Displaying items by tag: retraining the brain

Wednesday, 05 June 2019 15:26

How Stress Affects The Brain

Stress, in the right context, is an incredibly helpful tool for humans. It’s helped us to survive as long as we have. Stress is basically a reaction to any demand or challenge that is presented to your brain. Your brain triggers the release of a chemical called cortisol, which sets off the fight-or-flight response in your body. For those who haven’t heard of fight-or-flight, it increases your heart rate to get your muscles the blood they need, increases your focus, and releases adrenaline in your body to give you the extra edge you need in order to deal with the stressor. Ultimately, this response can help us survive dangerous situations or perform better in situations where performance is critical. However, when you are stressed out frequently and over long periods of time, it can have negative effects on your brain. Braincode Centers has a number of locations across northern Colorado, contact us today for questions and help with stress.

Long-Term Effects Of Stress On Your Brain

Over time, having high amounts of cortisol can start retraining the brain in negative ways. The stress itself typically isn’t what’s bad for the brain, but the over-abundance of cortisol in the brain from consistent and long-term stressors are what end up causing harm. There are a plethora of adverse effects from frequent and long-term cortisol build up.

Stress Can Play A Part In Retraining The Brain.

Over time, too much cortisol makes it so that different parts of your brain actually increase or decrease in size. Chronic stress has been shown to decrease the overall size of the brain, more specifically in the prefrontal cortex. Your prefrontal cortex is responsible for functions like self-control and emotion. Having reduced self-control and emotion potentially make you more likely to develop a behavioral disorder like depression, anxiety, or other mental health care concerns.

Your amygdala is what is responsible for initiating the stress reaction from the body. The amygdala can actually increase in size with chronic stress, making you even more susceptible to stress. This nasty chain reaction can ultimately lead to you always being in fight-or-flight mode. This is not only exhausting, but can lead to higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, or other physical health concerns.

Neurofeedback is a method commonly used to treat stress, anxiety, and similar conditions. If you are in the northern Colorado area and are seeking mental health care, reach out to Braincode Centers today. We are experts in neurofeedback treatment options.

Chronic Stress Can Wreak Havoc On Your Brain

Long-term stress makes it so instead of your brain producing cells that create neurons and neural pathways, those cells are repurposed to create more myelin creating cells. Myelin is a layer that surrounds pathways in the brain to speed up communication. Initially, this might sound fine. But, when resources that normally make neurons are diverted to create another resource, this leads to fewer neurons. Fewer neurons being created helps to explain the link between stress and reduced memory and learning capabilities.

Mental health care is incredibly important to your overall well being. Make sure you are getting the right help if you or someone you know is consistently stressed. Long-term stress has well-researched and known negative effects on the brain, so don’t wait until it becomes a problem. If you are looking for mental health care in northern Colorado, schedule an appointment today.

Published in Anxiety
Wednesday, 29 May 2019 14:26

What Is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback uses EEG (Electroencephalogram) to monitor electrical activity in the brain in real time. While monitoring brain activity in patients, a variety of games and activities are used in order to help create new pathways in the brain and correct pathways that might not be functioning optimally. By retraining the brain in such a way, this corrects brain functions and neuron pathways, ideally reducing or eliminating the problematic behavior.

How Does It Work?

Neurofeedback utilizes EEG biofeedback technology to monitor the brain’s activity. The brainwaves detected produce certain electrical activity that is picked up by the EEG and the data is then analyzed. In the data analysis, the neurofeedback professional looks for irregularities in the brain wave data and uses that to guide the treatment moving forward. Treatment methods vary significantly depending on the individual’s affliction. In general terms, the treatment aims to improve brain health by creating new pathways in the brain and strengthening existing pathways. Braincode Centers has experts who use neurofeedback and other similar methods to treat patients. Braincode Centers has numerous locations across northern Colorado, schedule an appointment with us today!

Who Is Neurofeedback For?

  • People of all ages who suffer from Epilepsy
  • Children or adults who have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
  • People who have a behavioral disorder like OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) or Bipolar disorder
  • Those afflicted by Insomnia or irregular sleep patterns
  • Those who experience age-related cognitive loss
  • People who are experiencing depression
  • Children or adults who have suffered trauma
  • Those who suffer from migraines
  • People with high amounts of stress in their life
  • People of all ages who have had a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)

Neurofeedback could possibly have many other uses, however, further research is needed in order to shed more light on neurofeedback and its potential advantages. If you have questions or are interested in neurofeedback in northern Colorado, call us at (720)-378-5057.

Different Neurofeedback Techniques

There are a variety of different neurofeedback techniques that can be implemented by neurofeedback centers for retraining the brain.

QEEG Assessments

qEEG is brain monitoring using an EEG biofeedback tool that measures brain electrical activity. This test is used to pinpoint brain waves and activity that are associated with your symptoms in order to better treat the condition. qEEG requires no electrical stimulation and is completely safe. It consists of placing conductive gel and 19 sensor pads across the head area. Worst case scenario, your hair might get a little bit messed up!

Near Infrared Light Therapy

Without getting into too much detail, there are certain faculties in your brain that require light stimulation to function correctly. When properly stimulated, nitric oxide is released which helps increase the blood flow to the brain. With the appropriate amount of blood flow restored to the brain, the brain has the resources it needs to correct itself.

Alpha-StimⓇ Aid

Alpha-StimⓇ Aid is a device that provides a very low and safe amount of electric current. As a result of the electrical current, victims of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and pain all show significant and lasting improvement in their brain health.

These are some more commonly used neurofeedback techniques used to help retrain the brain and improve overall mental health. If you or a loved one live in northern Colorado and are interested in trying neurofeedback techniques for yourself, schedule an appointment at NeurOptimze today!

Published in Neurofeedback