Our Head On! Program Case Study
Updated: Dec 10, 2020
Our Head-On program is already helping people to improve their lives. Indeed,
marked improvement can be observed in as little as 2-3 months, as evidenced in a
recent case:
A 74-year-old female came to us with memory problems. At our initial evaluation,
she mentioned having problems remembering past events (i.e., episodic memory)
and getting lost while driving to familiar places.
To better understand the status of her memory and ability to process information
(i.e., cognition), we asked her to come in for a battery of neuropsychological tests.
The results of these tests revealed a number of memory problems, including
deficient verbal processing for recall of academic information, item naming,
sentence repetition, and visual reproduction. They also indicated poor motor
control.
The brain is extremely complex, so while certain regions of the brain are commonly
associated with given functions, often a given symptom could result from deficient
processing of a number of possible suspect locations or networks. As such, we
believe that the most efficient way to treat a patient is to investigate what is
happening in their brain specifically. This allows us to tailor the treatment to each
individual’s unique brain function. To do so, we ask them to come for a quantitative
EEG, which was analyzed with the most complex algorithms available. The patient’s
data is then compared to an age matched database. This comparison tells us how
the patient’s data differs and, as such, provides additional information to assist in
the development of a treatment protocol for neurofeedback.
For the patient in question, her qEEG brain mapping highlighted a number of
regions of concern, including areas associated with mental flexibility, memory,
symbolic recognition, language processing, self-awareness, visuo-spatial
processing, and coordinated motor programing. These findings nicely tie together
the patient’s reported symptoms and test-indicated deficiencies. For example,
testing indicated poor motor control and the brain mapping indicated deficient
motor coordination. In addition, the patient’s reports of getting lost while driving
could be linked with poor visuo-spatial processing, which was indicated in the
neuropsychological testing and in the brain mapping. Taken together, the evidence
indicated declines in learning and memory that were suggestive of Alzheimer’s
disease.
It was determined that the patient was an excellent candidate for our Head-On
program. As such, she started on a regime of neurofeedback, Vielight photobiomodulation, and our anti-inflammatory nutrition program. At her 3 month follow-up, she completed another qEEG and another round of neuropsychological testing to track her progress. The psychological tests indicated marked improvement in cognitive tests of information recall, item naming, and visual reproduction as well as improvements in motor tasks.
Cognitive Changes
The test-indicated improvements were also reflected in changes in brain
functioning. Images (below) in the upper row are from the patient’s initial qEEG.
Images below that are from her follow-up qEEG 3 months later. The warm colors of
yellows, oranges, and reds indicate excesses of brain wave activity. As you can see
in the upper row, there was global excess of theta band frequencies (4-8 Hz).
sLoreta function for relative power indicated that the source of this excess was over
Brodmann area 40 in the inferior parietal lobe. This region plays a role in spatial
knowledge, visuospatial information processing, and complex motor activity. As you
can see in the images below those, these excesses were greatly reduced in the
follow-up qEEG.
QEEG Power Changes
Connectivity Changes
Participation in this program and comparing pre and post EEG measurements showed an improvement in connectivity overall of approximately 25% and improvement in long-range connectivity of about 20%. This is critical as brain regions showing enhanced processing speed and connectivity will often result in improvement in cognition, memory and other functions.
Our Head-On! Program that incorporates optimal nutrition, photobiomodulation and connectivity based neurofeedback can be employed for concussion, head injury survivors, individuals with cognitive and memory disturbances and different forms of dementia. If this is a service you would like to receive please contact us at Integrated Neuropsychological Services. We are also happy to help other clinicians place this in their own clinics and help their own patients. you may contact us at Integrative Neuroscience Services for more information.
Find out more about our Head-On! Program here: https://www.integratebrainhealth.com/head-on-program
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