I think ongoing, never-ending family stress is retarding the effectiveness of the new tDCS stimulation and LORETA neurofeedback. On the other hand, even though I just wanted to sit on the subway train and read tweets in a zoned-out state, my brain (or mind, and what is the mind anyway?) let me do that for…
Category: Health
Writings on health and nutrition, the health care system, doctors and therapists, heck, anything to do with health.
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: A Small Summary
Well, look at that: my muscle tension dropped. A lot. This in spite of my craptastic month continuing to roll along its craptastic way. And not only that, my heart rate also dropped. We’re back in the teens, even during the HRV screen (which ironically usually increases my heart rate). It's been too long since…
Announcing the Launch of #ABIchat on Twitter
One of the great things about Twitter is the way it fosters conversations, the way people support each other. One of the things the brain injury community is lacking is a place to chat regularly on Twitter. And so I am launching a regular Twitter chat I’ve given the moniker “#ABIchat.” After seeing other medical…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: Wernicke’s, Cats, and Reading
OK, this is a bit freaky, but the words on my iPod playing into my ears are so . . . so clear. They’re reaching out and pulling me into understanding. It’s almost overwhelming to hear the words clearly enunciated instead of in my usual blurry way, like they’re making me hear them as clear…
LORETA #16 — I Need a Nap
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…
Adding tDCS Back to Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback
Two new things in this week’s gamma brainwave biofeedback session: tDCS and a 3-minute assessment at Wernicke's area to determine if we should do tDCS at that location to improve my receptive language (e.g., reading). These were not so easy to do. My poor trainer, none of the electrode placements are in standard spots, spots…
Back to Reading Subtitles during LORETA Neurofeedback
Well, as I mentioned in my last post, we changed up the LORETA protocol a bit this week. We used an educational-type DVD – David Attenborough narrating BBC’s Frozen Planet – holy cow, what incredible photography! And the music was dramatic and pulled on all the emotional muscles, even though I didn’t feel emotion or…
More LORETA Notes with a Touch of Gamma
Gamma training didn't work as well as usual. It didn't help that my heart rate was way up there (let's pretend we didn't see those 130+ figures shall we, and why didn't rest while I was thankfully waiting for my appointment to start drop it? Scary to think maybe it did.), probably because I stupidly…
LORETA #14 Dreaming of Better Brainwaves
New movie for this week’s LORETA: Antarctica Dreaming. Though I hadn’t seen it or read the Amazon reviews, I chose it because I was hot, and the idea of looking at snow and ice was rather appealing. But it turned out this DVD was good for another reason. Unlike previous DVDs, this one had no…