 |
 |
|
|
 
Narcolepsy is notoriously resistant to remediation by standard therapies. Neurofeedback has been found to be helpful here, but narcolepsy remains a challenge. The training is typically worthwhile, but full resolution is rarely achieved. Recent advances in Neurofeedback for migraine may translate to improvements for narcolepsy as well, but that remains to be seen.
Nausea is often highly responsive to Neurofeedback / EEG Biofeedback. This may be the case, for example, when nausea is observed subsequent to a minor brain injury. Or the nausea may be a consequence of chemotherapy or other therapy that impinges on brain function. Children who get carsick easily, or cannot go on merry-go-rounds, are likely to benefit considerably from Neurofeedback. The same holds for adults who have difficulty in airplanes. The remedy is not perfect. Even our astronauts, who are both highly competent and highly trained, experience motion sickness in space. But we can raise the threshold of onset for the symptom with the training.
Nausea results when the brain cannot bring various sensory inputs into concordance. Thus, when the visual image does not match up with what the body experiences in its vestibular system, which manages our sense of balance and orientation in space, the disorientation leads to nausea. When the disorientations are tiny but persistent, then a progressive descent into nausea may set in. This is where Neurofeedback can be helpful.
Nightmares are scary dreams. They must be distinguished both from night terrors and the nocturnal flashbacks of PTSD, which are often referred to as nightmares inappropriately. Nightmares respond exquisitely to Neurofeedback training that is optimized to the person. In fact, nightmares are a signature of our having found the appropriate training procedure in those who have nightmares. And if nightmares arise during the course of Neurofeedback training, the procedure needs adjustment. Given the sensitivity of nightmares to Neurofeedback, they are among the first symptoms to respond to training, as are sleep difficulties in general.
Night terrors are a seizure-like phenomenon, one in which the child may sit up in the bed and undergo rhythmic movements episodically in the night. The terror refers more to the parents' reaction, as the child will have no recall of the event. Night terrors respond very nicely to Neurofeedback training, in our experience, just as seizures do in general.
Nocturnal teeth grinding and teeth clenching responds to Neurofeedback / EEG Biofeedback just as other sleep disorders do. This is also a symptom that can get worse with the wrong Neurofeedback procedure. So teeth clenching is yet another index of our having found the appropriate training protocol for a particular person. This work has application to a lot of children who grind their teeth at night, and it has application to the many adults for whom a nocturnal tooth guard has been either recommended or fitted. If someone does not like sleeping with a tooth guard, Neurofeedback is an alternative to consider.
Teeth grinding is one of those signature conditions that are not just problems unto themselves but they indicate a state of disregulation in general, and of over-arousal in particular. A condition of under-arousal can produce this symptom also. (This fits with the observation that persons may clench their teeth while under anesthesia in surgery.) The person who comes to Neurofeedback for teeth grinding is likely to derive multiple benefits from being able to live out of a calmer, more controlled and more functional place.
This refers to an episodic leg-jerking movement during sleep. Without in any sense wishing to alarm the reader, it is appropriate to lump this condition with the epilepsies. It is a paroxysmal event that starts suddenly and stops suddenly. From the standpoint of Neurofeedback, it is addressed in the same way that we approach the epilepsies. This condition yields well to Neurofeedback, and undertaking a trial of the training should be worthwhile.
Signup to receive the EEG Info Newsletter by Dr. Siegfried Othmer via email. The newsletter usually circulates 2 - 3 times a month.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
