, 1929; Sterman, 1969; Sterman & Kaiser, 2001). As
PTSD often presents itself as a disconnection between cerebral
hemispheres, we should first address the EEG rhythm relationship
between cerebral hemispheres (EEG coherence and comodulation between
homologues). The goal of my future research, if funded, will be to
identify PTSD markers in callosal function and restore compromised
connectivity with EEG training.

We hope the military higher-ups will listen this time to what is an
ultrascientific approach to treatment. It is "ultra" not alternative
as al assumptions are empirically validated, all assumptions, which
is unlike most psychiatric research, which gets 80% of the way to an
approach in treatment, leaving the last 20% on the shoulders of the
therapist, using his/her clinical judgement, which often amounts to
anecdotal analysis and guesswork.

-DK

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