HEMOENCEPHALOGRAPHIC (HEG) NEUROFEEDBACK IS
NOW AVAILABLE AT BIOFEEDBACK & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE CENTERS

INTRODUCTION

Hemoencephalographic (HEG) devices measure and feed back blood flow levels in the brain. When a trainee is made aware of ongoing blood flow levels in a neurofeedback setting, it has been shown that the trainee can use a focused state of concentration and create increases in brain blood flow levels. Although these are relatively new devices, increases in brain blood flow via HEG neurofeedback (HEG NF) have already shown significant clinical benefits, especially in the areas of migraine, depression and ADHD.

Blood is nutritious and healthy for all cell functioning. Increasing blood flow levels where they are needed in the brain is like boosting the octane level of your gasoline at the pump. Repeatedly engaging in HEG NF appears to "exercise" the brain in a unique way with very promising benefits.

EEG neurofeedback (EEG NF) measures brain electrical activity and also increases blood flow at the site trained (which is one of the reasons it works), but it does so indirectly. However, HEG NF increases blood flow more directly since it uses passive infrared (pIR) technology for its measurement.

By its very nature, the measurement of EEG brain electrical activity is considered relatively messy, electronically noisy and more susceptible to artifact (errors) from intruding, non-EEG signals (e.g., muscle tension in the scalp, face, jaws, eyes, eye movements, breathing & EKG heart signals).

On the other hand, pIR HEG measures thermal (e.g., heat) conditions in the brain that are highly correlated with blood flow dynamics and cellular metabolism. In contrast to EEG, pIR HEG measurements are considered clean, electronically quiet and not at all susceptible to the same artifacts as EEG measurements. Special pre-post SPECT imaging techniques verify that blood flow increases do, in fact, occur with HEG NF.

With pIR HEG NF, there are no electrodes, no messy gels and no impedance criteria for skin contact. A simple, dry headset device is used for HEG NF. Again, there are no problems with eye blinking, eye movements, EKG cardiac signals or other muscle artifact, since HEG does not measure electrical activity.

The only drawback is that pIR HEG cannot measure through human hair. As such, the most common three sites used for HEG NF are left forehead (FP1), center forehead (FPz) and right forehead (FP2). These locations wrap around the pre-frontal cortex lobes of the brain.

At first glance, one might conclude that HEG measurements are very limited, since the pre-frontal cortex is only one of six total bilateral lobes in the brain. However, the prefrontal (forehead) lobes mediate some of the most advanced forms of thinking and cognitive activity that we engage in as human beings. In particular, the pre-frontal lobes host the "executive attention networks" that mediate states of sustained focused concentration. The prefrontal lobes are very often a target area for EEG NF in ADHD and other neurobehavioral disorders.

Quantitative EEG (QEEG) topographic brain maps often identify the prefrontal lobes as dysfunctional or even "disconnected" from the rest of the brain through the presence of excessive slow wave activity vs. desirable fast wave activity. Moreover, engagement of the prefrontal lobes is required in order to sustain cognitive activity requiring complex thinking, concentration, emotional tone and general arousal.

Further, activation of the prefrontal lobes appears to be necessary to succeed in EEG NF there and elsewhere on the scalp and exercising the prefrontal cortex seems to improve many auto-regulatory functions of the brain. That may be why HEG NF shows such clinical promise. Finally, since the prefrontal lobes mediate so many complex, auto-regulatory brain functions, they would seem to be the best choice of all brain lobes to be the target for HEG training.

DEFINITIONS

MIGRAINE: HEG clinical results with migraine have often been superior to both biofeedback and EEG NF. In some people, vascular headache conditions have come under control in as few as 8-10 sessions. Equally important, for some migraine sufferers increasing prefrontal blood flow via HEG NF can predictably stop a migraine in its tracks during the stage two-pain cycle!

Yes, you read that correctly: once they are adept with HEG, some people can stop extremely severe migraine pain without dangerously strong drugs such as vasoconstrictors (e.g., Imitrex) and/or heavy narcotics (e.g., Demerol).

DEPRESSION: Clinical results have been equally good with depression. When it works, there appears to be a stronger positive clinical response over relatively fewer sessions. Not everyone responds and some do not respond at all. However, as stated, when there is a positive clinical response, it is often dramatic.

Dr. Jeffrey Carmen, the pIR HEG inventor, manufacturer and also a psychologist, says that HEG NF at FP1 (left forehead) with depressed people produces the giggles in kids and lots of involuntary smiling in adults. Neither group can explain why they are giggling or smiling- it is spontaneous! Dr. Carmen subsequently found HEG NF at FPz (center forehead) to produce far more reliable and longer-lasting improvements in mood and mood control than at FP1.

ADHD: ADHD seems to respond in a fashion similar to depression: when it works, the results are often dramatic. In ADHD, Dr. Carmen has noticed that attentional-hyperactive behavior and especially speech quality and annunciation can dramatically improve after just 6-10 sessions. This improvement can last from 7-10 days.

Dr. Carmen says he can tell when more sessions are needed by the child's speech: quality deteriorates to slurring, stuttering, accelerated speech or words running together or out of order. A few more sessions normalize the attentional-hyperactive behavior and speech quality and the effect then lasts 10-14 days. Eventually, after 20-30 HEG sessions, the normalization of attentional-hyperactive behavior and speech appears to be permanent in those who initially respond favorably.

Naturally, HEG is becoming an important part of our overall neurofeedback protocol. And here's the best part: the feedback modality is your favorite hi-fi stereo surround sound movie ! Dr. Carmen ships the HEG device with a special VCR and a totally different universal remote control that he rebuilds. In addition to the VCR, the custom remote now controls the HEG device and the TV. Feedback time constants, thresholds and other settings can thus be changed on the fly using the custom remote. Finally, the custom remote control automatically PLAYS and PAUSES the chosen movie once the threshold has been set.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS

HEG NF is straightforward for the trainee: maintain the relaxed but focused state of active concentration that keeps the blood flow level above threshold and the movie keeps PLAYING, complete with stereo surround sound. Lose your active focus by relaxing too much, trying too hard, or becoming tense, frustrated, excited or stressed, and the blood flow will drop below threshold and the movie goes into PAUSE mode.

The movie returns to PLAY mode when you regain active focus and raise the blood flow level above threshold. Of course, the threshold difficulty variable is controlled by the neurofeedback therapist and can be made easier or more challenging, depending on the skill level of the trainee.

In addition to migraine, depression and ADHD, HEG NF has promising clinical potential for many types of learning, perceptual, cognitive, neurological and neurobehavioral disorders, such as ODD, OCD, Tourette's, Asperger's and mild Autism, as well as mild to severe head trauma, closed head injuries and seizure disorders. It is important to note that HEG does not replace EEG- they work best when used together.

However, HEG is often superior to EEG when the QEEG brain map and/or other clinical indicators suggest a need for prefrontal lobe training.

MEDICATION INTERACTIONS

HEG also interacts with prescribed medications in a fashion similar to EEG NF and standard forms of biofeedback. Specifically, as training progresses, the dosage levels of prescribed medications may need to be lowered or even eliminated by the physician who has prescribed them.

Please feel free to make copies of this announcement and share it with others. The availability of HEG NF at the Biofeedback and Alternative Medicine Centers is very exciting news!