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LENS – Low Energy Neurofeedback System
LENS is a new form of EEG driven
biofeedback which provides stimulation to cortical neurons via an extremely low
power electromagnetic field which is correlated to the dominant frequency. This
is the frequency that, at that site, at that moment, has an amplitude higher
than any other frequency.
(For an explanation of EEG please see the qEEG and neurofeedback articles).
It is suitable to application for
assistance in a large range of disorders.
The system was developed by Len
Ochs Phd, of Ochs Labs in
LENS neurofeedback uses a
feedback frequency that is different from, but correlates with, the dominant
brainwave frequency. When exposed to this feedback frequency, the EEG amplitude
distribution changes in power resulting in a changed brainwave state, and a much
greater ability for the brain to regulate itself.
The feedback travels down the
same wires carrying the brain waves to the amplifier and computer. Although the
feedback signal is weak, it produces a measurable change in the brainwaves without conscious effort from the individual
receiving the feedback. The LENS software allows the EEG signals that are
recorded at the scalp to control the feedback.
Most
(Except for the fatigue syndromes) of the clients we see have high amplitude,
low frequency EEGs.
That is,
most of the high amplitudes are found at the Delta-Theta-Alpha end of the EEG
spectrum.
Lower
amplitude EEGs are more characteristic of people who function well.
In fact,
most of the measured EEG comes from sub-cortical sites; i.e. most of the EEG is not produced from the
cortex.
EEG is
measurable primarily because the cortex is not inhibiting properly. When it is not functioning properly, it is
said to be permeable to subcortical activity.
When the
cortex is inhibiting properly, we see higher functioning. Cortical permeability
can be decreased by stimulating the cortex (via the LENS feedback) with such
minute stimulation that the neurochemical defenses are not evoked again.
The
cortex is the last organ to develop through evolution, and the last to develop
in any one person’s lifetime. This is
why we see higher functioning when it inhibits properly.
The
measured EEG represents the activity of the topmost layer, which may either be
pathology and/or a filtered view of the EEG through layers of different kinds
of suppression.
Neurofeedback
can remove the suppressive influences of inner or external medications, leading
to increased EEG activity, usually accompanied by better functioning.
Because
the stimulation is offset from the dominant frequency by the degree empirically
chosen, this feedback tends to lower the amplitude of the EEG.
In other
words, the Offset, which appears to have somewhat of an anticonvulsant effect
due to stabilisation of the cortex, is also
responsible for lowering the EEG amplitudes of EEG slowing.
- The Feedback
signal is an electromagnetic field.
- It is not a voltage.
- No electricity goes into the client.
The power of a
mobile phone is 200x10-3 Watts/cm-2
, or .2 Watts/cm-2.
In
contrast, the strength of the
electromagnetic field of the Feedback signal generated by LENS is 1-18
Watts/cm2 or .0000000000000000001 Watts /cm2
The electromagnetic frequencies
are generated by a crystal clock at a fundamental frequency of 11 MHz. They are square waves that
generate evoked potentials
at their leading and trailing edges, i.e., when they
turn on and turn off. Harmonics of the fundamental
frequency are generated up into the 150 MHz range. It’s rather like a very high frequency smooth
noise.
The feedback signal is imposed
upon the radio frequency field by pulse width modulation – just the way FM
radio signals are generated in what we listen to on the radio.
These feedback signals, then, travel down the EEG wires to the head, and permeate the neurological tissues much more uniformly.
Links:-
Ochs Labs Developer of the FLEXYX and LENS systems of EEG driven biofeedback.
In neurophysiology, an evoked potential (or "evoked response") is an electrical potential recorded from a human or animal following presentation of a stimulus