We are proud to offer neurofeedback in the Little Rock area via the NeurOptimal® dynamic braintraining system. Already used widely in the United States and the world, the Brain Change Center’s NeurOptimal® system is now serving central Arkansas. The founder of the Brain Change Center is Little Rock physician John Cheairs, MD. Dr. Cheairs has a keen interest in the new brain change science and how malfunctioning brains can be coaxed into healthy functioning through brain-training with neurofeedback systems. “People who have struggled for years with minor and major brain dysfunctions are completely changing their lives with this technology, “ says Dr. Cheairs. “And what is amazing is that it happens in a short time period in a pain-free and effortless way.”

What can the NeurOptimal® system do for me?

Some of the most common reasons people seek out NeurOptimal® brain-training are:

Wellness, academic, job, sports enhancement.

Elimination or reduction of stress, anxiety, depression, ADD, ADHD, OCD, PTSD.

Improvement of focus, attention, concentration, retention, reduction of test anxiety.

Facilitate return of veterans into home and work life.

Optimizing intelligence with improved brain function.

As part of an anti-aging program.

Enhancing creativity and awareness.

Personal and spiritual development.

Enriching partner, family and work relationships.

How does it work?

The NeurOptimal® system gathers electrical input from the brain, and the system is able to reflect this information back to the brain much like a mirror reflects your image back to you. It does not do anything active to the brain. This reflection is achieved by using a musical stream which briefly becomes interrupted when unhealthy electrical activity is detected. The brain is able to recognize the interruption in the audible recording and attempts to rid the brain of the errant or misguided electrical activity. This happens in millisecond encounters multiple times each second. It also happens in multiple parts of the brain. So, it in essence trains the brain by alerting it on anything it is doing that is not healthy. It is up to the brain to adjust and become a more healthy organ. It also is telling the brain what it is doing correctly. The brain has an inherent desire to be more organized and perfect. It just needs to learn what it is doing that is not healthy. This sensing of electrical activity/waves and the reflection back through audible music/interruptions is only achievable with the creative training software developed by Zengar.

What happens in a session?

Before you begin you will be asked to fill out a few quick forms that we will use to help you measure your progress. You will sit in a comfortable chair and simply relax. Two tiny sensors are applied to your scalp and ear clips to your ears that our connected to a laptop computer that contains the NeurOptimal® technology. These sensors do not “do” anything to you. All they do is read your brain wave signals and allow the NeurOptimal to read the delicate electrical activity of your brain, much like an EKG reads your heart, while you listen to music. You can do nothing while this occurs, rest, sleep, play with your phone, read or play a game, it doesn’t matter. You will notive very brief pauses in the music, which indicate that NeurOptimal is at work, invisibly guiding you through a complex mathematical dance during which the challenge to your brain is varied.

Despite the complexity that goes on during your short session, no effort is required from you during sessions, at all! Simply relax and enjoy the 33.5-minute session while your brain re-organizes itself.

Because everyone’s central nervous system is different, it is not possible to predict exactly how your brain will respond to the NeurOptimal® system or how quickly, but because the Zengar company has over three million hours of experience with the technology, they offer predictions. The good thing is you will know pretty quickly when it is helping you, and we have progress tracking tools to help you document your training. Just as in learning to read, it is a process, and everyone learns and responds differently.

So, the most often asked question: How many sessions will it take for me to complete my training? This depends partly upon your goals. If you are training to feel better quickly, you might decide after 10-12 sessions that you have made enough gains and stop. On the other hand, if you are looking for lasting changes, 20-30 sessions is a better estimate. The good thing is you can stop at any time and always pick it up again later if you so choose. Any training you have done in the past will always serve you well should you do more sessions in the future — no session is ever wasted. After a period of initial training many choose to do monthly sessions to give their brain a regular opportunity to defragment – just like your computer! Or, like many, you may choose to do a session when you feel it’s needed. But in the end, it is always up to you, because it is YOUR brain that is doing the training, and it knows what it needs.

The NeurOptimal® web site has a survey that you can explore, which will show you how many sessions it takes to get what percentage of improvement, for a wide variety of complaints people present with, and see statistically the amount of improvement you can expect over time, helping you to make an informed decision about number of sessions.

How long will the positive effects last?

NeurOptimal is a learning task, like learning to ride a bike or learning how to read: Once you know, you can’t not know, so the effects will remain. But your brain is also living tissue, and it can get knocked off by challenges, hormonal changes, pollutants in the environment and the stresses of our everyday lives.

When this happens, a session or two can help you get back on track. Even if you come back many years later, the brain will recognize the NeurOptimal process and is reminded of the earlier shifts. It can find its way back relatively rapidly -– much more quickly than the first time you did the training. So, if you did a fairly complete initial training (say 20-30 sessions), and then have a major challenge like an illness, the loss of a job or a relationship, or even a head injury, your brain can quickly and efficiently use the information it receives from NeurOptimal to reorganize itself and find its way back. Once you have completed your training, you will always have NeurOptimal as a resource for your brain health.

Dynamic v. Linear Neurofeedback

DIAGNOSTICALLY AGNOSTIC

Instead of targeting specific symptoms, NeurOptimal® focuses on optimizing overall brain function. This approach naturally ameliorates most complaints, whatever their source.

NON-INVASIVE

When you are training, no electricity, vibration or external signal is going into the brain. In addition, brain training with NeurOptimal® does not target specific areas of the brain nor does it push the brain in any direction by giving it goals to achieve, decided by an expert. In this way, NeurOptimal is globally effective while remarkably free of unwanted side effects.

100% NATURAL

Each brain is unique and knows the best way to correct itself for improved efficiency. NeurOptimal® simply provides the central nervous system with information about its own activity, and given the right information, the brain can naturally optimize itself.

All images used Copyright Zengar Institute Inc. Some of the content has been made available by Zengar. All rights reserved