Futurehealth - Futurehealth Newsletter of February 16, 2010

Olympic Gold Winner Says Neurofeedback Helped

Alexandre Bilodeau won the Men's Mogul event in Vancouver with the help of neurofeedback.

By Vietta Sue Wilson
Electroencephalography and Sport; Review and Future Directions
The purpose of this paper is to briefly review the psychological traits and states that are believed necessary for performance in competitive sport. This information may help guide areas of brain research that could have a large practical impact upon enhancing performance. The paper will then focus on reviewing studies which used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess brain processing in athletes.

By Mariella Fischer-Williams, MD, FRCP
The Neurology of Biofeedback; A Neuro-anatomical and Physiological Review
People commonly ask the questions : "Why?", "How does a thing work?" and "How can I fix it?". I do not attempt to answer "Why?" because it is a metaphysical question. Much of this article answers the question of "How can I fix it?".

By Lewis Mehl-Madrona
The Miracle of Peacefulness

Unfortunately, miracles cannot be guaranteed or produced on demand. What is more certain is our ability to cultivate a sense of peacefulness and meaning even in the face of illness. This is miraculous in itself given today's world and medical culture. So many people sit namelessly, faceless and alone on nursing home floors, passing the time before death.

By Jon Frederick
The Role of Mind Body Medicine in the Mind-Body Problem
It is commonly claimed that biofeedback increases conscious awareness of physiological processes that are otherwise subconscious. By measuring awareness explicitly, EEG state discrimination paradigms provide a quantitatively rigorous and largely unexplored method of observing the boundaries between consciousness and the brain.

By Rob Kall
Crosstraining for Body, Mind & Spirit; Integral Life Practice: Interview With Terry Patten

This is a transcript of my Jan 24th, 2010 interview with Terry Patten, co-author, with Ken Wilber and others, of Integral Life Practice; A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening. Terry was, on an earlier leg of his journey, founder of Tools for Exploration.

By Nancy White
Alpha-Theta Neurotherapy As a Multi-Level Matrix of Intervention

Alpha-Theta Neurotherapy, has been found in clinical practice, as in the original work of Elmer and Alyce Green and further developed by Eugene Peniston and described in his original research, to reduce or eliminate alcoholic craving while simultaneously addressing mental, emotional, physical and, at times, spiritual dimensions of alcoholism and surrounding issues.

By tom collura
Connection, Inhibition and Path-Specific Relaxation Training

The brain is a hyperconnected system, containing on the order of 10 billion neurons, each of which can have hundreds or thousands of connections to other neurons. The brain depends on dynamically managing trillions of connections, to regulate the interactions between all of its parts. How are all of these connections managed toward useful ends? The key lies in the ability to network to selectively enable or disable conn...

By Laura L. Whittemore
The Process of Recovery; from mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI)

To some, the word "recovery" means getting better, regaining what you lost, the pain goes away and the brain is as sharp and attentive as it was before the accident. However, every brain injury is as varied as the recovery process because of the uniqueness of who you are. A brain injury is unlike all other injuries.

By Rob Kall
Obituary: Brian Costello

Brian was an incredibly energetic Australian force of nature, inspired by and passionately working on new ideas and approaches to biofeedback, usually with his southern California colleague, Russ Cassell. It was very common to get an email blast from Brian, overflowing with new ideas, copied to dozens, all over the world, giving credit and kudos to many.

By Jim Donovan
Yes, You Have Every Right to be Angry But . . .
Remaining angry at someone is like letting them live rent free in your head.

By Allen L Roland
P.T.S.D Is Really Post Traumatic Heart Dysfunction
It is obvious that the symptoms of PTSD are very similar to the symptoms of people being seemingly separated from love whereas deep psychic pain as well as feelings of guilt and unworthiness override the ability to give and receive love: Allen L Roland

Obituary Pernell Roberts Starred as Adam in Bonanza and Trapper John MD

Roberts, who starred as Adam in the TV show Bonanza, passed at age 81, from pancreatic cancer on January 24. He was the husband of longtime biofeedback educator Eleanor Criswell of Sonoma State University

By Rob Kall
Cross training Mind/Brain/Heart/Spirit and Shadow-- an interview with Terry Patten

brief summary of and link to a podcast interview with Terry Patten talking about integral life practice, mind tools, neurofeedback and more.

By Dr. Clare Albright
Neurofeedback Therapy for PMS and Menopause
Can neurofeedback help with the symptoms of PMS and menopause?

By Barbara Woolner
The Use of Electromyographic Biofeedback for Training Pelvic Floor Musculature

The core behavioral treatment of urinary incontinence is pelvic muscle re-education. Biofeedback "takes the guesswork out of pelvic muscle training" (reference NIDDK) because it enables the patient to improve pelvic muscle function through muscle awareness, which, when combined with a home exercise program, leads to increased muscle strength and improved coordination.

By lincoln stoller
Neurofeedback and Ayahuasca: A More Effective Program for Personal Growth

Modern neurofeedback therapy is compared with the experience and goals of the traditional ayahuasca ceremony. A program of conducting neurofeedback training in conjunction with the ayahuasca ceremony is described. It's argued that such a combination enhances the goals of each program by providing better preparation and post-training support.

By Judith Acosta
The Right to Expect?
It is, or so we believed, our natural birthright. Birds did it. Bees did it. We did it. Just like that. In fact, most of the women visiting fertility specialists right now were afraid of getting pregnant and, for years, juggled IUD's, diaphragms, condoms, and pills to protect themselves from what they felt would be inevitable if they didn't cover themselves with creams and impermeable membranes.

By Dr. Clare Albright
How Neurofeedback Therapy Can Help Athletes Reach Peak Performance Levels
Can neurofeedback help athletes to reach peak performance levels?

By Rob Kall
Interview with Joel Lubar-- ADHD, LORETA, Z-Scores, History

Z-score neurofeedback, LORETA neurofeedback, some history of neurofeedback and some future of neurofeedback

By Howard I. Glazer, Ph.D.
What to Look For in Biofeedback Treatment
a checklist of features that will be found in professionally competent biofeedback therapy. Find out if you've really "been there, done that". While this article focuses on treatment of vulvodynia, the questions generally apply to most biofeedback applications

By Rob Kall
Your Biofeedback Practitioner's Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell described a mythic pattern that any hero, any person going through a process of growth and increased personal awareness experiences. This model works very well for biofeedback practitioners, describing the stages, steps, experiences, problems, opportunities, challenges and rewards you can expect to encounter on your path to becoming a master of the world of biofeedback.

By Kirtley Thornton
A Cost/Benefit Analysis of Different Intervention Models for LD/Special Ed. Students

Since the decade of the brain was declared in 1990, there have been impressive advances in the area of neurodiagnostic instrumentation measuring the physical functioning of the brain and providing a deeper understanding of the functioning of the brain.

By Pam Oltman
Tapping the Power of Gratitude
I can't remember exactly what the simple incident was (something like someone picking up something I dropped), but in that moment I recognized, truly recognized, that someone did something for me...just because they were being kind. I said "thank you", but somehow that moment made a larger impact on me than what my words were able to express. Soon I was making cards saying, "I know it may seem like a small thing that you...

By Siegfried Othmer, Ph.D.
Our Declining State of Health
Last May, Science Magazine featured a review of a recent study of human health going back some 10,000 years. Surprisingly, perhaps, our state of health has been declining generally over the last 3,000 years, coinciding essentially with the broad adoption of agriculture. The trends are not subtle, apparently. Statures have shrunk, and there was an increase in skeletal lesions, tuberculosis, and leprosy.

By Lewis Mehl-Madrona
Treatment Programs -" Do they work?
we consider the question of treatment -" does it work? Treatment is a billion dollar industry in America. So many people go for treatment and so many experts purport to tell people how to reform. The question -" does it work? Does treatment actually help anyone?