The human brain is an incredibly complex organ, and there is still so much for us to learn about it. Just as we continue to learn about the brain, the brain continues to learn and adapt with new information, experiences, and environments.

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Neuroplasticity is what allows the brain to evolve and create new neural pathways, and it is this ability of the brain that has led to the positive outcomes of neurofeedback therapy.  

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What is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a non-invasive therapy method that uses real-time biofeedback to train the brain to biologically change the way it functions and responds to certain stimuli. Neurofeedback therapy helps harmonize brainwaves and encourages healthy development of the brain’s activity patterns and functions.

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The way you think, talk, walk, feel, and everything else you do both consciously and unconsciously, is controlled by electrical impulses, or brain waves.

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Understanding Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a technique used to teach patients to voluntarily control processes they previously thought to be involuntary. It’s a mind-body process that uses different equipment to access information about physiological functions, such as blood pressure and heart rate, when a patient is exposed to certain stimuli.

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Patients visually see how their body reacts to certain triggers so they can then practice changing these reactions and learn how to self-regulate.

Neurofeedback, also known as EEG (electroencephalogram) biofeedback, is a form of biofeedback that focuses exclusively on brain function, rather than all physiology.

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The way you think, talk, walk, feel, and everything else you do both consciously and unconsciously, is controlled by electrical impulses, or brain waves. These brain waves are different frequencies, depending on the action or reaction you’re experiencing.

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Through biofeedback, we can see these brain waves in action. When the patient is calm and relaxed, they observe what that looks like on the EEG. The therapist will then introduce stimuli meant to trigger symptoms of anxiety, depression, or other mental health and behavioral disorders. When that stimuli is introduced, the patient can see how those brain waves change.

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Seeing the visualization of the reactions in our brain helps us learn to control those reactions. Neurotherapy can help patients control their reactions, and bring their brain back to baseline.

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Using Biofeedback to Change Our Behavior

The way your brain reacts to certain stimuli can be changed through neurofeedback. Your brain is a muscle with muscle memory, just like any other muscle in your body.

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When you practice any skill repeatedly, you get to the point that you can perform that skill the same way over and over again without any conscious thought. Think about those things you “never forget” once you learn, such as riding a bike, or even something as simple as walking.

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For example, someone might turn their feet in when they walk that causes them pain in their ankles. Through training and repetition, they can learn to straighten out their gait.

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The same can happen in the brain. It already has neural pathways that lead us to do things or think a certain way. However, with training and practice, the brain can create new synapses and neural pathways that change the way we do things or think and feel.

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Neurofeedback presents a visual or auditory representation of our brain working in real time.

Conditioning the Brain Just Like the Body

Athletes sometimes record themselves performing a skill so they can go back to visually see what they are doing right or wrong. It’s the same reason dance studios are full of mirrors.

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Neurofeedback does the same thing but for the brain in real time. While a patient is being exposed to certain visual and auditory cues, neurofeedback measures their brain activity. Those visual and auditory cues are altered by coaching people into getting the desired brain response.

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With training and practice, the brain can create new synapses and neural pathways that change the way we do things or think and feel.

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The changing stimuli is a form of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a method that uses positive and negative reinforcement to obtain a desired outcome. It creates a connection between particular behaviors and a reward or a consequence.

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Who Can Neurofeedback Benefit?

While some information about neurofeedback therapy is still unknown, it has many positive outcomes and a lot of potential in a field that is in desperate need of successful treatments. A variety of mental, behavioral, and cognitive disorders can be treated using neurofeedback therapy, either alone or in conjunction with other therapies, to improve mood, focus, and brain function.

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Neurotherapy can be helpful in treating disorders such as ADHD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, sleep disorders, developmental delays, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injuries.  

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Neurofeedback is essentially rewiring your brain to think and respond in a healthier manner. Therefore, the potential is limitless, and neurofeedback therapy could be used for both major and minor changes people wish to see.

What’s Like to be in a Neurofeedback Session?

Neurofeedback therapy will generally take place in a room with a relaxing atmosphere and no distractions in order to make the patient as comfortable as possible.

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Once the patient is ready, the therapist will put on a helmet, cap, or headband attached to electrodes that register the patient’s brainwaves.

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The stimuli can be presented in a passive or active way. The patient may sit or lay down and simply be exposed to visual or auditory stimuli. Or they may be asked to engage in an activity on a monitor, similar to playing a video game.

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Like most forms of therapy, neurofeedback is individualized, and varies based on what issue the patient needs to address. The diagnosis or end goal will dictate which type of brain waves are being targeted.

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Seeing the Reaction

The electrodes gather information about the patient’s brain waves, in a process called brain mapping. The therapist and patient can see these brain waves in real time. The biofeedback will change depending on the frequency of the brain waves. The live biofeedback is how the brain activity is “shown” to the patient.

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For example, visual feedback may fade in color with an undesirable reaction and brighten in color with a desirable reaction. With repetition, this encourages the brain to respond to a trigger with the desired reaction or emotion.

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Controlling the Reaction

This causes the brain to learn how to control its unconscious response to stimuli. Patients repeat the process as often as is necessary. One session typically lasts 30-60 minutes, and patients usually see results after several sessions. But once again, everyone responds to neurofeedback therapy differently. One person might need longer or more frequent therapy sessions than someone else.

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Different mental, mood, behavioral, and cognitive disorders might affect multiple brainwaves. Neurofeedback helps the brain learn to harmonize brain waves by bringing the abnormal ones back to a normal rhythm.

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Just as athletes train for a competition, patients train for triggering situations or begin to feel dark emotions.

Neurofeedback at Sequoia Behavioral Health

Here at Sequoia Behavioral Health, we have created a comfortable environment with experienced and caring professionals who treat a variety of mental, behavioral, or dual-diagnosis disorders. We provide a 30-day inpatient program for people struggling with substance abuse and mental health with a wide variety of integrated therapies, including neurofeedback. Reach out today to get more information for yourself or your loved one.