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Rob is the organizer founder of the Winter Brain, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology and StoryCon Meetings. He is president of Futurehealth, Inc., Publisher of www.OpEdNews.com and has interests in Positive Psychology as well as being involved in the field of biofeedback/neurofeedback since 1972.
see my more detailed bio, here.
Monday, April 25, 2011 The Power of Feedback
Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement... Its power is frequently mentioned in articles about learning and teaching, but surprisingly
few recent studies have systematically investigated its meaning. This article
provides a conceptual analysis offeedback and reviews the evidence related
to its impact on learning and achievement. This evidence shows that although
feedback is among the major influences, the type offeedback and the way it
is given can be differentially effective. A model offeedback is then proposed
that identifies the particular properties and circumstances that make it effective, and some typically thorny issues are discussed, including the timing of feedback and the effects of positive and negative feedback. Finally, this analysis is used to suggest ways in which feedback can be used...
Friday, October 1, 2010 Stress card as seen on Dr. Oz Show
Easy to read Stress Check Magic Word super biosquares with words which "light up" depending on the temperature with 4 different ranges and 1.25 degree Fahrenheit resolution. They read calm (90-95) normal (85-90) tense (80-85,) stressed (75-80).
30-mil plastic white card with metallic foil/ink in either blue, red, green, silver or gold.
Monday, June 7, 2010 Under pressure: What big games do to players and how they cope - Ball Don't Lie
Bruno Demichelis, has made headway into the use of psychophysiology, biofeedback & neurofeedback in professional sports. Through his company MindRoom Sports Science Inc., Demichelis has had major success in Europe, working first with Italian soccer powerhouse A.C. Milan before bringing his methods to the English Premier League as the director of sport science for Chelsea F.C.
Thus far, no North American sports franchise has
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 17 Years Later, Stage 4 Survivor Is Savoring a Life Well Lived
Doctors told Katherine Russell Rich 17 years ago that because of her Stage 4 breast cancer, she had a year or two left to live. Today, she’s still proving them wrong. Ends up, 2-3% of stage four cancer patients live for years longer than predicted. Often Hormonal, estrogen related therapy is involved.
Thursday, April 22, 2010 $229 Biofeedback Computer Biofeedback System CAB2
A complete biofeedback EMG and Thermal computer system including the computer. All you need to add is the monitor. These are sturdy, reliable, used workhorses with color graphics, smart thresholding, audio feedback, session stats and more
Monday, April 5, 2010 Moral judgments can be altered: Neuroscientists influence people's moral judgments by disrupting specific brain region
Previous studies have shown that a brain region known as the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is highly active when we think about other people's intentions, thoughts and beliefs. In the new study, the researchers disrupted activity in the right TPJ by inducing a current in the brain using a magnetic field applied to the scalp. They found that the subjects' ability to make moral judgments that require an understanding
Thursday, March 18, 2010 Bioethical Devils and Neuroscientific Details; Video
In the late 1990s, treatments like Prozac and research on the human genome project appeared to usher in a new human reality with associated bioethical dilemmas. Are bioethicists as likely to be co-opted into the marketing of the new neuroscience and its treatments as they were into the marketing of the SSRIs?
Contrasting current neuroimaging with quantitative electroencephalography, recent deep brain stimulation treatments...
Thursday, March 11, 2010 Music and lyrics: How the brain splits songs
Are music and lyrics processed by different parts of the brain?
Subjects listened to either same tune, with different lyrics or same lyrics, different tune. fMRI determined that:– the superior temporal sulcus (STS) – was responding to the songs. In the middle of the STS, the lyrics and tune were being processed as a single signal. But in the anterior STS, only the lyrics seemed to be processed.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 OpEdNews - Article: What do I ask or say to about two dozen Democratic US Senators?
Tomorrow, I'll be attending an invitation only progressive media summit meeting where I'll have face time with a few dozen US senators, many of whom I've met before and know me. Any suggestions for what I should say to them or ask them?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Researchers turn to neurofeedback to clear the fog of chemo brain | cleveland.com
Jean Alvarez is doing a study, at the Cleveland Clinic, on the effectiveness of neurofeedback with "chemo-brain." "I did very well with treatment," said Alvarez, a 10-year breast cancer survivor. "But I never felt like I got my brain back."
The symptoms she described -- gaps in memory, low-level depression, fatigue -- are typical of those who complain about having chemo brain.
"My mind was working much more slowly,"
Thursday, March 4, 2010 Brain music: Turn on, tune in, feel better
To make brain music, a doctor records the electrical activity in a person's brain with EEG equipment. An EEG, in essence, represents the brain's main musical score, and its rhythm and tempo deviate from this depending on a person's waking state, mood and other factors. A complex computer algorithm then translates the recorded EEG patterns into a music CD with two tracks: one for relaxation and one for stimulation
Thursday, March 4, 2010 Depression's Upside
Is there an evolutionary purpose to feeling really sad?
Friday, February 19, 2010 Ski Gold Medal Winner Bilodeau's sports psychologist shares some advice, Including Biofeedback
"...if the heart is beating too fast or an athlete is sweating from feeling anxious, they must use biofeedback or other things they've been taught to regulate or self-manage themselves."
"They also can't control the officiating, the delays or their opponent's performances. They have the choice to be either a thermometer or a thermostat. They must use self regulation to control their breathing and their thoughts."
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Encountering and Embracing Beauty
A man played a violin in the subway for an hour. Seven people stopped to listen. 27 gave him money. Days before he played to a sold out crowd at a Boston Theatre, with tickets averaging $100. What does this teach us? (image from flickr of moscow metro, not US.)
Monday, February 15, 2010 Olympic Gold Winner Says Neurofeedback Helped
Alexandre Bilodeau won the Men's Mogul event in Vancouver with the help of neurofeedback.
Biofeedback, simplified, is learning yourself," Bilodeau says. "How you can put yourself into a state where you can perform the max."
"The hardest thing for an athlete in any sport is to stay in the right now," he explained.
Bioneurofeedback taught Bilodeau how to relax between runs. His trainer was psychiatrist Dr. Penny Werthner
Monday, February 1, 2010 Obituary Pernell Roberts Starred as Adam in Bonanza and Trapper John MD
Roberts, who starred as Adam in the TV show Bonanza, passed at age 81, from pancreatic cancer on January 24. He was the husband of longtime biofeedback educator Eleanor Criswell of Sonoma State University
Further obituary info here
Friday, December 11, 2009 Psychotherapy Via Skype, texting and On-line therapies
Depressed patients got better WITH texting.
..."It's harder to detect nuances, and distractions can be a problem, but all these are problems that are solvable. The most serious problem is that it is definitely easier to control things inside the therapy room. Part of what happens with online therapy is that the therapist loses some of his or her control.
Thursday, November 12, 2009 Watching The Body's Metabolism Using Ultra Low Field MRI
One of the many astounding things that magnetic resonance imaging can do is track the changing presence of carbon-13 in the body. That's important because it shows the body's metabolism in action so researchers can see how diseases such as cancer and diabetes change the way it functions.
Researchers have come up with a new, better way to this imaging.
Monday, November 2, 2009 Processed food link to depression: research
A diet heavy in processed and fatty foods increases the risk of depression, according to a new study.
Researchers found that a diet including plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit and fish could help prevent the onset of depression.
Taking into account other indicators of a healthy lifestyle such as not smoking and taking physical exercise, those who ate the whole foods had a 26 percent lower risk of depression than those...
Saturday, October 31, 2009 No Pain, No Gain: Mastering A Skill Makes Us Stressed In The Moment, Happy Long Term
No pain, no gain applies to happiness, too, according to new research published online in the Journal of Happiness Studies. People who work hard at improving a skill or ability, such as mastering a math problem or learning to drive, may experience stress in the moment, but experience greater happiness on a daily basis and longer term, the study suggests.
Thursday, October 8, 2009 Brain Waves Surge Moments Before Death, May Explain Near Death EXperiences
study of seven terminally ill patients found identical surges in brain activity moments before death, providing what may be physiological evidence of "out of body" experiences reported by people who survive near-death ordeals.
...doctors theorize that the brain surges may be tied to widely reported near-death experiences which typically involve spiritual or religious attributes.
Friday, October 2, 2009 A Top Best-seller: Foundations of Neurofeedback DVD Course
Start learning EEG biofeedback at home. See the different approaches from 15 different leading trainers, then decide whose approach you like the best. Train your staff at no extra cost.
Friday, January 2, 2009 Get some sleep, warm up your hands
"The best predictor of whether someone is going to fall asleep or not is an increase in their hand and foot temperature relative to their core,"
In a recent study, insomniacs learned to change their hand temperature through biofeedback.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 Healthcare Costs Prevented Nearly 40 Million Americans From Filling Their Prescriptions in 2008
Nearly 40 million U.S. adults decided not to fill a prescription medication from a doctor in the past year because of the cost, according to pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research's Cybercitizen Health(TM) v8.0 consumer study and strategic advisory service. The study found that women and patients with neurological and mental health conditions were the most likely to give up their meds
Sunday, December 21, 2008 A Blog Around The Clock : The Shock Value of Science Blogs
he form and format of a scientific paper has evolved towards a very precise and very universal state that makes scientist-to-scientist communication flawless. But that is strictly technical communication between scientists in the same research field. How about communication between scientists in far-away fields, between scientists and lay audience, or among the educated lay-people?
Monday, December 8, 2008 Brains of poor and rich kids vary
dramatic difference in the response of the prefrontal cortex in those from low socioeconomic environments that was similar, the researchers said, to the response of people who have had a portion of their frontal lobe destroyed by a stroke.
Monday, November 17, 2008 Divorce rates higher when child has ADHD
esearchers found that couples with a child with ADHD were almost twice as likely to divorce before their child turned 8 years old. After that age, however, divorce rates were similar in both groups of parents.
Friday, November 14, 2008 Marilyn Ferguson, 70, dies; writer's 'The Aquarian Conspiracy' was pivotal in New Age movement
In 1975, Ferguson turned an interest in human potential into an influential monthly newsletter, Brain/Mind Bulletin, which reported on new discoveries in neuroscience and psychology. That work led her to discern that a massive "cultural realignment" was occurring, a conspiracy in the root sense of disparate forces all breathing together to produce personal and social change.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 Open Source Apps in Your Brain
there are a few biofeedback apps for Linux users who want to explore the concept.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 Portuguese Facility Offering Golf Biofeedback Opens
the biomechanical '3D Golf Biodynamics' system, the most advanced in the world for biomechanical analysis and biofeedback golf training. The computer captures body movements in real time, by means of a 3D model. The objective is not only to improve the individual swing of the golfer but also to make it efficient, preventing possible injuries.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 Neurofeedback may decrease autism symptoms: study
Following a determination of an autistic child's connectivity problems, researchers performed neurofeedback experiments. They attached electrodes at various sites to redirect electrical signals in the brain. This treatment led to a 40 per cent decrease in autistic symptoms, an improvement in neuropsychological functions and a reduction in hyperconnectivity.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 Adolescent migraines
The Diamond Headache Clinic uses a non-drug therapy technique for children and adolescents. The method teaches patients to control bodily
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 Post Stroke Hand Mentor Rehab Device Tested
The Hand Mentor simulates natural motion of the hand that has been lost due to stroke or other neurological damage. It actively involves the patient in their rehabilitation by encouraging self-initiated motion in the wrist and fingers, assisting movement only when necessary,
