Understanding Neurofeedback …

How Does It Work?


There are five distinct brain waves:

Delta Waves – Produced when you are sleeping
Theta Waves – Produced when you start to fall asleep.
Alpha Waves – Produced during calmness and a sense of wellbeing.
Sensorimotor Rhythm (SMR) – Produced when completely still and focused on one particular task.
Beta Waves – Produced when alert and externally focused.






The brainwave data recorded with the QEEG is statistically compared to a sophisticated and large normative database and a report is generated.  This assessment procedure allows the technician to determine, in a scientifically objective manner whether a client’s brainwave patterns are different from normal.  The QEEG assessment provides the technician with the neurofeedback training protocols that will be used during the training sessions.  These protocols are designed to retrain the brainwave patterns toward normal.  As the brainwave patterns normalize, the brain is able to operate more optimally and efficiently.



The software automatically detects when the brainwaves are properly ordered and it feeds that information back to the client.  This feedback appears in the form of a game, movie, or sound which signals the client that the brainwaves are becoming more ordered. As long as the client’s brain waves are moving in an orderly direction, the puzzle pieces are filled in and the client hears a tone.  If the brainwave patterns move away from an orderly pattern, then the puzzle does not get filled in and no tone is produced.  The client is actually controlling the completion of the puzzle with their brain and by doing so; the brain is learning how to regulate itself.

In another design, the client performs the training while watching a movie.  In this case the client may watch a DVD movie that is being controlled by their ability to regulate their brainwaves.  The movie will get brighter as the brain waves normalize and become darker when they become dysregulated.  The brain’s natural desire to watch the movie clearly will drive those neurological circuits that normalize the brainwaves and allow the picture to be visualized.  The more those circuits are driven and used – the more neuroplastic changes take hold.  The client learns how to use those new circuits during the demands of everyday life.