Elixa has many products that can help people of all ages improve their ability to concentrate, learn, create, and cope. We have simple yet powerful light and sound brainwave synchronizers that act like training wheels for the mind. These devices range in price from $99 (see Sirius ) to over $400. Click here for a simple training procedure that you can do with most Light/Sound (L/S) devices.
You can also consider biofeedback/neurofeedback devices like the WaveRider which use a few connections to the scalp and your PC. The easy-to-use software tells you when you’ve reached the desired state of mind and the effects last and become second nature with time. We hope that more parents and educators will try these non-invasive approaches before resorting to drugs.
Click here to read the article “Being in Control. The Role of Biofeedback in Controlling ADD” by Jason Alster, MSc who found that using GSR (see ThoughtStream) relaxation training helped students diagnosed with ADD when he began viewing the condition as stress-related.
Consider this information from J. of Neurotherapy, 2(2):8-13, 1997. Click here to read full paper.
PMS, EEG, AND PHOTIC STIMULATION
David Noton, PhD of The Forest Institute
“The treatment of ADHD with photic stimulation has been developed extensively by Harold Russell and his associates, using frequencies of 18 Hz and 10 Hz alternating for two minute periods, with demonstrable improvements in IQ scores and behavior (Russell and Carter, 1993). Many clinicians appear to be using photic stimulation informally for ADHD and the other slow brainwave disorders, with anecdotal reports of successful treatment but with very few published results.
Treatment of Slow Brainwave Disorders with Neurofeedback
Many neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback) practitioners report successful treatment of some or all of these slow brainwave disorders. For example, the Lubar’s have for many years worked with children with ADHD, training them with beta frequency biofeedback, with excellent results (Lubar 1991 and 1989); the Othmer’s have a long history of success with beta frequency biofeedback with patients with all of the disorders in this group (Othmer 1994); and there are many other practitioners using this approach. Generally the feedback protocol involves positive reinforcement of beta frequencies and negative reinforcement of theta frequencies, though various other protocols are also used successfully.
The Brainwave Frequency Hypothesis
A reasonable explanation that is commonly proposed for the above experimental and clinical results is that the key to treating these disorders (all characterized by excessive slow brainwave activity) is to speed up the brainwave frequency. It is proposed that this can be accomplished either by training the patients to speed up their own brainwaves (beta-training neurofeedback) or by entraining the patients’ brainwaves with a photic stimulation device flashing at beta frequencies.
Photic Stimulation vs. Neurofeedback
If both neurofeedback and photic stimulation are effective in the treatment of these “slow brainwave” disorders, perhaps the best treatment may often be a combination of the two. Photic stimulation has the advantages of low cost and portability; it can be given to patients as “homework” between sessions and as pre-training for neurofeedback, to “teach” the brain the frequency that is to be trained. Neurofeedback develops the patient’s sense of self-control and also has the unique advantage of localisation, the ability to affect neuronal activity and brain blood flow specifically at a training site chosen for its relevance to the disorder, rather than just in the cortex in general. The combination of neurofeedback and photic stimulation seems particularly appropriate for ADHD, where the patient may initially have motivational difficulties with the neurofeedback training and need assistance from any other modality available.”
The system below incorporates advanced programming of pulsed lights and sounds to improve focus and attention. Click here for a simple training procedure that you can do with most Light/Sound (L/S) devices.
See the Sirius or Proteus for low-cost L/S that you can use with the whole family! Fun to use and effective within a few sessions.