| Epilepsy sufferers' live every day of their lives | | | | available back in 1973 when this took place. |
| with the fact they can at any point have a | | | | Instead he had to take heavy medication that |
| seizure. It is not "if" it is "when". They must be | | | | slowed down his bright conversational style. |
| prepared at all times to deal with the | | | | Almost 30 years later, in 2001, Dr. Barry Sterman |
| embarrassment and repercussions of this fact. | | | | looked very carefully at all of the available |
| Then when considering that it has not been very | | | | research on the use of neurofeedback in the |
| long ago that people were burned at the stake, | | | | treatment of epilepsy. The results were very |
| accused of being witches, simply because of the | | | | promising; of those treated for epilepsy- some of |
| misunderstood "firestorm" in their brain that | | | | them experiencing severe and uncontrolled |
| unpredictably caused them to lose control; | | | | seizures prior to treatment-82% improved |
| epilepsy was scary, both for those who suffered | | | | significantly. There was a considerable reduction in |
| with it and those who watched a seizure unfold in | | | | seizure activity. |
| someone else. | | | | Now, knowing full well, that the "naysayers" would |
| I remember one sunny Saturday morning when I | | | | jump on results like these, claiming everything |
| was 13 years old. I heard strange sounds coming | | | | from flawed studies to the placebo effect, one |
| from my 16 year old brother's room. I tentatively | | | | group of scientists utilized neurofeedback to do |
| opened the door to his room and saw the horrible | | | | just the opposite. They actually wanted to cause |
| site of my brother having a grand mal seizure in | | | | seizures to be more intense, and to increase in |
| his bed. | | | | frequency. Why? To show that neurofeedback |
| A few weeks later we were all playing a game of | | | | could be used to train the brain in either direction. |
| baseball in the school yard. At one point, when my | | | | The results? They were just as successful going |
| older brother was playing second base, he lay | | | | the other way-making symptoms worse-as they |
| down on the black top, had a grand mal seizure, | | | | had been in using neurofeedback to reduce |
| and then stood up as if nothing had happened. | | | | symptoms. |
| The rest of us ran over to him in an alarmed | | | | Were there still skeptics? Of course; we live in a |
| state, while asking, "Are you OK? Are you OK?" | | | | society where some people still think the moon |
| He replied, "What? What do you mean?" It seems | | | | landing was a scam, and that Neil Armstrong was |
| that he was completely unaware of what the | | | | filmed on a soundstage, and not the surface of |
| rest of us had observed. | | | | the moon. For some, the satisfaction comes from |
| I know firsthand how troubling it is when a loved | | | | not believing. Fortunately, neurofeedback is one |
| one has epilepsy. I wish that neurofeedback had | | | | treatment that does not depend on the belief or |
| been one of the therapies that my brother had | | | | expectation of the patient. |