Psychopathology is increasingly recognized as being largely grounded in the dysregulation of neural network dynamics. Such a mechanism should be remediable via neuromodulation techniques. Reinforcement-based neuromodulation has been actively utilized since the sixties. Such techniques have now been complemented with endogenous neuromodulation, characterized by the absence of any reinforcers.
Endogenous neuromodulation involves the direct engagement of the brain with its own dynamics in the EEG and Slow Cortical Potential domains, in the absence of extrinsic rewards or stimulation. Visual, auditory, and tactile feedback is given on the dynamics of selected frequencies that govern the organization of the spectral regime. These ‘optimal response frequencies’ (ORFs) populate the EEG range and extend deeply into the infra-low frequency region. The method has led to a broadening of the clinical reach to include more severely impaired individuals and more complex clinical presentations traceable to early developmental trauma.
Clinical evidence is promising for application to the Anxiety/Depression spectrum, PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, schizophrenia, and Dissociative Identity Disorder in psychiatry, as well as to migraine, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and stroke in neurology. Dysautonomia responds to the training, as well as Panic Disorder and Asthmatic episodes.
Endogenous Neuromodulation has largely matured at the hands of scientists/practitioners. Thus, a primary objective is to bring this method to the attention of the research community. The principle of Optimal Response Frequency, with its associated frequency rules, has implications for how cerebral regulation is organized in the frequency domain. Secondly, endogenous neuromodulation offers a solution to the conundrum of how one probes resting states of the brain without overtly interfering with them.
Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback presents us with a successful working model of how to approach functional enhancement of a complex self-organizing system: hypothesis-based trial-and-error learning. Every client serves as his or her own control, with A-B comparisons at every choice point. Progress is tracked via Ipsative Trend Analysis on state variables.
The method promises to fill an urgent unmet need in the healthcare field: the remediation of the consequences of physical and emotional trauma, early childhood developmental trauma in particular. It is also applicable to the relatively intractable clinical conditions in psychiatry. The objective here is to present a sufficiently coherent model of the method to guide hypothesis-formation going forward.
We would like to welcome papers on the following topics, but not limited to:
- Physiological mechanisms in the Slow Cortical Potential (SCP) domain;
- Formal studies and retrospective reviews of data from objective assessments;
- Retrospective reviews of collective client data for specific clinical categories;
- Methods papers dealing either with assessments or protocols;
- Theoretical models;
- Clinical papers for various application areas, to illustrate the breadth of clinical applications as well as the relative clinical utility (with respect to conventional therapies) in its various aspects: practicality, accessibility, acceptability to the clients, retention in training, integration with other methods, the relative absence of barriers to success, and retention of benefits over time.
The Topic Editor Dr. Siegfried Othmer receives his salary from a non-profit organization, the Brian Othmer Foundation, and he has no financial interest in any company with business in this topic area. The other Topic Editors declare no conflict of interest in regard to this Research Topic.
Psychopathology is increasingly recognized as being largely grounded in the dysregulation of neural network dynamics. Such a mechanism should be remediable via neuromodulation techniques. Reinforcement-based neuromodulation has been actively utilized since the sixties. Such techniques have now been complemented with endogenous neuromodulation, characterized by the absence of any reinforcers.
Endogenous neuromodulation involves the direct engagement of the brain with its own dynamics in the EEG and Slow Cortical Potential domains, in the absence of extrinsic rewards or stimulation. Visual, auditory, and tactile feedback is given on the dynamics of selected frequencies that govern the organization of the spectral regime. These ‘optimal response frequencies’ (ORFs) populate the EEG range and extend deeply into the infra-low frequency region. The method has led to a broadening of the clinical reach to include more severely impaired individuals and more complex clinical presentations traceable to early developmental trauma.
Clinical evidence is promising for application to the Anxiety/Depression spectrum, PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, schizophrenia, and Dissociative Identity Disorder in psychiatry, as well as to migraine, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and stroke in neurology. Dysautonomia responds to the training, as well as Panic Disorder and Asthmatic episodes.
Endogenous Neuromodulation has largely matured at the hands of scientists/practitioners. Thus, a primary objective is to bring this method to the attention of the research community. The principle of Optimal Response Frequency, with its associated frequency rules, has implications for how cerebral regulation is organized in the frequency domain. Secondly, endogenous neuromodulation offers a solution to the conundrum of how one probes resting states of the brain without overtly interfering with them.
Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback presents us with a successful working model of how to approach functional enhancement of a complex self-organizing system: hypothesis-based trial-and-error learning. Every client serves as his or her own control, with A-B comparisons at every choice point. Progress is tracked via Ipsative Trend Analysis on state variables.
The method promises to fill an urgent unmet need in the healthcare field: the remediation of the consequences of physical and emotional trauma, early childhood developmental trauma in particular. It is also applicable to the relatively intractable clinical conditions in psychiatry. The objective here is to present a sufficiently coherent model of the method to guide hypothesis-formation going forward.
We would like to welcome papers on the following topics, but not limited to:
- Physiological mechanisms in the Slow Cortical Potential (SCP) domain;
- Formal studies and retrospective reviews of data from objective assessments;
- Retrospective reviews of collective client data for specific clinical categories;
- Methods papers dealing either with assessments or protocols;
- Theoretical models;
- Clinical papers for various application areas, to illustrate the breadth of clinical applications as well as the relative clinical utility (with respect to conventional therapies) in its various aspects: practicality, accessibility, acceptability to the clients, retention in training, integration with other methods, the relative absence of barriers to success, and retention of benefits over time.
The Topic Editor Dr. Siegfried Othmer receives his salary from a non-profit organization, the Brian Othmer Foundation, and he has no financial interest in any company with business in this topic area. The other Topic Editors declare no conflict of interest in regard to this Research Topic.
