Neurofeedback Versus Drugs for Mental Health
The equipment includes one or more electrodes placed on the scalp and a computer “game” controlled by the EEG signal. The therapist sets the program to reward random fluctuations in brain function that meet treatment specifications.
This approach is called “operant conditioning.” It is much like the way we learn physical skills, such as ice skating or riding a bicycle. To learn a new skill, we try a variety of muscle contraction patterns, and when we get it right, we feel rewarded by our success (in the case of ice skating, we feel balanced and see that we're going where we want to go). With practice, we learn how to get it right more and more of the time.
Neurofeedback is actually much simpler than learning a physical skill. There's no need to try to win the computer game; our brains are flexible enough that we can just watch. By random chance, the EEG signal will meet the target criteria part of the time and then we get rewarded by the sights and sounds of the game progressing. Some of the original neurofeedback research was done on cats to make sure it's not necessary for the subject to think about anything in particular.
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How is the neurofeedback working? I've heard that there can be great results.
It's working great! My EEG signal in the delta and theta bands is way down from where I started, and now I don't feel so dizzy, like I'm passing out.
I’ve heard about neurofeedback days ago from my friend but I just ignored it. But upon reading this article, I got very curious. Well, you see, I have friend that suffered from mental illness. But with the present situation of our economy and the Health Care issue, it seems impossible for my friend to have medical treatment. Money matters, right? Especually now that many are still jobless because of the job closure brought by the economic recession that hits our country. Well, from our experience, it isn't easy to get financing from banks, especially if you don't have perfect credit – and they don't want to finance anyone unless they're so rich they don't need any financing – and that's why some people look into installment loans for bad credit. Installment loans for bad credit mean loans that come with a plan for multiple payments – and it could mean anything from a large-scale business loan or mortgage, to a short term loan to float you in between paydays. There are online lenders out there – if you need a company that can direct deposit the funds quickly. There are plenty of companies that offer installment loans for bad credit that you can apply for a loan through.