Biofeedback to build brain function

For millennia, practitioners of yoga and meditation in the East have known of the link between body and mind. But Western culture took a different tack after the French philosopher René Descartes proclaimed that the mind and body are separate and discrete.

Since the 19th century, scientists have tried to debunk that view, showing through experiments that the mind and body are connected and that the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind.

This is the cardinal principle of biofeedback, a method of treating a host of ailments that relies on the conscious or voluntary mind responding to stimuli that influence seemingly unconscious functions, such as heart rate and brain waves.

At the root of the method is operant conditioning, which is a fancy way of saying this:

"We're all wired to repeat behavior that is rewarded and to inhibit behavior that is not rewarded," says Marvin Berman.

Berman is a psychotherapist who earned his doctorate in psycho-educational processes at Temple University. He was certified as a bioenergetic therapist at the Philadelphia Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis and has received extensive training in neuropsychology, the Feldenkrais Method, electroencephalography (EEG), and peripheral biofeedback.

In 2000, Berman founded the nonprofit Quietmind Foundation to provide clinical services through biofeedback, to conduct research into new techniques to make biofeedback more effective, and to develop drug-free, noninvasive treatments for brain disorders that affect thinking, behavior, and movement.

The other day, I visited Berman, who is president of the foundation, in Plymouth Meeting. He gave me a quick demonstration of the mind-body connection by showing how the power of suggestion affects the body. He asked me to hold out my left arm straight and parallel to the ground. Then he asked me to say "Yes." When I did so, he was unable to push my arm down. Then he asked me to say "No." When I did, he was able to push my arm down to my side with ease.

If I were a typical patient, he would first interview me about my medical history, including psychological problems. Then, with an electrode cap on my head, he would make a "brain map" that would show my brain activity. He would compare this with normal brain maps for men my age and handedness. This would show areas of my brain that need to be improved.

The goal, he said, is to optimize brain function by training it to achieve a state of relaxed attention in relation to a goal or task.

"What we're doing is rewarding you for producing the pattern of brain activity that is closest to the norm," Berman said. This can be accomplished through both visual and auditory cues. Patients can choose personal sessions with Berman in his office or use a device connected to their home computers that Berman monitors through the Internet. You can watch a movie or listen to a CD. If your brain is performing well, you'll see the movie at full brightness or hear the CD at full volume. If the brain begins to lose focus, the screen will dim by 50 percent, and the sound will drop by the same amount.

Some people see improvement in three to five sessions. For most, it takes longer, and some continue biofeedback indefinitely. "It's like going to the gym," Berman says. "If you work out three times a week, you'll see results faster than if you go only once a week."

Berman added: "If you can improve the central nervous system significantly in terms of efficiency, stability, and resilience, everything else is going to improve, too." Two review articles found that biofeedback is effective for ADHD. Berman says he has seen the treatment help people with anxiety, depression, addictions, and other conditions.

While it seemed obvious that calming the brain and body could decrease anxiety, I was interested in why and how it affects depression. When you're anxious, Berman said, your body goes into fight/flight mode. Not only is your bloodstream flooded with inflammatory stress hormones, but your muscles constrict and your breathing becomes quick and shallow. This affects the spread of blood and oxygen through all the body's organs, including the brain, which depends on oxygen for food and fuel.

"The less oxygen, the less well the brain functions," Berman said, "and this can only aggravate the state of mind of those suffering from depression."

For more information, see www.quietmindfdn.org or call 610-940-0488.