Blissful Brain

The Blissful Brain is published by Gaia Thinking. For more information on how to order your copy, please click here.

Guardian G2: Mind over matter by Andy Darling

"Neuroscientist Shanida Nataraja has proven meditation does more than clear your head, it can put both halves of your brain to work, improving your concentration, memory, and decision-making...". To read more, please click here.

Upcoming talk: Yoga Ananda, Reigate, Surrey on Friday the 4th of June

Shanida Nataraja will be speaking at a seminar on The Blissful Brain on Friday, 04th June 2010 at 19:30 at Yoga Ananda Ltd. 46 Albert Road North, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 9EL. For more information, please click here.

Therapeutic Applications of Neurofeedback

Recently, neurofeedback has been proposed to be a promising new therapeutic approach for the management of patients with abnormal brain wave patterns, such as those with affective disorders, such as anxiety and depression, and those with behavioural disorders, such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Research has revealed a significant relationship between specific EEG patterns and these psychiatric and developmental disorders, and in doing so it provides a clue to their appropriate management. In 2000, Frank Duffy, a neurologists at the Boston Children’s Hospital reviewed all of the published literature on neurofeedback. His conclusions were that all studies of EEG biofeedback therapy were consistently positive and that, as a consequence, it should be considered as an alternative therapeutic approach in many difficult-to-treat patients.

Some of the most compelling evidence for the benefit of neurofeedback can be found in studies of its use in children with attention and behavioural disorders, such as ADHD and attention deficit disorder (ADH). In the former, children are hyperactive as a result of their attentional deficit, whereas in the latter children are unresponsive and passive as a result of this deficit. Neurofeedback protocols that train the patient to increase beta waves can improve the attentional deficits seen with these disorders. In a recent review of published studies into the effects of neurofeedback on ADHD, 75% of patients responded positively to neurofeedback. The combination of neurofeedback with recent advances in video gaming technology also makes the technique more accessible to patients, particularly children.

There is also a growing body of evidence that neurofeedback may play a role in the management of patients with epilepsy. Patients with epilepsy can receive neurofeedback training that allows them to both reduce the brain wave rhythms that trigger and propagate seizures and enhance the brain wave rhythms that reduce the likelihood that these seizures occur. There is also evidence that neurofeedback can reduce the amount of medication hat patients with epilepsy need to take to manage their seizures.

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