NeurOptimal® is a non-invasive neurofeedback training system. It is the first of its kind that teaches the brain self-regulation and helps build resilience and flexibility. This technology, developed in-part by NASA-level engineers, works by triggering the orienting response, which is the brain's ability to sense change in the environment and take in new information about what is different

NeurOptimal® is designed to work with the brain as an information-detection system.  NeurOptimal® monitors your brainwaves and alerts your central nervous system when it is not functioning smoothly.   All of this learning is non-invasive and happens outside your conscious awareness. NeurOptimal® adjusts itself automatically in response to your brain’s activity, individualizing the training microsecond by microsecond to your own brain’s functioning.

The various things we do during a normal day require different levels of consciousness and awareness. Your brain needs tremendous flexibility to shift from one “mode” to another. The heightened state of awareness necessary to complete a work task is obviously not optimum for sleep. That’s why brain flexibility is so important. A mind that is more flexible adapts and responds quicker and more appropriately to changes in your environment.  The more easily your brain adjusts to changes encountered in a normal busy day, the better you feel.

NeurOptimal® can also help build brain resilience, or an increase in the central nervous system’s ability to “bounce back” from negative events.  Negative feelings associated with a personal conflict or an unpleasant event can affect mood and behavior even after the event has passed. The destructive effect of nervousness, repetitive, or self-critical thinking is magnified in more severe events such as physical or emotional trauma or the loss of a loved one. Instead of staying stuck in the negativity of these events, the resilient brain will be able to return to its normal baseline more quickly. 

The dynamical system of  NeurOptimal® is designed to optimize the health of the entire brain's functioning. It focuses on all maladaptive patterns, so you may see improvements in areas you didn't expect. Individuals with a more resilient brain report feeling happier and enjoying a more profound sense of peace.

You will take off your shoes and sit in a comfortable chair with EEG sensors on your scalp and on both ears. You will relax, read a book, play a game, or just zone out while listening to a 33-minute music session.

The EEG sensors are used to track your brain's electrical activity from the scalp, in real-time...millisecond-by-millisecond and the software interprets the signals and gives feedback 256 times per second. Your brain is given feedback about its activity in the form of auditory cues. When brain activity shows signs of turbulence, the music within the  NeurOptimal® software is momentarily interrupted. You may hear pauses or what sounds like static in the music. This subtle cue alerts your brain that it is operating inefficiently and/or mobilizing to shift brainwaves. Your brain can use these auditory cues to help it correct and reset maladaptive patterns. 

By simply giving the brain information about its own activity — about what it has just done— NeurOptimal® helps the brain re-organize itself and learn to function more smoothly and efficiently.

The music pauses have no conscious meaning  — in fact you may not even notice the interruptions. But unconsciously your brain understands the mathematics behind the timing of the pauses, which act a bit like rumble strips on the highway. The brain adjusts its activity without any effort from you, to stay “within” the rumble strip.

Similarly, imagine you are walking along a path on a cliffside in the dark. You’d probably be floundering. But then a flashlight is shone on the cliff edge. The flashlight doesn’t tell you what to do, but now you can use the extra information you have (the location of the cliff edge) to walk more certainly along your path. The brain learns from the information it is given until over time and without your conscious awareness or effort, it learns to organize itself more efficiently. Results can range from dramatic shifts to more gradual progress. Much like going to the gym or learning a new skill, practice enhances results. The more you train, the more you will find stability and emotional resiliency.

Simple and powerful -  NeurOptimal® communicates directly with your brain, and there is nothing to interfere with that. There is no outside person having to evaluate or diagnose you, and no outside person deciding what training you need. It’s your brain effectively communicating with itself and making its own changes. Your brain knows best.

A NeurOptimal® neurofeedback session is 33 minutes long - but please plan for at least 45 minutes (or longer for the first session). You will need earbuds for the auditory cues - please  use your own. 

Training with NeurOptimal® is actually a learning task. You get results because your brain is actively learning, even if it is not consciously. So, much like reading or learning to play an instrument, once your brain knows how, it can’t “not know”. Your brain doesn’t forget. It may get rusty, but the effects of learning remain throughout your lifetime.

But your brain is also living tissue, and it can get “knocked off” by challenges, by 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 point, working at your optimal efficiency.

Even if you come back many years later, the brain recognizes 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, and then have a major challenge like an illness, the loss of a job or a relationship, or even a head injury or anesthetic, your brain can quickly and efficiently use the information it receives from NeurOptimal® to reorganize itself and find its way back to efficiency. 

There are two generations of neurofeedback.  The first generation created linear or protocol-based neurofeedback where an initial brain map is required to assess brainwave functioning.  The map is then used by the expert trainer to set protocols of brainwave changes through entrain and migrate techniques to create state change.  The second generation created Dynamical™ NeurOptimal® neurofeedback.  Due to the advancements in processing speed, with Dynamical Neurofeedback™ the brain map functioning is integrated for more precise real-time feedback.  The software analyzes the largest range of brainwave frequencies, (past 60 Hz) to capture the most information.  The second advancement is that through the precise cues the brain is able to utilize its own capacity for shifting brainwave patterns for optimal performance. 

NeurOptimal® differs from other neurofeedback systems because it is the latest generation of neurofeedback that integrates changes in computer processing speed and is designed to utilize how the brain is naturally designed to improve its functioning continuously in real time.  NeurOptimal® is designed to work with the brain as an information-detection system, that is why feedback is delivered through precisely timed interruptions in music. By simply giving the brain feedback information about its own activity 256 times per second, NeurOptimal® helps support our intrinsic reorganization abilities to help bring a sense of calm and the ability to focus again. 

NeurOptimal® does not tell the brain what to do or what not to do. It does not push or pull your brain in any particular direction. The system responds to the client brain wave information and the client responds to the system feedback. NeurOptimal® trainers do not diagnose; there are no long questionnaires or clinical discussions. Because trainers do not diagnose, they do not treat specific symptoms, they train the whole brain at once.

The NeurOptimal® system uses Weaver Ten20 conductive paste. Further information about this product can be found here. If you have allergies or sensitivities, please check before scheduling.

The time for your appointment was reserved specifically for you, so if you arrive late your session may need to be shortened in order to accommodate other appointments. Every effort will be made to provide you with the services you have booked, but we cannot guarantee the full service time if you arrive late. Full payment for scheduled services is required.

24-hour notice is required to cancel or change an appointment without a fee. Late cancellations/changes will result in a $25 fee, and no-shows will be billed for the full-service amount and charged to the card on file (unless other arrangements are made).