My Brain Brightening Assessment

by AnnBanks

My adventures in brain training began at the NYU brain imaging lab, a surprisingly cheerful place, partly due to the gaudy brain scan print-outs scattered about. It's important to get a baseline reading before starting neurofeedback training, and I have come to the lab for my initial assessment. This consists of spending a couple of hours having my brain's pattern of electrical activity measured with a Digital Cortical Scan, also known as EEG.

First, electrodes are pasted painlessly on my scalp (with something that looks like hair gel), and then we are off, measuring the four different types of brain waves as they perform and interact in my head. (The monitoring is one-way only; no electrical signals are sent to the brain.) A kindly lab technician named Howard Bryant administers the exam, and although I sense he has heard every nervous joke in the book, he laughs appreciatively at mine.

A week later, after my brain waves have been analyzed, I meet with Dr. Prichep. She declares that I am a suitable candidate for "brain brightening."

Although brain wave patterns are as unique as fingerprints, the most efficient brains demonstrate an optimal ratio of the different types of brain waves. And those of us with aging neural networks are likely to deviate from this desired ratio in predictable ways.

So the goal of my neurofeedback treatment will be the same as it would be for many people whose cognitive skills are not as sharp as they were. (Or for children with ADD, for that matter.) I'll be learning to decrease the brain's theta waves -- those responsible for scattered attention, that spaced out feeling -- and increase beta waves, which promote focus, making you feel sharper and more in control. (This is a simplified explanation of a highly complex phenomenon.)

As Dr. Prichep explains all this, my theta waves run away with me. I find myself distracted by the brightly colored cranial maps she is using to illustrate her points, and I start daydreaming about how these vivid images might look to an artist. I snap out of it in time to hear Dr. Prichep assure me that it should be perfectly possible to boost my mental energy and improve my ability to pay attention.

For my neurofeedback training, she refers me to Merlyn Hurd, a clinician she has worked with for many years. Dr. Hurd will have the job of trying to help me boost my brain's power and efficiency. And no calculations will be required. At least not on my end of the electrodes.