After I discussed my recent results with them, the ADD Centre has changed up my training. As my trainer put it, after seeing how I did after the first couple of screens: you do better if we’re not nice. (Well, everyone at the Centre has always been exceptionally nice to me, but I knew what…
Tag: Heart
Gamma Brain Biofeedback: How Do I Do on a “Bad Day”?
Today was a “bad day” brain biofeedback session. My trainer wanted to see how my brain (and heart) would do on a bad day, that is, a day I don’t come straight from home but after an appointment, walking around, and lots of TTC time. Plus just being out for much of the day. Well,…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: First Good HRV Screen
My last brain biofeedback session may've been a washout, but as I mentioned in my blog post, I achieved a huge milestone, one I had thought impossible: my HRV looks like a real one. HRV stands for heart rate variability. Basically, as you inhale, your heart rate rises, and as you exhale, your heart rate…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: A Better Day
Today was much better. My muscle tension (EMG) was way down from yesterday and even down from last week. If it began to bounce back up to the 2.0 mark during one of the biofeedback screens, I’d remind myself to straighten my neck, and for the most part, that worked to drop it closer to…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: Posture is Important
Posture. It isn’t just for looking good. It seemingly affects your physiology too. I was having real trouble with my muscle tension (EMG) in today’s brain biofeedback (or neurofeedback) session. It was reminiscent of the old days, during my original stint with this therapy. As a result, I wasn’t doing too well. My heart rate…
Gamma Wave Biofeedback: Brain Training Begins
First full training session today. Phew. It was hard. To backtrack: I’ve restarted brain biofeedback, but this time I’m training a brainwave frequency that isn’t usually trained, the 40Hz gamma brainwave. It’s all experimental. As my trainer said: “I’ve never done this frequency before.” But I figure if I’m going to recover as fully as…
Gamma Wave Biofeedback, Day One
It’s been a roller coaster the last few months of hope and regression. I got a taste of what having more GABA in my brain means to good functionality. But then I was tossed out of the research trial in which I’d received the GABA-boosting research medication and the commercially available previous version didn’t work…
What Doctors Don’t Know: Brain Injury Equals Weight Gain
Weight loss. The entirety of North American society is grappling with weight loss. With diet. With exercise. With staying at a healthy weight. But believe it or not, people with brain injuries struggle even more than the typical North American. We struggle more because we may no longer be able to perceive that one’s stomach…
Blood Pressure and Brain Injury: The Test
I had 24-hour blood pressure monitoring done twice this past week, sort of. The first monitor went kaput after a couple of hours. So the next day, back on the highway I went to the clinic and was hooked up to a 2-week-old one. Brand new is better than well used, except when it comes…