January/February 2001 NETWORKER
Reprinted with kind permission of the author
Page 3

AN EXCESS OR DEFICIENCY OF ANY KIND of wave can lead to problems that vary according to which region of the brain is affected. For instance, an excess of focused beta-wave activity in the frontal lobe can cause hyperarousal, while an excess of alpha waves in the same region is likely to cause mood swings and/or depression. After I’d determined how to treat each of the boys, I explained the training to them. They were mystified about how they could control the game without a joystick. The technical explanation was far too complicated, so I just told them that they needed to concentrate on doing well.

Kids are usually satisfied with such generalized advice. Adults, on the other hand, want to know what they should be thinking or doing every step of the way. They want the formula. But the formula doesn't exist. For some, success will depend on focusing on the game and screening out distracting thoughts. For others it might also mean relaxing their bodies and not trying too hard. The brain does most of the work itself. Once it learns how to produce waves of a certain frequency, the ability is committed to memory. One might liken the process to learning to ride a bike. The brain identifies all the variables needed to stay upright in that first “ah ha!” moment Soon, those variables are locked in, and riding becomes automatic.

AFTER THEIR INITIAL CONSULTATION, THE Delvecchios decided to come in for two 30-minute sessions of neurofeedback a week and a family therapy session every two weeks. The combination accelerated their progress and allowed for deeper psychological and physiological change.

Although Bobby was dyslexic and had ADD, I thought it was most important to address his apathy and depression first. It wasn't difficult to understand why he was depressed. He had all but given up on himself and his family. When he wasn’t fighting with his brothers, he was either watching television, or eating and sleeping too much. Timmy and Jake pestered him constantly. They destroyed his personal things, and he felt powerless to alter the situation.

Bobby also missed his father and resented him for “deserting” the family through his military career. His greatest problem was that during his father’s six months at sea, Bobby thought he should be the “man of the family,” but he knew that he was not up to the job. His life at school was no better. Deep down he harbored the fear that he was stupid, perhaps even retarded. He didn’t understand why everyone else could get what the teacher was saying and he couldn’t. Because he had a hard time with visual tracking and comprehension, he avoided reading altogether.

To treat Bobby’s depression and apathy, I worked primarily on two parts of his brain: the left side motor strip and the frontal lobe. In the left side motor strip, which controls mood, we sought to inhibit Bobby's excess of slow-moving theta waves, and reward the production of beta waves. In the frontal lobe, which controls cognitive functions, we also sought to inhibit theta and reward beta waves. In our first three sessions we got nowhere. Bobby, who viewed the treatment as a waste of time, kept falling asleep.

I had better luck with his brothers. Timmy, like Bobby, had an excess of slow-wave theta activity, but on both sides of the central motor cortex. This made him hyperactive, impulsive, and unable to attend to anything longer than a few minutes, including initial training.

Nonetheless, after two sessions, Timmy learned just enough to make an important breakthrough—he stopped wetting the bed. For the first time in years, his brain was waking up at night and correctly identifying messages that he needed to empty a full bladder. He swaggered in for his third session and broke the news to me immediately. No longer being teased as a bedwetter by his brothers, he quickly became enamored with training.

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January/February 2001 NETWORKER