The enemy within
When someone suffers a Traumatic Brain Injury, the attack on the brain comes from outside the skull. With stroke, the assault comes from within. A blood vessel suddenly bursts or leaks and blood rapidly overfills the brain's cavity. Competing with the Jello®-like brain for space, pressure from the escaping blood rapidly builds up and vital brain cells are damaged and some even destroyed.
The brain waves of Stroke
Neurologists have been using the Electroencephalogram (EEG, or brain wave analysis) to evaluate the damage caused by a stroke since the 1950s. However, the popular test was only useful in helping define damage and pathology. A couple of decades ago, things changed. The EEG took on a new face with exciting potential, one that would bring advanced therapy for the damaged and dysfunctional brain. “Functional Neurology” was born.
Two big breakthroughs allowed the dramatic shift: The commercial availability of the Quantitative EEG (QEEG or computerized EEG analysis), which, in turn, led to computer based Neurofeedback (brain wave training). With the QEEG, the brain’s functional characteristics can be measured and calculated, adding a new dimension to understanding the effects stroke and other neurological processes had on the brain’s ability to do its job; Neurofeedback allowed the dysfunctional performance characteristics of the brain to be remediated, and, regardless of the condition, function to be optimized.
Defining the damages; optimizing the resources
The precise analysis capabilities of the Quantitative EEG permitted researchers to develop a Normative Reference Database, a computer library of the brain waves of “normal” subjects. With these new tools, the performance characteristics of anyone’s brain can be compared to those with no known physical, mental, or neurological issues. Reports and comparisons include:
- Topograms (Brain maps) graphically show damaged and dysfunctional brain areas;
- Coherence evaluates the efficiency of the brain's communication networks, revealing performance areas that are over or under connected;
- Phase answers the question of whether information transfer is too fast or slow for optimal performance.
