Questions from newbie

November 2, 2000

First off welcome to the group.

Flat back syndrome is caused primarily but Harrington rod procedures.

When the original surgery was done they did not put the normal front

to back curve in as part of the procedure. They fused it straight.

Over time that causes mechanical stresses on the upper and lower ends

of the fusion. This usually translates into a painful situation and a

marked leaning forward when erect. It affects people in different

ways. The situation is being corrected by surgery. However it does

not work all the time and is not suitable in all cases.

I have flat back myself and I lead a very painful life. Although I am

coping with it nonetheless. Surgery does not seem an option in my

case as I have had two previous surgeries that did not improve the

situation.

Hope this help. Hopefully some of the others can help you out with

the other terms.

November 2, 2000

Hi Beth...

You'll find some good drawings at http://www.srs.org that show what

lordosis and kyphosis are. There's also a good glossary there.

Flatback syndrome is a problem that was created by the use of metal

spinal implants, like Harrington rods, that were not bent to match the

normal front to back curves of one's spine. Kyphosis is the normal top

curve and lordosis is the normal bottom curve. Loss of lordosis is what

causes flatback syndrome. Sagittal imbalance refers to an imbalance of

one's spine due to abnormal kyphosis or lordosis.

The cracked vertebrae in your lower back probably has nothing to do with

your scoliosis, but you should trust the word of your doctor on that

issue.

Regards,

Beth Slater wrote:

>

> i came across some terms when finding this support list. what is the

folllowing: " flatback syndrome " , " loss of lordosis, " " lumbar kyphosis, " or

" sagittal imbalance " ?

>

> in my intro post, i sd i had a cracked vertebrae in my lower back. could this

be connected to my scoliosis? (the cracked vertebrae is in my lower back, & the

scoliosis is in my upper back)

>

> TBTG!

> ~beth, mum to shane & grace

> angelus@...

> " all children have gifts, some just open them later than others. "

>

October 1, 2005

Hi Michele,

Are you the Michele that called me yesterday about Excel and the

assessment? Was the early version of Excel the problem?

Ideally you and your mother would attend workshops, I'm sorry you missed

the ones in Virginia. There will no doubt be another set in a couple of

months. And perhaps in New England as well.

We agree with you that brain training has exciting potential for school

systems. Pete has done staff trainings for two Community Services Boards

in Virginia, and we are planning to expand this aspect of our work.

Would you, or someone we could contact in your school system, be

interested in exploring this?

A comment on your questions:

1. We would always do an assessment before deciding what to train. The

inhibit/reward percentages refer to the percent of feedback. 80% means

you set the threshold so that the client is scoring about 80% of the

time (if you are uptraining, then they are over the threshold 80% of the

time, if you are downtraining they are over the threshold 20% of the

time). As their scoring percentage goes up, you then adjust the

threshold to get back to 80%,so that you are coaxing them to go farther

in the desired direction.

2. Both the reward percentages and the session length depend on what you

are training and the type of client. Some kinds of training work best

with several short sessions, some with one longer session. Some people

do best with a high reward percentage, some people with a lower one.

Foxx

Questions from Newbie

I am very new to the field of neurofeedback, and am trying to learn

as much as I can. I am a high school special education teacher, and

can see a use for neurofeedback in the school I work in. To get

started, I attended a 4-day Neurofeedback workshop with Stens, and I

bought a BrainMaster. I have also bought several books about

neurofeedback, and have been reading them, as well as the various

. However, I still have a few questions that I have been

a bit embarrassed to ask because they seem so basic:

1. Most of what I have read has indicated that one common type

of training is to reward SMR, and inhibit theta and hibeta. I have

read that many children with ADD exhibit high theta. I have read

that you should set your inhibits at about 20% and rewards at 80%.

My question is this: If you want to bring the theta down, how do

often do you bring the theta threshold down? Do you set the inhibit

at 30% and then wait for the amplitude to go down to 20%? I don't

understand how to go about bringing an amplitude down, or raising one

up.

2. I have also read that you should pause frequently - anywhere

from every 3 minutes to every 5 minutes. Why is this, and what would

happen if you don't?

I am also looking for someone in the NJ or eastern PA area who would

be willing to let me observe neurofeedback sessions, or just sit and

talk with me about how to do neurofeedback. My mother is a

neuropsychologist, and she and I would like to work together doing

neurofeedback, but still have so much to learn. If you can answer my

questions, or if you are willing to work with me, please leave me a

message.

Thanks!

Michele

October 3, 2005

Yes, I am the one who called you. I think I have a virus. I think I

am using Excel 2000. If not, it is at least '98.

I would love to get a neurofeedback program going in my school.

However, I think that it would be best for me to learn as much as I

can about it before I propose it to the Board of Education.

-Michele

> Hi Michele,

>

> Are you the Michele that called me yesterday about Excel and the

> assessment? Was the early version of Excel the problem?

>

> Ideally you and your mother would attend workshops, I'm sorry you

missed

> the ones in Virginia. There will no doubt be another set in a

couple of

> months. And perhaps in New England as well.

>

> We agree with you that brain training has exciting potential for

school

> systems. Pete has done staff trainings for two Community Services

Boards

> in Virginia, and we are planning to expand this aspect of our work.

> Would you, or someone we could contact in your school system, be

> interested in exploring this?

>

> A comment on your questions:

>

> 1. We would always do an assessment before deciding what to train.

The

> inhibit/reward percentages refer to the percent of feedback. 80%

means

> you set the threshold so that the client is scoring about 80% of the

> time (if you are uptraining, then they are over the threshold 80%

of the

> time, if you are downtraining they are over the threshold 20% of the

> time). As their scoring percentage goes up, you then adjust the

> threshold to get back to 80%,so that you are coaxing them to go

farther

> in the desired direction.

>

> 2. Both the reward percentages and the session length depend on

what you

> are training and the type of client. Some kinds of training work

best

> with several short sessions, some with one longer session. Some

people

> do best with a high reward percentage, some people with a lower one.

>

> Foxx

>

> Questions from Newbie

>

> I am very new to the field of neurofeedback, and am trying to learn

> as much as I can. I am a high school special education teacher,

and

> can see a use for neurofeedback in the school I work in. To get

> started, I attended a 4-day Neurofeedback workshop with Stens, and

I

> bought a BrainMaster. I have also bought several books about

> neurofeedback, and have been reading them, as well as the various

> . However, I still have a few questions that I have

been

> a bit embarrassed to ask because they seem so basic:

>

> 1. Most of what I have read has indicated that one common type

> of training is to reward SMR, and inhibit theta and hibeta. I have

> read that many children with ADD exhibit high theta. I have read

> that you should set your inhibits at about 20% and rewards at 80%.

> My question is this: If you want to bring the theta down, how do

> often do you bring the theta threshold down? Do you set the

inhibit

> at 30% and then wait for the amplitude to go down to 20%? I don't

> understand how to go about bringing an amplitude down, or raising

one

> up.

>

> 2. I have also read that you should pause frequently - anywhere

> from every 3 minutes to every 5 minutes. Why is this, and what

would

> happen if you don't?

>

> I am also looking for someone in the NJ or eastern PA area who

would

> be willing to let me observe neurofeedback sessions, or just sit

and

> talk with me about how to do neurofeedback. My mother is a

> neuropsychologist, and she and I would like to work together doing

> neurofeedback, but still have so much to learn. If you can answer

my

> questions, or if you are willing to work with me, please leave me a

> message.

>

> Thanks!

> Michele

>

October 5, 2005

Michele,

Welcome to the field. There is a huge amount to learn, and I personally believe

that the very best way to start is with your own brain (though many NF trainers

have nothing wrong with theirs and tend to skip this step). Running an

assessment on your own brain (and maybe practicing on your Mom's as well) would

give you experience finding sites, affixing leads and running the software. And

it would give you a good starting place for your own training.

If you are using BrainMaster software, then you could set the thresholds as you

defined them, since that software sets targets based on time OVER threshold, not

time in the target range. As for HOW you train, here again working with your

own head is a good experience. You'll see that, just as you wouldn't add new

weights onto a barbell each time someone managed to lift it, so you don't need

to make targets harder to move the brain. Most of us have brains that are

overly active and tend to spike very high levels of slow (or fast) activity from

time to time. By setting the targets as you suggest, you are trying to cut off

the " outliers " . I believe that starting perhaps a little harder, like the 30%

level you suggested, and letting the client score more as he/she/you improve

during the session is a good way to train. This implies that you would not have

the targets shifting all the time. Using the BMer software, set it to reset

once at the end of a baseline.

SMR training is a good starting point for many clients, and it's an easy

starting point for many trainers, because it doesn't often do much harm and most

people like it. However, if you work with kids with learning problems or

inattentive type ADHD, it won't make much of a dent in them. That's why several

responders on the list suggested the idea of the assessment. Just as you

wouldn't want someone working on your car without evaluating what was wrong with

it, so it's a good idea to do the same with your brain--or the brain of someone

else. At very least it can save time by pointing you in the right direction; in

some cases it can save you from an unpleasant training result.

If you think of brain training in terms of physical training, it makes sense to

train a bit then take a break. Usually the more activated you are trying to

make the brain, the shorter training segment. The more you are trying to relax

or release it, the longer the segment.

Pete

>

> From: " hancai1997 " <hancai1997@...>

> Date: 2005/09/29 Thu PM 02:36:14 EDT

>

> Subject: Questions from Newbie