I'm starting to think gamma brainwaves may be the key to fixing cognitive reading issues. These are the kinds of issues that include taking in, processing, synthesizing, learning (not the ability to recognize letters but also includes access to vocabulary).
When I began biofeedback in 2005, the ADD Centre was able to tell me why I was having trouble reading (do you know, docs still can't?), but they didn't know how to fix it. All they could do was work on my concentration, boost my alpha waves, work on the coherence, but they didn't know if any of that would help reading. It did a bit. But up to this point, despite the biofeedback and beginning to make a concerted effort to practice reading long form material (books), my reading ability was nowhere near my old pre-injury level. And, as well, as a result of years of continued difficulty and receiving little help before biofeedback, the acquired anxiety remained. Anxiety only makes things worse.
Then I began this course “Philosophy of Mind.” Then we began including reading in gamma brainwave biofeedback. The first remarkable change was instead of my heart rate going up, it went down, on October 9th, right down to 101 beats per minute. The second was that instead of words and meanings bouncing off my brain until repeated exposure finally forced em in, I began while reading new, complex material to see and understand meanings in a more fluid way: less bouncing. We also saw my EEG reflecting this week my brain engaging problem-solving, big picture, and memory retrieving brainwaves, at the same time as gamma went up. Review-kind of reading, as well as worries in the back of mind, make it harder to engage gamma so it feels more bounce like. The trick then is to get gamma going even under those circumstances.
If gamma really is the binding rhythm, then for the first time in me all these other waves are being brought together. Through gamma being stimulated, they work in sync. And good reading-learning happens. It remains to be seen if this new theory holds true, in me at least.
My updated results:
| Date | Baseline | HRV | Fdbk 1 | Fdbk 2 | SMIRB | Fdbk 3 | HRV |
| 27 Jun | 0.83 | 0.88 | 0.90 | 0.90 | 0.91 | ||
| 4 Jul | 0.85 30s | 0.91 | 0.94 | 0.898 | 0.90 | 0.84 EC | |
| 25 Jul | 0.96 30s | 1.03 | 1.02 | 1.01 | 0.97 | 1.02 EC | |
| 3 min | 10 min | ||||||
| 7 Aug | 0.85 | 0.949 | 0.95 | 0.89 | 0.93 | 0.92 | |
| 28 Aug | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.986 | 0.92 | 0.97 | 0.934 | 0.93 EC |
| 4 Sep | 0.87 | 0.872 | 0.84 | 0.876 | 0.92 | 0.95 | 0.88 |
| 26 Sep | 0.92 | 0.91 | 0.93 | 0.92 | 1.12 | Reading: 0.94 |
Fdbk: 0.91 |
| Fdbk 1 | Fdbk 2 | Fdbk 3 | SMIRB | Reading | |||
| 2 Oct | 0.96 | 1 | 0.93 | 0.91 | 0.93 | 0.98 | 0.98 |
| 3 Oct | 0.94 | 0.98 | 0.92 | 0.9 | 0.89 | 0.98 | 0.94 |
| 9 Oct | 0.97 | 0.98 | 0.97 | 0.95 | 0.89 | 0.96 | 0.99 |
| 10 Oct | 0.99 | 0.98 | 0.92 | 0.95 | 0.99 | 0.96 | 0.92 |
