I'm about to embark on a new path in my brain biofeedback journey. It's called LORETA neurofeedback (NIH; PDF, pg 11). It's whole-brain biofeedback. Instead of one electrode (or two, if working on coherence) on your scalp, it's the 19-point cap. Nineteen electrodes getting feedback from nineteen points in the brain so as to work on several areas at once. This is the network view, I think. The brain doesn't just function locally but wholly and in networks too. I’ve never seen LORETA neurofeedback before, but I'm told that instead of playing a game on a computer with my brain, I watch a movie (I believe I get to choose, which might consume the first half hour as I hem and haw!). If the parts of my brain being worked on do their thing, the movie plays. If not, well I guess I watch a still frame.
I'm a bit nervous. Will I have the stamina to play a movie (or not) with my brain for that long? Will the treatment work? Just how exhausted will I be after?
It was comfortingly familiar to do my usual brain biofeedback routine first this week. In future weeks, I will continue to do the current single-electrode method as well as the new LORETA. And with the single electrode we’ll move back to PZ-O1, now that I've done two CZ sessions to recover from the too-much push of a couple of weeks ago.
