Cygnet Interhemispheric Training

We all have a multitude of different brain states throughout the day.  When you wake up you are in a particular state of mind.  After a cup of coffee, you experience another state.  When you talk to a close friend, you have another change.  When your boss criticizes you, another change.  These are state changes, but you tend to go back to a baseline, which is your trait state.  It’s where you mentally hang out most of the time.  

Ordinarily, you associate your change in state with something that is happening around you or some thought you had.  When we do neurofeedback, your state will change based on brain wave feedback and not for any other reason.   At first, a person has to be mindful to attend to the subtle changes in their state, which includes mood, physical level of comfort, and clarity of thought.  My goal in working with you is to find that state of mind that is optimal for you.  Most recognize it as physically calm and mentally alert, a state you’ve likely been in before, but couldn’t sustain.  With sufficient training, this not only becomes your new baseline, your brain increases its ability to return to a calm focused state.  Your brain develops increased flexibility and stability of state that is learned over time with repeated sessions. It is useful to think of neurofeedback as a brain exercise by which you learn the skill of self-regulation of brain states.

There are basically only three types of brain state problems that clients have when they come to see me: chronic under-arousal, chronic over-arousal, or brain instability.  Overarousal is characterized by problems such as ADHD, anxiety, agitation, too emotionally reactive, impulsiveness, and difficulty calming down.  Underarousal is characterized by problems such as irritability, fatigue, mental fog, too emotionally sensitive, low initiative, and difficulty maintaining alertness.  Instability is characterized by problems such as seizures, migraines, or panic attacks.  With instability, the brain has excessive reactivity to small inputs.  

In the process of training, I adjust the reward frequency so that the person is comfortable.  Discomfort - physically, mentally or emotionally - indicates that I need to make adjustments for a better effect.   If I train you too high, you might feel agitated like you just had too much coffee.  If I train you too low, you might feel drowsy like you’re ready to take a nap.  Arousal and optimal reward frequency are different for each individual, and I work with clients in the first session to find their specific “ORF”, the optimal reward frequency, which produces a state of optimal calm alertness.  Clinically I find many more people who benefit from lower reward frequencies, but the optimal reward frequency can be anywhere from just above zero to 40 Hz.

Many studies in the neurosciences have revealed that various parts of the brain are associated with different functions.  This helps to guide me in which areas to place the sensors to provide feedback.  As a usual starting point for most of my clients, I place the sensors about an inch above both ears, in the anterior temporal lobe (T3-T4).  It produces a general calming and stabilizing effect.  It also has the strongest specific effect on emotional and pain regulation.  Often there is improvement in auditory processing and visual object and pattern recognition in temporal lobe training.  For students this can impact grades as they can understand lectures more clearly and have better reading comprehension.

The second placement is usually over the eyebrow in the prefrontal lobe area.  Left prefrontal training (Fp1) improves executive function - planning and organization and impulse control - the ability to wait, consider and act rather than reacting.  It is also the strongest placement for calming obsessive and compulsive symptoms as well as tics.  Right prefrontal training (Fp2) improves control of basic emotional regulation - attachment, fears, anger, and emotional reactivity. With prefrontal training people often report feelings of contentment or equanimity.  Prefrontal training is useful for most people, whether they want to remedy obvious deficits or increase high-level performance abilities.  If the issue is lack of motivation, low emotional energy, or depression, I will add training a bit higher in the left frontal lobe (F3). 

The third most common placement is near the back of the right side of the head in the posterior parietal lobe (P4).  Training here has a specific effect on physical relaxation and calming. It brings people into an increased awareness of their bodies and of their own emotional states.  Bruxism and constipation often go away.  It calms sensory hypersensitivities and improves sensory integration. It can also lead to increased social-emotional awareness and empathy.  Training on the left posterior parietal lobe (P3) can often improve handwriting and math skills.

There are other sites that I can use depending on the nature of the symptom.  There are places to train on the temporal lobes that can help with increasing social  awareness and interest, as an example.  There is a combination of sites for resolving symptoms of PMS, learning disorders, and chronic pain.

Most clients need 20 sessions to receive full benefit from awake state training.  After that, I offer the option of 20 additional sessions of deep state training, or Alpha-Theta training.   Placement is at P3-P4 and is done with eyes closed.

Alpha-Theta training has been shown to resolve deeper psychological issues that have been programmed into us by our childhood or traumatic events.  We all have irrational fears and beliefs that are not based on brain states, but rather rooted in old conditioned belief patterns.  Alpha-Theta training is deeply relaxing and can produce life-changing  results.  It is often an important part of an individual's overall neurofeedback program.  

Finding Your Optimal Reward Frequency (ORF)

To get the most benefit from Interhemispheric training, we need to be accurate with finding the ORF.  Your training will be frequency specific, which means you will respond best to a setting that is specific to you, and it takes time to find it.   Each person has their own degree of sensitivity to changes in the frequency setting.  Some can notice a change of state within 3 minutes while others may go through 10 different settings in 30 minutes without being able to tell a difference. 

I will ask questions like,  "Do you feel more or less anxious, restless, irritated, sad, tired, etc.”  In the meantime, I will be observing you for signs like fidgeting, change in breathing pattern, tension, etc.   Most clients can find the ORF in 1 to 3 sessions, however, in some very difficult cases, it could be up to 10 visits.  Once we find the ORF, there may still be a need for fine-tuning.  This is why its important for you to monitor what happens 24-36 hours after a session.  Sleep is the most sensitive indicator.   Having onset insomnia is typically the result of training too high.  Falling asleep quickly, but sleeping too lightly and being groggy in the daytime is typically the result of training too low.

It typically takes a number of sessions to “dial in” the best reward frequency for a number of reasons.  What feels perfect one day might not feel very good at a later session. It is all part of the brain settling into the process. Keeping this in mind, I will use a systematic style of adjusting the reward frequency and base it on your response.  Depending on what you tell me happens after each session, I will gradually and consistently move in one direction or another until you achieve optimal results.

Its important to monitor everything you notice.  This feedback helps me decide if I need to raise or lower the frequency setting for the next training.   Some people can tell the differences in as little as a 1.00 Hz change, and some are so sensitive that a 0.01 Hz change means the difference between sleeping well and having onset insomnia.  Keep me informed and feel free to call me in between sessions if you have any questions or unusual reactions.

Frequency of Sessions

Once weekly is the minimum, but it is not optimal.  Once we find your ORF, the benefits tend to wear off after a few days, and it may take several weeks for it to “take”.  It is strongly recommended that you schedule twice weekly sessions, and some clients choose to be seen 2-4 times each week.  That way, your brain doesn’t have any “down” time and results become more even throughout the week.  For those who come from out of town, it’s possible to have 3 trainings per day 5 days per week, as long as they are spaced at least 2 hours apart.