This panel will discuss the past and future of the brain, mind, and biofeedback.

Workshop #121): Coherence, Synchrony, and the Rest: Putting it all together with 2-channel training

2-channel training is used for bihemispheric (both sides of the brain) training, coherence/synchrony training, and asymmetry training. This workshop will explain the concepts of 2-channel EEG training and include practical demonstration.

Plenary #206): Neurophysics - A 21st Century Science of the Mind

Neurophysics is a label applied to an interdisciplinary pursuit of an integrated understanding of the brain and mind. It incorporates a great deal of “old” science, but it is a new science for the future. This talk will describe the emerging concepts and paradigms, and provide a perspective for viewing the developments which may be expected during the next century. Key aspects include information theory (“high-information” physics), self-organizing systems, multidimensional field potentials, and the breakdown of classical causality.

EEG Foundations Course #213): Origins of Brain Electrical Activity

This workshop will describe the technical foundations of neurofeedback instruments, with an emphasis on neurophysiological, electronic, and computer aspects.

Plenary #119): Real-time synchronous gamma training made easy.

Gamma waves have been shown to reveal a cohesive, organized state of mind that includes binding of many perceptions into a unified whole. Richard Davidson reported seeing these rhythms in advanced meditators. This presentation will show results and describe methods for the real-time training of fast bihemispherically synchronized 40 Hz (“gamma”) activity, through real-time detection and targeting of brief synchronous bursts. This method can capture single brief (e.g. less than ¼ second) bursts of gamma that occur very rarely (e.g. once per minute), and can clearly discern and feed back individual bursts, for training purposes. This will be related to the cortical dynamics that underly the gamma rhythm, and discussed in the context of gamma training.

Post-Conference #230): Technical Foundations of Neurofeedback - One Day Course / BCIA

This workshop will describe the technical foundations of neurofeedback instruments, with an emphasis on neurophysiological, electronic, and computer aspects.

Plenary #120): Brain, Mind, and Neurofeedback - The Next 10, 20 years, and Beyond,

This panel will look back over the history of the human experience, the brain, and the EEG, and will discuss implications for the next 10, 20, and 100 years. Among the topics of interest will be the social and political climates, major individuals and “movements” in the field, and how the current situation relates to the origins of the science and practice. We will look at far-reaching scenarios, and speculate on what may happen in the years 2010, 2020, and beyond, relative to the brain, the mind, and biofeedback.

Workshop #121): Coherence, Synchrony, and the Rest: Putting it all together with 2-channel training

This workshop focuses on concepts, and is applicable to any suitable 2-channel EEG training equipment. The BrainMaster 2.5SE software will be used for demonstration, and has significant new capabilities that make it possible to perform both simple or complex 2-channel training protocols, using a variety of approaches. The new capabilities include simultaneous sum- and difference-channel training, live JTFA analysis, and a new “Event Wizard” that makes it possible to build protrocols based on a wide range of variables (amplitude, frequency, coherence, phase, ratios of time or energy, etc). There is also a new interface to a Macromedia Flash Player that allows users to run predefined or custom displays. It is also possible to train on live Z-scores, using the interface to the NeuroGuide real-time processor. These capabilities will be demonstrated and discussed with emphasis on practical clinical protocol design.

For over 100 years, scientists studying any particular aspect of the brain or mind, when confronted with a particular question, might be prone to say “we’ll leave that to the psychologists” or “we’ll leave that to the philosophers” or “we’ll leave that to the neurologists”. It has been necessary to separate disciplines, to provide sufficient focus for progress to be made. We currently have highly developed areas including cognitive psychology, neurochemistry, cellular neurophysiology, clinical neurophysiology, and so on. It is now becoming possible as well as important to integrate various approaches into a consistent view that addresses broader questions. Neurophysics does not apply an arbitrary boundary to the method or structure of knowledge. It is a broad-based analysis of a set of particular questions, which share a common emphasis and perspective. Much as one can say “gravitation” is an area of study, or “astrophysics” is a discipline, neurophysics is itself a discipline. In the future, the neurophysicist will be recognized as a specialist and scholar, who understands and pursues knowledge of a particular area. It is not inconceivable that, for example, rather than calling a psychiatrist or neurologist into a trial for expert testimony, a neurophysicist will be called, to provide authoritative information regarding the individual’s comprehensive physical/mental state.

Genetics used to be a group of collected studies that seemed unrelated, including studies of field genetics, experimental plant genetics, family genetics, molecular genetics, and so on. Studies ranged from basic biochemistry and biophysics all the way through population genetics, culture, society, and so on. A geneticist in the late 1960’s was faced with a considerable range of studies, connected only by their shared focus on a set of questions. At this time, genetics is a highly focused and integrated field, encompassing all of the mentioned areas, but now including a highly precise molecular understanding, ability to discover and manipulate genes, and so on. It is currently a fully refined, integrated science. Neurophysics, however, is not.

Neurophysics considers consciousness and mental realm as a branch of physics, one that can be quantified and applied. It endeavors to apply knowledge from a full range of disciplines, from theoretical physics and chemistry, through behavior and conditioning, cultural anthropology, philosophy, and language. Through a comprensive approach to these areas, it is possible to create a consistent understanding that includes elements of science from virtually all areas, and interrelationships between them.

Neurophysics will bring increasing understanding to EEG phenomena including evoked potentials, binding rhythms, activation patterns, and so on. It will study these phenomena in conjunction with increasingly precise models of brain and mind function, to put them into perspective. Increasing ability to predict will ensue. Already, work by Sterman, by Thatcher, and by Gunkelman, have shed light on the an increasingly precise and clear overall view of EEG rhythms and patterns, and their functional significance. Recent results in hemispheric differences, asymmetries, and gamma binding, add to the overall understanding of the practical issues related to EEG interrelationships.

A method is introduced that provides specific training for synchronous EEG events, based upon a simple, yet powerful signal processing model. This method reveals activity of the type reported by Freeman et. al. (2003), Schack et. al. (2002), Von Stein and Sarnthein (2000), and Lutz et. al. (2004). Channel recombination (addition and subtraction) is used to differentially emphasize both synchronous, and asynchronous, EEG activity, in different derived signals. This method combines the benefits of differential training with those of synchrony training (Fehmi and Sundor, 1989). Joint Time-Frequency Analysis provides a further method for distinguishing detected events in both time and frequency. It is possible to visualize a single brief transient in any band of interest, including gamma, using this method. Data will be shown illustrating the phase and frequency selectivity of this method, and quantifying its ability to discern synchronous vs. asynchronous activity. This approach is useful for assessment and visualization, as well as for training EEG rhythms. It is immediately applicable for real-time processing, and can be implemented on a wide range of systems. Results will be presented illustrating the ability to graphically depict rare and brief EEG transients, as well as the ability to train such rhythms for neurofeedback applications.

Post-Conference #230): Technical Foundations of Neurofeedback - One Day Course / BCIA

Technical Foundations of Neurofeedback:Instrumentation and Processing This workshop will describe the technical foundations of neurofeedback instruments, with an emphasis on neurophysiological, electronic, and computer aspects. A signal is traced from its origin in the brain, through the instrumentation, until a visual or auditory feedback signal is presented to the trainee. Aspects of real-time processing and feedback will be emphasized. Technical data in the form of digital traces, timing measurements, and statistical summaries, will be presented and discussed. Material covered will not be specific to any particular instrument, and will pertain to all types of equipment.
Each participant will have the opportunity to articulate the technical foundations of EEG neurofeedback, including neurophysiology, electronics, signal processing, and user-interfacing. Understand specifications such as bandwidth, accuracy, and response time, in scientific and engineering terms.

Dr. tom collura Ph.D.
24490 Broadway Ave Suite #2
Oakwood Village, Ohio 44146

phone: 440 232-6000
fax: 440 232-7171

tomc@brainm.com