April 8, 2003

Where is Alpha?

Author: Sue Othmer

It has been clear for some time that a small percentage of people react badly to alpha-theta training. They may feel overly sedated, depressed or have increased pain after training. This appears to be a physiological effect in which they end up in a less functional brain state. It is different from the possible psychological effect of revisiting and working through past traumas. My response until now has been to train beta/SMR first to stabilize the control of physiological state and to keep training beta/SMR after alpha-theta sessions as needed for people with this sensitivity.

I have tried to figure out who these folks are and how to identify them before we get them into trouble. It is not so simple as looking at arousal level as indicated by the appropriate beta/SMR reward frequency. There is no obvious vulnerability in very high or low arousal individuals. There does seem to be some increased likelihood of a negative response in people with instability of brain states, which results in symptoms such as migraine, fibromyalgia, panic attacks and seizures. But this is not always a problem in such individuals. These negative effects have intrigued me for some while because I feel unpleasantly sedated when I train with a standard alpha-theta protocol. I am clearly missing the wonderful calming and clearing effects that people generally report with alpha training.

It occurred to me some months ago to try raising the alpha reward frequency. I found that I was able to do alpha-theta training to good effect and with no negative side effects if I used a 10-13 Hz alpha reward. I recommended this to a few co-workers and started looking for an opportunity to try higher alpha frequencies with appropriate clients. Opportunities (or challenges) usually arrive in clusters I find. So I now have a cluster of clients who are having some trouble with alpha-theta. And I have an opportunity to figure this out.

I started looking at eyes-closed resting alpha rhythms in a dozen or so clients and co-workers. I found a clear correlation of peak alpha frequencies over 10 Hz with negative training effects. The standard alpha reward frequency in the Neurocybernetics instrument is 8-11 Hz. This means a center frequency of 9.5 Hz. It seemed possible that training below the natural peak alpha rhythm might take people below their own natural comfort zone. The next step was to identify the eyes-closed peak alpha frequency for each person and try training with an alpha band centered on that individual peak frequency. The results so far are very positive. People are enjoying alpha-theta and feeling good after session who never liked the experience before. It is straightforward to record some eyes-closed EEG data at Pz and then look at it with a spectral display. Rhythmic alpha will form a narrow peak extending through time. Identify the center frequency and adjust the alpha reward band to the same center frequency.

Alpha-theta training is a very different process from beta/SMR up and low frequency down training. When we train T3-T4 with a reward frequency of 4-7 Hz for example, we are not trying to move the person into a “theta state.” That would be inappropriate for the awake, eyes-open training we are doing. The exercise of training eyes-open at these low frequencies seems to be one of practicing self-regulation of state while staying in an awake state. People with high arousal seem to benefit from this practice at low frequencies. In alpha-theta training we are asking the person to change state and to stay in low arousal states for an extended period of time. By tuning our reward frequency to the brain’s own natural idle frequency we seem to produce a more comfortable state.

What does high frequency (above 10 Hz) alpha correlate with? I have heard it suggested that high frequency alpha occurs with anxiety or with high IQ, but that is not what I observe. I see these folks as maintaining a higher level of vigilance to what is going on around them, and maybe a need to manage everything that is happening around them. This is different from high reactivity to events. It seems reasonable that a higher alpha might correlate with a more attentive idle state. This doesn’t seem to relate to mental speed or intelligence, but rather to alertness to surroundings. And this fits the profile for many people with fibromyalgia or migraines. Negative effects seem to arise with alpha-theta training using standard bands when people have high frequency alpha and have some instability of state. We certainly need to map this out in more detail.

I would appreciate feedback from others who try, or have tried, training alpha-theta with individualized alpha frequencies. The next question is what to do with the theta reward. I know that, when we raised the Neurocybernetics theta reward from 4-7 to 5-8 Hz, we produced less grogginess in our subjects. So it clearly has a frequency specific effect. The question is whether this needs to be adjusted for individual differences.