I walked in to the ADD Centre and saw a familiar face I haven't seen in six years: my old trainer. Cool! Last time I saw her, she and I were working on me getting a ball to roll across a gorilla’s arm, over the shoulders, and across the other arm, from my left to my right. Virtually of course. Heh. It was to increase the coherence between two points. We’ve come a long way since two-point coherence training in 2007. Now we do 19-point, full cap (i.e., LORETA neurofeedback).
She sat in to observe part of my LORETA training. It was fun, and I got to pick her brain a little!
This week, for the first time ever, I got a higher than 16x or 17x score on my first five-minute screen. 180 for the win!
This week’s session was the opposite of last week’s: first three screens had no subtitles. Then my trainer turned subtitles on during screen four, and I read as well as watched BBC's Frozen Planet, Disc 2, during the last three screens. And since she knew what to do this time, it took only thirty seconds to turn them on. Still, my score was 174 for screen four. So there must be some sort of lag in my brain adapting to the switch, or maybe being distracted during it . . . or maybe not as the distractions during the earlier screens were way worse: motor cars racing in other biofeedback sessions, yak yak, phones, etc. And of course I wanted to hear what the two trainers were saying about my brainwaves on the second display (I watch a DVD on one display; trainer watches my brain data on a second one). Heh.
I didn't score above 190 in any screen this week. But my scores were more consistent than last week’s, and I at least ended on a high note: 189. After a couple of weeks of achieving more and more above 190, no 190s was a bit disappointing. The lack of 190s could’ve been because of starting off sans subtitles — which felt naked — or maybe because of having had a bad week culminating with a ridiculous commute that got me there rather late. First the TTC had a stall on the subway, then the Mississauga bus driver took his time with his pee/water break while the sun sliced and diced us waiting commuters. Or maybe my brain was just consolidating past improvements.
I overheard my trainer telling my former trainer that people usually begin with scores for the first screen between 150 and 160. Oh. I have high standards for myself I guess because I didn't like seeing any score as low as 168 since I first tried LORETA neurofeedback.
I also learnt that in addition to hunger, other clients develop hot heads (increased blood flow to the head, and I can relate especially this week), feel like they've run a marathon (no kidding!), and sometimes need to nap for a half hour or so afterwards before they leave. Hearing that brought back memories of napping after acupuncture in the office before I left or on the subway after my neurofeedback sessions with the psychologist I saw before I found the ADD Centre. I've learnt that eating more, especially sweet stuff, helps a lot with alleviating the need to nap. That and water.
That lesson came home this week because I was pretty tired after the session. With having to go via public transit to the clinic, I had left too early to eat a full lunch (I had a one-egg cheese omelette) and then because of the delays I didn't get an early supper early enough. Needless to say, I napped on the subway and only didn’t on the bus because it rattles too much. Food, especially cake, woke me up when I got home. Still, I was more tired than usual and if I knew I would sleep till the next morning, I would’ve hit the sack by 7:00 pm.
