How NeurOptimal® Works
It is very important to understand that NeurOptimal® is not an invasive or directive therapy as other Neurofeedback systems are. There is no diagnosis necessary as no treatment is taking place. NeurOptimal® is peaceful non-directive training assisting the natural capacity of the brain and body for healing, personal growth, learning, performance improvement, and transformational evolution.
NeurOptimal® recognises that the behaviour of the EEG represents the dynamical activity of conscious and unconscious information processing within its entirety. When processing is compromised, with resultant loss of efficiency and impaired functioning, a particular type of turbulence develops within the EEG. NeurOptimal® is designed to detect this emerging turbulence at its earliest preconscious origins and alert the CNS so that it can maintain stability and efficient processing. The on-going return to stability and renormalisation interrupts the dynamic driving the problematic behaviour, before it gains momentum, and trains the CNS to maintain stability and efficiency of processing.
The sensitivity of the software is initially set so that only the peaks of turbulence are detected. Each detection of turbulence triggers a very brief (microseconds) interruption in music you are listening to. It is the interruption in the music that is the feedback and not the music within itself. The CNS very quickly connects these interruptions with the turbulence events that trigger them. Fundamentally NeurOptimal® is saying to your Brain – you just did that, …you just did it again, …you just did it again, …etc. Your brain will use this additional information to reduce the turbulence events and thus begin to stabilise.
Each time the Brain stabilises in a NeurOptimal® training session it is learning how to do that, and gets better and better at returning to stability and developing its capacity to maintain it for increasing periods of time. Whilst the increasing periods of stability are occurring, NeurOptimal® plays an even more profound role via activation of the orienting response of the CNS. This is a fundamental survival function designed for detection of change in environment, and return to present time for appropriate response. For example, you can be driving your car talking to you passenger about what you will be doing next week. Unusual movement
is detected peripherally, your CNS orients to that, and immediately
returns your awareness to the present time requiring a release of the previous behaviour.
Utilisation of the dynamical inherent properties of the CNS in this way results in three very important outcomes. Firstly, during the increasing periods of stability, there is no extrinsic compromise of capacity or any dysfunctional processing occurring, meaning that processing efficiency is optimised. Secondly, if maladaptive or inefficient patterns of processing begin to activate, prior to your awareness of them turbulence will appear in the EEG. This results in interruption to the audio stream (feedback) and activation of the orienting response with return to stability and the present. Thirdly, this necessitates a release of old patterns and behaviours that is well known to reduce suffering.
As the Brain, and CNS as a whole, develops stability the full potential of efficient processing and transformational capacity becomes increasingly available. This continues with each session until the Brain and CNS develops the ability to carry the stability and increased processing and transformational capacity across sessions, and then into the future independently of NeurOptimal® training. That is, the Brain, via neuroplasticity and its transformational capacity, has developed and strengthened the necessary self-organising networks and dynamics to maintain the desirable behaviour.