Posted by Johnturner77 on June 19, 2000, at 14:14:51
In reply to Re: ADHD and too much Theta, posted by Dwight on June 18, 2000, at 17:11:30
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> Thanks for responding John. At least someone read this post.
> >
> >
> > I never played around much with beta, having only recently become aware of its possible benefits in ADD.
>>In my own case, reading is about the only time I produce significant Theta in the waking state. Experientially, it is accompanied by a loss of attention with dream like imagery that is on the edge(or below) of awareness.
>>It is uncontrolled and "off topic" therefore not particularly useful to what I happen to be studying at the time.
>>Suppressing it, IMHO, may make my already poor recall of imagery and dreams worse, though reading and short term memory might improve.
>>As measured by EGR, my level of arousal is relatively low if higher that average skin resistance is any indicator.
> >I dug out my old EEG biofeedback machine and played around a bit. It is really rather crude, but still intriguing. I suspect that the calibration is off. It says I really have rather high amplitude Alpha(70+ microvolts) measured between Parietal and occipital points with eyes closed and nearly as much with eyes open. I produce essentially no delta and theta in the waking state except when I read(I suppose there is some at other times, I just don't have the monitor on :>) ) In the Beta range(16-20) quite a bit in the 25-40 microvolts range. According to this I shouldn't have any ADD and wouldn't benefit from beta training. I decided to switch the electrode to the forehead. Initially the output was rather flat. I could with a little "effort" produce some alpha. I switched the filters to the Beta band and found relatively little activity until I started thinking about planning what I should do today and what my priorities were. At this point, I had almost continuous Beta. Hmmm...!
I remember reading awhile back in Dr Daniel Amen's book about brain scans that ADDers tend to suppress activity in the frontal lobes when they concentrate. This implies that focus for them is disconnected from reward, planning, and orientation in time and space. Naturally, distraction intrudes and whatever stimulus is more powerful wins out. Training to stimulate Beta addresses the symptom of poor focus without dealing with the reasons why. There must be a balance between willpower and want power.
BTW, I have wondered for some time if different neurotransmitters are related to certain natural frequencies. If this is the case a frequency analysis of brain waves might provide diagnostic info about medication needs. I suspect that Serotonin is connected to the alpha frequency band. Mostly just a wild guess...If this is the case, SSRI's aren't too helpful for me( I easily produce high amplitude Alpha), which is in fact the case. I don't have enough equipment available to make a useful analysis, but I wonder if serotonin enhancers might cause even more alpha waves from my brain. Adrenergic activity is connected to beta(another very wild guess) While I haven't tried any meds that specifically helped this I suspect that they wouldn't benefit me either. I simply don't know but I wonder if Dopamine is connected to Theta. If this is the case the excess of Theta in ADDers is in a context of low arousal and low amplitude.
What thinkest thou?
poster:Johnturner77
thread:37497
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000619/msgs/37817.html