What happens during a neurofeedback session?
Following an extensive intake consisting of many questions designed to help the clinician assess what your brain needs, sensors are strategically placed on your head which pick up brainwave activity and send it to the clinician’s computer. It is important to know that electricity only flows from the client to the computer and never flows from the computer into a person’s head. The clinician is now able to read your brain activity and “dissect” it by separating it into different bandwidths that are of interest (alpha, beta, theta, etc.). Then the clinician sets “goals” for your brain to meet. Finally, you get to play a simple video game, using only the electrical activity generated by your brain to control the game. When your brain is “in the zone”, as defined by the clinician’s preset goals for you, the game advances. If you fall out of the zone, the game slows down or stops. In this way, the brain learns over time through repetition how to achieve and maintain optimal state.
