January/February 2001 NETWORKER
Reprinted with kind permission of the author
Page 2

Then there was Bobby, tall and gangly with a buzz cut and heavy-lidded eyes. He looked like a burnt-out teenager, and was in danger of failing the sixth grade. Their mother’s tale included lists of the therapists her family had seen, medications her boys had taken and parenting classes she had turned to for help. She ended with an anguished exclamation: “And nothing has worked.” And where is Mr. Delvecchio? I inquired. “Out to sea for six months—the lucky dog,” she said matter-of-factly, explaining that she was a military wife. By that point, Bobby had had enough. “This is a waste of time!” he declared, springing from his seat and heading for the door.

“What do you think the problem is?” I asked quickly. He laughed contemptuously. “This whole family is f—nuts!” Bobby looked me directly in the eye “Lady,” he said, “it’s like Looney Tunes—overdrive. You know what I mean?” He inclined his head toward his mother. “And she’s no different. She’s on the computer in chat rooms all night, every night.” The Delvecchios’ case was exactly the sort that had led me to investigate neurofeedback therapy in the first place. They had a host of neurological problems, and any treatment that did not address those problems was destined to fail.

Talk therapy doesn't correct neurological problems; it only helps patients learn how to manage them better. Drugs can help, but medication didn't seem to have worked for the Delvecchios. It was time to try another approach. I suggested a combination of family therapy and neurofeedback training. The family agreed, especially when the boys found out that the training involved playing specialized video games.

Neurofeedback first proved helpful in reducing epileptic seizures in the late 1960s. M. Barry Sterman of the University of California at Los Angeles had come to its discovery by 'an indirect route. In research sponsored by NASA, he was attempting to determine why astronauts often hallucinated during space travel. NASA believed the hallucinations were caused by fumes of monomethyl hydrazine gas leaking into the capsule from the spaceship's engines. Sterman tested this assumption by exposing cats to varying amounts of the gas.

He had used some of the cats in earlier experiments involving neurofeedback. In those experiments he rewarded the animals with a small dose of milk or chicken soup when their brains produced what came to be known as the Sensory Motor Rhythm (SMR). Sterman discovered that this brain-wave rhythm, which was slightly slower than that produced by fast-moving "beta" waves, helped the cats resist stimuli that produced epileptic seizures in other cats.

His breakthrough helped refocus research on epilepsy, but he was only beginning to realize the potential of neurofeedback training. During his experiments for NASA, Sterman noticed that the cats that had learned to produce SMR were also able to resist the seizures brought on by monomethyl hydrazine. This suggested that neurofeedback training might be effective in treating other neurological disorders. By the time I began working with the Delvecchios, researchers had already identified 19 possible “training sites” on the brain. Each site is linked to specific cognitive, sensory or motor functions.

Neurofeedback training can be done on the frontal, temporal, central motor, parietal or occipital lobes; on either the right or left side of the brain; and sometimes on both simultaneously. The placement of the sensors depends entirely on the nature of the problem. Prior to training, each of the boys underwent a standard assessment and was then administered the Test of Variables of Attention. This 22-minute computerized tool measured each boy's level of inattention, impulsivity and response time. With these test results, I could determine whether the boys’ brains tended toward an overaroused or underaroused condition.

The speed at which the brain operates is measured in frequencies. These frequencies are classified as follows:

• Beta waves (15 to 18 Hz) indicate a focused, alert state;
• SMR (sensory motor rhythm) waves (12 to 15 Hz) indicate an alert but relaxed state;
• Alpha waves (8 to II Hz) result in a meditative, internally focused state;
• Theta waves (4 to 7 Hz) produce a deeply relaxed and dreamy state;
• Delta waves (2 to 4 Hz) are those exhibited during sleep.

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January/February 2001 NETWORKER