Nondrug Options for ADHD -Biofeedback; allergy treatment; vision therapy
2008

In biofeedback therapy, children with ADHD wear electrodes on their head and learn to control video games by exercising the parts of the brain related to attention and focus. Research to date suggests not only that children enjoy this therapy; it actually works as well as medication.
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Real Stories...Real People...Real Success
October 2008

Clinicians talk about the Othmer's approach to Neurofeedback
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EEG Info "Neurofeedback Training Course" Video
July 11, 2007

An Intensive Hands-on Introduction to the Clinical Practice of Neurofeedback
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ABC 7 Medical: Bio Feedback
February 23, 2007

Wired for Victory
December 18, 2006

A quiet mind is a winning mind.

That's why the players of the Italian soccer team AC Milan gather every two weeks in the Mind Room, a glassed-in facility at the team's chic training complex. There, on zero-gravity recliners, listening to the soothing sounds of New Age music, they unwind. In a way. Each player's head is fitted out with miniature electrodes that send a signal from his scalp to a computer, so while he relaxes he can also watch his brain waves play out, like a video game, as brightly colored zigs and zags on a monitor. continue reading...

Physical Therapy for the Brain
November 27, 2006

EVERY week for two years, Michael Hammett stared at a computer screen, trying to open a flower with his mind.

Hammett had developed a case of carpal tunnel syndrome so severe he needed surgery. But being a former opiate abuser, he refused to use the medications that would be needed to control the resulting pain. Having already tried physical therapy, he set his mind on another alternative: neurofeedback. continue reading...

Good concept? It's a Brainwave
September 30, 2006

In a South London clinic a young girl is sitting with an electrode attached to her scalp, staring intently at a computer screen. Every so often there is a ping and on the screen, which shows a simple graphic of sea and sky, another bird appears, hovering above the water. That’s a signal that in the game Lara Hargrave, 10, is playing, using only her brain waves to control the action, she has just scored a point.

No, this isn't some new tweenage computer craze. It's a high-tech brain therapy called neurofeedback that Lara's mother Juliet claims has significantly alleviated her daughter's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Practitioners claim that the therapy, which centres on the idea that the electrical activity in our brains can be trained to become healthier, has achieved dramatic results on attention disorders, depression, epilepsy, even incontinence. continue reading...

Focus and Relaxation Translate into Improved Sports Performance
August 9, 2006

For those of you golfers out there, you know the old saying --drive for show, putt for dough!

But do you have a hard time getting in the zone? Does a lack of concentration affect your ability to sink that birdie attempt?

The latest in sports performance — neurobiofeedback — is not a new technology or technique.

Biofeedback has been used since the 70s to help people relax. But the latest generation incorporates brain waves, pulse, and respiration along with video games to help teach people off the court to focus and relax during the game. continue reading...

Healthful Living Radio Segment
June 29, 2006

Siegfried Othmer Radio Segment. click here to listen

Mastering Migraines
April 2006

My migraines announce their imminent arrivals with great fanfare. After 30 years I know the drill: silver stars swirl before my eyes, and as I watch the psychedelic light show—the classic pre-migraine aura—I realize with growing dread that misery is on its way.

A few hours later, a vague tightness in my right temple gives way to a nauseating one-sided pounding. If left untreated, the pain is so intense in its jackhammer-like regularity that the faintest light appears blinding, small sounds are intensified and smells are unbearable. The only relief is to sleep, fitfully, with an ice pack perched precariously on my head while my husband hovers, empathetic but powerless to help. As the hours wear on, I actually welcome the inevitable vomiting as a blessed sign the end of the migraine is near. continue reading...

Accelerate Your Brain: iMusic© - An Interplay Between Neuroscience and Music
April 2006

Lab trials and university studies have shown over and over, that optimizing our brainwaves and training our minds to perform better for us, by just listening to the right iMusic selection, can have a huge impact on focus, memory and intelligence, whether we're highly intelligent or existing at low functional levels. continue reading...

Brain Training Can Change Autistic Behaviour
April 25, 2006

NEUROFEEDBACK practice may be able to alleviate some of the symptoms of autism, according to a pilot study on eight children with the disorder.

The technique involves hooking people up to electrodes and getting them to try and control their brain waves. In people with autism, the "mu" wave is thought to be dysfunctional. Since this wave is associated with "mirror neurons" - the brain cells that underpin empathy and understanding of others - Jaime Pineda at the University of California, San Diego, wondered if controlling it through neurofeedback could exercise faulty mirror neurons and improve their function. continue reading...

U.S. Newswire: Clinic Reports Dramatic Results Treating Autism, ADD without Drugs
March 21, 2006

She was a mother without hope. Diagnosed with autism, her six year old son, EJ, bit other children, threw tantrums and chairs. "He had no future," says Beatrice Tan, whose family stopped going to church because it was too risky to put EJ in the nursery.

Now, after several months of specialized, neurofeedback therapy at Drake Institute of Behavioral Medicine - www.drakeinstitute.com - in Los Angeles, EJ no longer bites: he hugs. He has friends, and "we have hope," says Beatrice, now back in church with EJ and husband, Ronnie. continue reading...

Treating Migraines without Painkillers
March 6, 2006

For many people, a nagging migraine means turning to an over-the-counter pain pill like acetaminophen, or, in some cases, a prescription medication like Imitrex.

But recent advances in nondrug treatments, such as biofeedback and neurofeedback, have opened more options for headache suffers. And something as seemingly unrelated as heart surgery may hold the solution for some people. continue reading...

Veterans Today: Army Study Reveals One-Third of Troops Returning from Iraq seek PTSD Help
March 1, 2006

Soldiers and marines who served in Iraq during the current war are seeking mental health services at a high rate within a year of returning home, according to army researchers here.

The problems go beyond post-traumatic stress syndrome, although the investigators at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research counted nearly 22,000 veterans in that category. continue reading...

Scientific American Mind: Train Your Brain
February 2006

At first the computer game looks awfully easy for an eight-year-old - like something out of the Stone Age of arcades in the 1980s. A red triangle "arrow" appears on the monitor's blue screen, and then the nose of a cartoon airplane glides into view from the left. If the arrow points upward, Ben must make the plane climb. When he succeeds, a spiky yellow sun beams.

A second glance shows that all is not as it seems. For one thing, Ben has no joystick. Instead several electrodes glued to the boy's face and to the skin under his hair let him pilot the plane by thought alone. continue reading...

Veterans Today: Free Neurofeedback for Enhanced Mental Function for Veterans
January 12, 2006

EEG Neurofeedback is being offered at no cost to returning veterans through a growing network of Neurofeedback practitioners nationwide. The group of mental health practitioners volunteering their services has been brought together through the auspices of the Brian Othmer Foundation in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, CA. The group incorporates a variety of health and educational professionals who offer Neurofeedback as part or all of their practice.

EEG Neurofeedback is training in brain function based on information derived from the EEG (electroencephalogram). With such training, speedy recovery can be achieved for the sleep problems, pain syndromes, irritability, anger and rage, as well as cognitive deficits with which soldiers often return from combat. Somewhat longer training can offer symptomatic relief of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The training can also help soldiers recover from excessive drug, alcohol, and tobacco dependency. continue reading...

AZCentral: Drugless ADHD Therapy Touted
November 7, 2005

A few years ago, New York Times medical writer Jim Robbins reported on a grade school in Yonkers that successfully gave its students access to an unusual treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

ADHD is characterized by poor concentration, distractibility, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Children and adults with the disorder can't concentrate for long periods of time and are restless or tend to daydream. The disorder typically is treated with stimulant drugs. About 8 percent of U.S. kids have it, boys more than girls. continue reading...

A Reflection on Our Times
September 23, 2005

We have just witnessed a watershed event that will surely—finally—break through the web of fabricated reality that has been our nation's fate at the hands of its government in recent years. Nothing could so forcefully expose the disconnect between this government and its people as letting New Orleans' poor drown like rats in a barrel while we could only watch. Finally we have an event that breaks through the toxic effluvium that has been emanating from Washington for years. Let us not waste the opportunity. If this event does not lead to major upheavals in our governance, then the many hundreds will indeed have died in vain.

In the confines of this column, it is possible only to paint with a broad brush. What we have been witnessing goes deeper than mere incompetence in governmental institutions, from the "boy in the bubble" on the Republican side to the "uncertain trumpet" of John Kerry on the Democratic side. continue reading...

Neurocognitive Feedback Therapy Tested on Fibromyalgia
September 21, 2005

According to the American College of Rheumatology, fibromyalgia affects between 3 and 6 million Americans, or one in every 50 Americans. While the disease can affect men and children, primarily 80 to 90 percent of those diagnosed with fibromyalgia are women.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue and multiple tender points. Tender points are precise places on the body, such as on the neck, shoulders, back, hips and upper and lower extremities, where people with fibromyalgia feel pain in response to light pressure. continue reading...

Neurofeedback Therapy Shows Promising Results in the Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Other High Incidence Medical Disorders
September 16, 2005

Southwest Naturopathic Medical Center has introduced a Neurofeedback Therapy Program as part of a cutting-edge, integrative medical approach for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other common brain/mood disorders, including depression, autism, addiction, head injury, migraine, epilepsy and insomnia.

The statistics are alarming for many of these conditions and disorders. According to a recent survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.4 million children, aged 4 to 17 (7.8 percent of U.S. children) have been diagnosed with ADHD. More than half of these children are taking medication for this disorder and most of them will continue to exhibit symptoms as adults. continue reading...

Inner Act: Inner Power
February 2004

When Maria Callas was asked to describe her state of mind during a performance, she immediately referred to the brain. She had a vision of the brain’s two hemispheres complementing each other, as if one was in a state of trance while the other remained alert. In Callas’ description, the two hemispheres formed a harmonious pair: one was passive, almost on automatic pilot, while the other kept watch and guided, without interfering in the stillness of its partner.

Thus, the personal vision of one of the 20th century's artistic wonders remarkably touched on a future discovery that would be used as a performance enhancing tool decades later. continue reading...

BBC News: Brain Machine "Improves Musicianship"
July 24, 2003

Scientists have created a technique that dramatically improves the performance of musicians.

The system - called neurofeedback - trains musicians to clear their minds and produce more creative brain waves.

Research, to be published in the journal Neuroreport, indicates the technique helps musicians to improve by an average of 17% - the equivalent of one grade or class of honours. continue reading...

WebMD: Biofeedback Enhances ADHD Treatments - Therapy Helps Some Patients Reduce or Eliminate Medication
December 20, 2002

Biofeedback, a therapy in which patients are taught to control physiologic functions such as heart rate, muscle tension, and even their brain waves, is emerging as an effective treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). And new research suggests that it may be especially beneficial to patients who can't tolerate or don't benefit from often-used stimulant medications.

Although prescribing drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall are the most common way of managing ADHD - and bring improvement in about 80% of patients, says the American Psychiatric Association - they are not without problems. Many children taking them suffer side effects such as sleep problems, weight loss, jitters, and stomach upset, and nearly half of those with some types of ADHD don't respond to the drugs at all. Some experts are also concerned with their long-term use. continue reading...

Inner Act: Neurofeedback for the Remediation of Trauma in Disaster Victims
by Siegfried Othmer, Ph.D., Chief Scientist at EEG Institute - 2001

What makes the resolution of traumas so problematic to the mental health practitioner is the fact that trauma appears to be physiologically encoded in a variety of body systems. Trauma does not merely reside in historical memory. This means that verbal or cognitively-based means of addressing the traumatic memory do not reach what may be the core issues that sustain the trauma experience. The inability of verbal therapeutic techniques to touch these core issues means that trauma work is often itself re-traumatizing. It has even become axiomatic within the field that the resolution of traumas can only occur via such a painful route.

Recent work has taken us far beyond such conceptions. The implications are profound, and they should bear fruit in the management of the recent trauma experience to the largest degree possible. Since these ideas are relatively recent, many in the mental health field are only beginning to become aware of the efficacy of the recommendations contained herein. The rewards of such an approach, however, should be a significant reduction in time and resources required for trauma resolution. continue reading...

WebMD: A New Consciousness
February 21, 2000

It looks like a scene from a 1950s science fiction flick: Patients with electrodes attached to their skulls sit deep in concentration, focusing their minds to control the beeps and squiggly lines produced by an electronic monitor.

Now these fantastic visions are unfolding with increasing frequency in real medical clinics around the country; people with
epilepsy, attention deficit disorder, and other forms of serious mental illness are treating these ailments by learning to control electrical patterns in their own brains. This therapy, known as neurofeedback, is emerging as the hottest new twist on biofeedback. continue reading...

Brain Music Therapy Video Interview
Duration: 5:45 min

CBS News - Eye on America: Reading, Writing & Ridalin
The search for treating attention disorders in children without using powerful drugs.
Duration 3:24 min - Size 7 MB - Quicktime (.mov)

AVM Video
Neurofeedback for Children with ADD / ADHD
Duration 13:37 min - Size 17 MB - Quicktime (.mov)

Living The Life
An alcoholic with depression uses Neurofeedack to recover, Dr. Lanier Fly.
Duration 17:26 min - Size 7.1 MB

A Video series from- the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe
Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI
Each Video is 6-12 MB in size

Celebrity News Video
Interview

New York School District
Using Neurofeedback for its ADD students
Requires Free Real Audio Player to view