Traditional linear neurofeedback that has been practiced for over 60 years now is heavily reliant on brain mapping, normative databases, and the application by an expert practitioner. I’ve heard some experts say they would not let a neurofeedback practitioner go near their brain unless they had at least 10 years of experience.
And even then there will usually be side effects because uptraining parts of the brain is part of the protocol that let a practitioner know they have completed a particular aspect of training.
Of course, practitioner-led neurofeedback gets some great outcomes and is able to tweak brain activity in specific brain centres.
In contrast, NeurOptimal ® requires no brain mapping, diagnosis or a specific protocol. Given that it is automated and the practitioner simply hooks the client up to the software, could it possibly deliver the same kind of results as a practitioner-led intervention?
The answer may surprise you. The automated neurofeedback of a dynamical neuro technology actually is safer and long term delivers a better and more holistic outcome. Why?
To understand we have to come back to how the brain works. The brain with its 100 billion brain cells functions as a so-called complex non-linear dynamical system and self regulates as best as it can – that is to say, it has its own intelligence constantly adjusting its activity.
Linear neurofeedback tells the brain what to do and much of the time the intrinsic wisdom of the brain will push back, either undoing it or creating a side effect. Linear neurofeedback does not see the bigger picture: namely that there are no intrinsically correct values in the brain – they exist relative to each other.
In contrast, advanced technologies such as NeurOptimal ® simply supply information to the self-regulating wisdom of the brain – rather like standing in front of a mirror and receiving information about how you look. The brain receives the information and responds by returning to the present, carrying out an assessment, and then adjusting activity or not.
In this way, the brain can adjust holistically and safely, without anything directly being put into the brain (NeurOptimal ® provides feedback via a sound interruption in the soundtrack being listened to.)
Hence, a system such as NeurOptimal ® that is highly advanced, and monitors and responds to brain activity 256 times per second is able via its mathematical algorithms, able to produce a much higher quality brain training than a person who is making decisions about what your brain should be doing!