I'll just come out and say it: I suck at basketball. I mean, when I shoot, bricklayers run for cover. I'm lucky if the ball gets within the same zip code as that orange rim-thing it's designed to go through. My eight year old is Kobe Bryant by comparison. Basketball baffles me. On any given day, I'll be “doing well” if I hit 10% of my shots. 10% probability of success is not a good [...]
I must have been an etymologist in a past life. I actually perk up when my search engine finds: "the history and origins of words". I'm particularly fascinated with how words change and evolve over time. And since we're well into the holiday season, I absolutely must deconstruct a particular word's progression. Remember when "gifted" used to refer to someone with a talent or exceptional cognitive ability? Now it appears that word has experienced [...]
"Pay attention". It's one of those Anglo-isms I find intriguing. Intuitively, you'd think it would be "give" attention or "have" attention, right? But upon closer examination, the very idea of "paying attention" reveals something deeper about the complex inner workings of our brains. Seems to me that, when it comes to neural focus, the bottom line is literally the bottom line: you have to "pay out" neural resources to retain important information. (more…)
Autonomic brain functions are something most of us take for granted. Our brains are like complex computer servers, performing billions of functions to regulate breathing, heart rate and processing incoming information – all of it done completely unconsciously and in the background. (more…)
Susan Adams “lives and breathes” the world of recovery and has committed the better part of her life to helping addicts. A certified NeurOptimal® trainer, Susan is part-owner of TreeHouse Learning Community, an innovative facility that prepares young adults in recovery for success in higher education. NeurOptimal® caught up with Susan over the summer to talk neurofeedback and addiction. (more…)
Whoever came up with that ridiculous phrase "Tennis anyone!"?! It implies anyone can pick up a tennis racket and just enjoy playing the game. That would not describe my experience. I'm something of a jock, but I've never found tennis to be relaxing, natural or easy. My clean up hitter-infected swing more often than not sends my backhand bounding into the neighboring court instead of the one I'm supposed to be playing on. My ground strokes [...]
It all comes down to this moment. You've pushed your body to its physical limits for four long years now. You've assembled gigabytes of performance data and analyzed it ad finitum to maximize you potential. You've lived like a monk, keeping a boring routine of practice, critique, sleep; practice, critique, sleep. You don't have time for real relationships except for those that involve your chosen apparatus and your coach. Vanilla lattes? Ice cream sundaes?! Forgettaboutit; they [...]
There's nothing like summer vacation. It's a time when we break away from our breakneck-paced lives and learn to slow down and smell the petunias. Vacation is a time for new experiences, catching up with family, and for once, allowing ourselves to be a little lazy. Yes, there's nothing like "summer vacation" because the above doesn't describe anything that even remotely resembles my (or most people's) ACTUAL summer vacation. Guess what? There's a lot of [...]
The article that follows was originally titled "Non-Entrainment Neurofeedback" by NeurOptimal® trainer Trina Doerfler and was published on ndnr.com. Discussion of the brain is everywhere these days … it’s on the cover of leading news magazines; public television has a series entitled “The Brain Fitness Program”; and more than a few books are being written on how to better understand and work with this most complex and central of our systems. (more…)
Dr. Ed O’Malley will put you to sleep. Not because he’s boring, but because he is very good at what he does. Dr. O’Malley has been board certified in sleep medicine for fifteen years and an insomnia sleep researcher for the last twenty. He holds a Ph.D. in neurobiology and is one of the nation’s leading experts in sleep medicine. He is also a certified NeurOptimal® trainer. For many years now, Dr. O’Malley has seamlessly [...]
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