Having a substitute brain biofeedback trainer is a bit like having had a substitute teacher when you were a kid, except as an adult you’re nice to them, maybe even nicer than to your regular trainer. No hard questions for the substitute, guiding them on the usual way of doing things, that sort of thing.…
Tag: Health
LORETA #11: Progress Check and Review
Session 11: time to check my progress and do something a little different. The progress check comprised about ten minutes of the LORETA software simply reading my brainwaves. It's boring staring at the little green light at the bottom of the monitor for 12 minutes while reminding yourself to relax the jaw and shoulders, but…
A LORETA Setback . . . Maybe
Last week, I had an average day at LORETA neurofeedback, that is, I achieved a string of scores like most others have. An uptick from the first screen to the second, then down down down. Sigh. At least I ended in the same place as the previous session; doing that required a Herculean effort to…
#LoveYourBrain, The Crash Reel Campaign
A few weeks ago, BrainLine tweeted: “Join the #LoveYourBrain campaign.” I asked them what that was about, and @TheCrashReel replied that it’s a campaign to educate others about brain injury, concussion, and safety. There are a few of these kinds of awareness campaigns going on in Canada, the US, and other countries, but I was…
Problems with Time Management? Use The Devices Jobs Gave Us
I hear people with ADD have a problem with time and showing up to appointments on time, just like people with brain injury. The solution is to get an iPod Touch or smartphone with a decent calendar app, stick a claxon alarm on it (like my therapist did the first day she worked with me…
LORETA Number Nine
After I scored a (to me) dismal 168 points after my first five-minute screen, my trainer and I discussed what a good set of scores should look like during the standard six screens of LORETA neurofeedback. It doesn’t matter so much (except for a self-competitive person like me) where I begin as long as we…
Brain Biofeedback and Drive, Initiation, Motivation
Drive, initiation, motivation are three aspects of our human-ness I didn't think much about, except for drive, till after my brain injury. Rehab talked about brain injury inducing a loss of motivation; learned articles acknowledged there’s such a thing as initiation deficit post-brain injury. But the one thing my father talked about a lot (ok,…
MiWay to LORETA Neurofeedback
My butt hurts. The back of my thighs are sore. They merge into one big pain. That's my overriding thought on LORETA day. The MiWay (Mississauga) bus that took me to the ADD Centre’s offices must have the most uncomfortable seats in the universe. First, they're hard. Second and worse, they’re too short seat-size-wise, and…
Even When Sleepy, It’s Still Possible to Train the Brain
Five and a half hours sleep makes gamma brainwave training difficult. Stupid back. Biofeedback day is not a good time to slowly devolve into stripes of pain, I said to my back. It shrugged and stiffened up more. As I had anticipated with my back going all stiff and tense on me, my muscle tension…