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

Vol. 7 No. 4 - April 2004

This newsletter is sponsored by EEG Spectrum Intl, Inc.,
a leader in providing clinical service and training professionals.
Past issues available at http://start.eegspectrum.com/Newsletter/
To subscribe or cancel, see newsletter's end. Opinions related in
this newsletter reflect the author's only. Copyright (C) 2004
by EEG Spectrum Intl, Inc. or David Kaiser. All rights reserved.
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Announcements - News
In the Spotlight - AAPB, 35th Annual Conference
News & Reviews - Books & journal papers
Events & Locations - Conferences, Courses
Last Word - Online Neuroscience Resources

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Announcements - News

Imagine That! A Better Memory
Hoarders Show Unique Brain Pattern, Study Finds
Doctors Peer Into Brains to Gauge Antidepressants
Histamine Key to Waking, Study Finds
Placebos effect revealed in calmed brain cells
How we dig up distant memories
Concussions found to cause depression
The brain is beauty's final arbiter

All links at:
http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=science&cat=brain_research
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In the Spotlight

AAPB, 35th Annual Conference (April 2004)

The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB)
hosted its 35th Annual Conference last month in Colorado Springs,
Colorado. What was most evident during this four-day affair was that
increasing influx of scientists to our field. There's a saying in
Los Angeles: "But what I really want to do is direct." From Mel
Gibson to Ron Howard to Clint Eastwood, even players prominent in
front of the camera want to get behind it. Everyone eventually grows
tired of following the dictates of others. In neuroimaging,
functions are assessed, activation localized to the millimeter, but
at the end of the day, neuroimagers are spectators, not directors.
Except in the field of neurotherapy. A few years ago, Michael Posner
lamented to me how he had all this neuroimaging data on anterior
cingulate during Stroop task performance, but not confirmation of
mechanism, of causality. A true experiment on cingulate function and
attention requires altering activation patterns and recording the
changes in performance. Neuroimaging is correlational research, with
all its causal uncertainties. If only he could use operant
conditioning of some psychophysiological measure... I smiled. And
now Eran Zaidel (see below) has done just that.

So even the "father of Cognitive Neuroscience" (Posner) aims to
direct. He is not alone in the field of neuroscience. A few of his
kindred trickled into Colorado last month.

Richard Davidson, Director of the Laboratory of Affective
Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was the
opening keynoter. (This is the same institution where Harry Harlow
performed his research, uncoincidentally). His talk on the neural
substrates of affective style reviewed recent findings on emotional
processing in the brain. Davidson is best known for his medial
frontal asymmetry index of emotional valence: activation of the left
medial frontal cortex (F3) produces appetitive behaviors, activation
of the right (F4), withdrawal behaviors. Too much right activation
or too little left appear to be indicative of certain subtypes of
depression. Originally an EEG measure, Davidson's lab has branched
into all methods of neuroimaging. Davidson presented his work on
meditation with Tibetan monks. He also discussed affective
forecasting, the brain's attempts to predict future emotional
states.

Bug Craig presented his insights on the hardware (that is,
neuroanatomy) of self-representation. Only in the order of primates
do we find the physiological condition so well represented. Could
this be the foundation of social intelligence and intelligence in
general? We know others because we know ourselves, our internal
states, so well.

Simon Hanslmayr, a doctoral student from Wolfgang Klimesch's lab in
Austria, reported on this laboratory's recent work in event-related
desynchronization, notably in connection with theta oscillations,
intelligence, and cognitive performance.

Scott Makeig describe how independent components analysis (ICA) can
be applied to QEEG to successfully eliminate artifact.

David Kaiser (myself) presented Rogue Site Analysis (RSA), a
comodulatory index premised on the idea that our sense of meaning
reflects independent action of single neurons against a larger
neuronal cascade, in the millisecond range. Failure to acquire
appropriate neuronal individuation in any brain area, or its loss
from emotional or physical trauma, are thought to underlie
psychiatric and neurological deficits such as learning disabilities,
autism, schizophrenia, PTSD, etc. RSA quantifies which cortical site
is most functionally independent at any given point in time. The
current technique analyzes dominant frequency transitions (what I
call timing transformations) at 8 ms intervals -- which approximates
thalamic firing rates (e.g., 300/ s).

Barry Sterman continued his effort to educate the field on the role
of synchronization in cognition. Cortical synchronization is a
"fortunate accident" of mammalian evolution. The loss of synchrony
in any brain area may be the primary culprit underlying neurological
and psychiatric dysfunction.

Eran Zaidel, an expert in right hemisphere abilities, presented the
final talk at the conference. He extended the laterality paradigm
into this field as a ingenious means to validate the effectiveness
of neurofeedback training. By preferentially training one
hemisphere, then testing this individual on tasks better performed
by one or the other hemisphere, the efficacy of specific
neurofeedback protocols can be quantified. Because individuals act
as their own controls, the results should prove powerful.

Next year's AAPB conference will be held from March 31 to April 03,
2005 in Austin, TX, one of the best small cities in America. CU
there.

More meeting information, including selected proceedings, are found
at http://www.aapb.org/

-DK
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News & Reviews
NEW BOOKS

Cognitive Electrophysiology of Mind and Brain
by Alberto Zani, Alice Proverbio
Reviews developments in recording of bioelectric and magnetic
responses of the brain.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0127754210/top100

Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life
by Steven Johnson
Layperson view of 21st century brain sciences which includes
neurofeedback.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ 0743241657/top100

Handbook of Emotions, 2nd Edition
by Michael Lewis, Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones
From the philosophy of emotions to emotions in art and the
humanities to emotions in the mammalian brain and facial
expressions.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572305290/top100

Clinicians' Guide to Adult ADHD: Assessment and Intervention
by Sam Goldstein, Anne Teeter Ellison
Mental health and education scholars discuss how the controversial
attention-deficit syndrome affects adults as well as children.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0122870492/top100

Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Proactive Intervention
by Roberta Depompei, Jean L. Blosser
Textbook on treatment of traumatic brain injury in children,
emphasizing the use of intervention teams of medical personnel,
educators, and families.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0769300553/top100

The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Clinician Guides and Patient
Manuals
by Gavin Andrews and others
Reviews new developments in research and treatment of anxiety
disorders and provides up-to-date treatment materials. --
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521788773/top100

Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Proactive Intervention
by Roberta Depompei, Jean L. Blosser
Textbook on treatment of traumatic brain injury in children,
emphasizing the use of intervention teams of medical personnel,
educators, and families.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0769300553/top100

Clinical Neuropsychology
ISBN: 0195133676
A definitive text on all major neurobehavioral disorders of adults,
including aphasia, alexia, agraphia, agnosia, apraxia, amnesic
disorders, dementia, and others. A required reference.
--www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/neth Heilm/top100

The Addiction-Prone Personality (Longitudinal research)
by Gordon E. Barnes and others
Investigates to what extent there is a causal link between
personality traits and the development of alcohol abuse. --
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0306462494/top100

Anxiety and Its Disorders, 2nd Ed: The Nature and Treatment of
Anxiety and Panic
by David H. Barlow
Model of panic and anxiety based on recent developments in emotion
theory, cognitive science, and neuroscience. --
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572304308/top100

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JOURNAL PAPERS

Follow-up Survey on Seizures Induced by Animated Cartoon TV Program
"Pocket Monster". : Two-thirds of the 103 patients who had a seizure
during the incident had no seizures before and during follow-up.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15030500

Frontal lobe dysfunction and everyday problem-solving : Impairments
in problem- solving are described in groups of participants with
left anterior frontal lobe lesions, Tourette's syndrome and
Asperger's syndrome.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14962402

Pharmacokinetic considerations in the treatment of ADHD with
methylphenidate. : Methylphenidate is a rapidly absorbed medication
that readily penetrates the CNS, particularly the striatum.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15015904

Training of slow cortical potentials in ADHD : ADHD symptomatology
was reduced by 25% after SCP training.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15039008

Stability of resting frontal electroencephalographic asymmetry in
depression. : Asymmetry scores displayed good internal consistency
and exhibited modest stability over the 8- and 16- week assessment
intervals in depressed individuals.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15032992

Hemispheral asymmetry and regional activity of qEEG in children with
stuttering. : QEEG analysis showed increased delta activity,
especially in the right frontal and parietal regions and decreased
alpha frequency in bi-frontal regions of the stutterers.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15039601

The "Mozart effect": an EEG analysis : Mozart's music influences the
level of arousal, regardless of induced mood, musical tempo and
complexity.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14977200

Neuroanatomical differences between autism and asperger syndrome. :
Brain-IQ relationships reveal some differences between high
functioning autism and Asperger's, suggesting neurodevelopmental
differences, though it's not at all conclusive.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14993117

Quantitative EEG in Acute Ischemic Stroke : Acute qEEG data might be
used to monitor and predict stroke evolution.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15001786

Extensive medial frontal lobe damage on 'Theory of Mind' and
cognition. : Patient GT (bilateral anterior cerebral artery
infarction, without complications) acquired dysexecutive syndrome
(poor planning and memory, tendency to confabulate) but was
unimpaired in Theory of Mind.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14998913

Neuropsychological deficits in patients with chronic fatigue
syndrome. : CFS patients are often impaired on one or more of the
following: attention, speed of information processing, and motor
speed (memory and executive functioning show no impairment).
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15012848

Cortico-striatal contributions to feedback-based learning :
Cortico-striatal systems are necessary for feedback-based learning
on a cognitive task; discusses role of midbrain dopaminergic systems
in feedback processing.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15013954
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Events & Locations

Upcoming Courses

A Pathway to Brain Regulation - Neurofeedback helps improve
neuroregulation. It's used by health care professionals for ADHD,
depression, anxiety disorders, LD, mood disorders, and behavioral
problems. This 4-day course, Neurofeedback in a Clinical Practice,
provides the basis for using Neurofeedback clinically. - *28 CEs

4-Day Comprehensive Course Dates

Washington DC Jun 24-27
Denver CO Jul 15-18
Los Angeles CA Aug 12-15
Portland OR Sep 18-21
Boston MA Oct 14-17
Raleigh NC Nov 11-14
Los Angeles CA Dec 9-12

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 of Brown University Medical School, a
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.

CONFERENCE LOCATION DATES
SABA 3 Avalon, CA Jun 6-11
iSNR Ft Lauderdale Aug 26-29
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Last Word

Online Neuroscience Resources

Scientific American Frontiers
Watch entire episodes online; recent one on memory
-www.pbs.org/saf

PBS's NOVA program Secrets of the Mind
-www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mind

Life Science Newsletter
-news.biocompare.com/newssection.asp?newscat=4

Society for Neuroscience monthly Brain Briefings
-http://www.sfn.org/content//Publications/BrainBriefings/


Music Training and The Brain
Autism and Biology
Stress and the Brain
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Gender and the Brain
Neuron Migration & Brain Disorders

Estrogen's Influence on the Brain
Testosterone's Influence on the Brain
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Depression and Stress Hormones
Brain Rehab
Brain Reorganization

Violent Brains
The Mind-Body Link
Brain Work-outs
Addiction's Path
Epilepsy and GABA
Prefrontal Cortex and Schizophrenia


-DK
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