THE WOODLANDS – Your brain waves can be analyzed through data known as “brain mapping.”
Mapping the brain and training it to act in a different way can supposedly improve memory and other cognitive issues.
Those so-called issues, according to Sandstone Neurofeedback, includes the following difficulties in people older than five-years-old:
- Age-related cognitive decline
- Mood regulation
- Learning disabilities
- Autism
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Headaches
- Trauma
Dawn Kuhn says her two sons have dealt with mental health struggles from a young age. She was desperate to help them beyond medication alone.
“They were dark times during that journey, certainly, nobody wants to medicate their kids. My boys are adopted, they’re biological brothers, but we knew there were some pretty serious mental health issues in the biology,” Kuhn explained.
Kuhn started brain mapping for both boys several years ago and said she’s become such a huge advocate for the technique that she has since become an employee.
Here’s what was ultimately discovered about her son that helped improve their situation:
“He’s on the spectrum, we treat a ton of kids on the autism spectrum here, and he was really actually experiencing extreme social anxiety, but that made him fidgety and squirmy, which led to, ‘Oh, he must have ADHD.’ I had to pull him from school. I’d get calls that he’d be in the fetal position in the corner just bawling his eyes out. So, I homeschooled for a few years and we did neurofeedback, and now he’s back in the classroom thriving!” Kuhn explained.
Here’s how it works:
First, a sensor cap is placed on the scalp (machines capture electrical activity in the brain.)
Then a report, including color-coded maps of your brain’s activity, is generated. On that brain map, green means the healthy firing of neurons, and red means unhealthy.
Upon receiving the map, Sandstone Health Chiropractor, Agnes Kaufman, said she can re-train the red parts that appear on the brain map to fire in a more productive manner.
“When that happens, we have a good mood, good focus, good attention. We can fall asleep easy, we’re in the zone,” Kaufman said.
Training the brain simply involves clients watching TV. When the screen gets dim and quiet, the brain misfires the wrong way, and the screen gets bright and audible when it does something right. It’s a reward system for the neurons in your brain.
“Your brain likes that, it craves stimulation, it wants the bright picture, it wants the loud sound, and it learns, ‘Ah, every time I fire this way, I get what I want. I’m going to start firing this way more often,” Kaufman said.
Neurologists and psychiatrists across Texas said they are using brain mapping, alongside medical treatments, to improve results of conditions like anxiety and depression.
Kaufman said it can also be used simply to keep the mind sharp.
“Some athletes will use it for that. The London Symphony uses it to increase its peak performance. NASA uses it for that,” Kaufman said.
Kuhn believes her sons would still be struggling socially and academically if it weren’t for brain mapping.
“They really gave my kids their life back,” she said.
A full course at Sandstone is about 60 sessions and costs between $5,000 to $6,000.
Sandstone said there are payment plans and you do not pay the entire cost at once.
Some insurance or FSA/HSA plans may cover the cost of brain mapping, you’ll need to check with yours if you’re interested.