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,…
Tag: Personal
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…
Taking Public Transit to LORETA Neurofeedback
It's weird leaving LORETA neurofeedback training and hopping onto public transit (disconcerting too, to have the bus pull up right away) instead of driving off. I wonder if not having inadvertent highway exposure therapy will make a diff? I had wondered too if not having it before would make any diff? Well, as to the…
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…
The Heart Remembers; Gamma Training Helps
Today is the anniversary of my anniversary. It made doing the SMIRB portion of my gamma brainwave biofeedback real easy. My pen flew along, although I did press it rather hard, which I didn't realize until I saw my never-seen-it-that-high-before muscle tension number. Whoa. Jerk. That's all I’ll say about him. Jerk. I know, I…
New Brain Biofeedback Regimen
The biggest complaint people have about LORETA neurofeedback is they’re tired afterwards, my trainer told me. I stared at her. I hadn’t noticed anything different. But then since I’m always tired, I probably wouldn’t have. And, anyway, if you’re working your somnolent brain, it’s bound to be tired. My cockiness got a real whooping after…
LORETA Neurofeedback: Day One
LORETA: low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography So. I survived my first LORETA neurofeedback session. In some ways, it was familiar. Familiar office where I go for my assessments at the ADD Centre. Familiar start with HRV (heart rate variability) training. Familiar scrubbing of earlobes. But the 19-point EEG cap didn’t feel the same because she…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: Looking Forward
I'm about to embark on a new path in my brain biofeedback journey. It's called LORETA neurofeedback (NIH; PDF, pg 11). It's whole-brain biofeedback. Instead of one electrode (or two, if working on coherence) on your scalp, it's the 19-point cap. Nineteen electrodes getting feedback from nineteen points in the brain so as to work…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: Changing Brain Location
Back to the brain-injury-recovery routine, except it's not routine. Oh sure, it's the same-old TTC to clinic, get wired up, play games on the computer with my brain (no hands, Ma!) routine, but now there’s a twist and a change. After my 19-point EEG, evoke potentials study, and earlier computer assessments last month, we’re now…