Neurofeedback (as well as various other therapies) may be enhanced via the use of other therapies which ‘quieten the mind’, increasing its receptivity to learning.
I will first make the distinction between volitional and non-volitional therapies. Volitional means the patient makes cognitive efforts (volitional efforts) to effect the changes desired. Where a therapy is considered non-volitional, the patient does nothing but subject their brain to the inputs of the equipment. Non-volitional systems are not necessarily ‘non-invasive’ - for example the strobing lights of the ROSHI IN-SIGHT Glasses (Personal ROSHI, or pROSHI) are invading the normal senses of the brain. The microshocks of the Low Energy Neurofeedback System (LENS) (formerly known as the Flexyx Neurotherapy System) are also invading the brain’s normal environment. Indeed, despite its name, LENS is not cosidered to be true Neurofeedback or Biofeedback as it is non-volitional.
For examples of the uses of such non-volitional relaxation therapies to improve Neurofeedback results, the following is an abstract of a conference presentation at the 2009 International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR) Annual Conference. It is entitled *Adjunct Therapies to Neurofeedback: Significant Results Obtained by National and International *Clinicians…
Devices like the pROSHI and Alpha-Stim cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) technology can probably rapidly produce states of deep relaxation, and may increase suggestibility, receptivity to new information, and enhance access to subconscious material.
However various therapies could be put into this broad category of ‘non-volitional relaxation therapies’. These could even include BrainHeart Music and Beds which have simple, stable, predicable motion, which I have mentioned in previous posts. A float tank, also known as an isolation tank or sensory deprivation tank, is another option. It is a lightless, soundproof tank inside which subjects float in salt water at skin temperature. After a while in a float tank, a subject’s brainwaves transition from beta or alpha to theta, which typically occurs briefly before sleep and again at waking. In a float tank, the theta state can last for several minutes without the subject losing consciousness. An example of a float tank’s use to enhance receptivity to new information, is to enhance the effects of Lloyd Glauberman’s Hypno-Peripheral Processing (HPP) technology…
Another example of a therapy that may be useful in making other therapies work better is Dr. Tessler’s Fight of Flight Therapy (http://www.fightorflighttherapy.com/). This light therapy, only available through this doctor in Colorado, is said to work by directly lessening the body’s physiological response to stress and trauma, making the body more responsive to treatment. Here is an anecdotal success story of the therapy working for someone’s Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS):
(sources: http://eeg-feedback.cz/Joural_of_Neurotherapy.pdf; [Chaos CD][HaBi 2]- MEGABRAIN (http://www.offiziere.ch/trust-us/habi2/134_megabrain.html): PCS symptoms, what kind of symptoms and feelings do you have? - NeuroTalk Support Groups)