| A review of the literature (Adrian & Mathews, 1934;
Berger, 1930; Cobb, 1963; Dewan, 1967; Durrup & Fessard, 1935;
Lindsley, 1960; Ludlum, 1979, 1981; Mulholland, 1969; Mulholland &
Evans, 1966; Mulholland & Peper, 1971; Mundy-Castle, 1957; Oswald,
1959; Peper, 1970, 1971) reveals that "visual attention," as
indicated by occipital beta wave activity (i.e., alpha
"blocking") is, operationally, oculomotor activity that involves
pursuit tracking, vergence, and lens adjustment (accommodative) reflexes,
which maintain the fixation of images on the central retina (foveal
centralis). The appearance of occipital alpha is directly linked to a
blurring of visual focus. I began to wonder whether blurred visual focus
could be improved by training individuals to produce occipital beta
rhythms (i.e., alpha "attenuation") in order to invoke the
operation of an underutilized oculomotor system that was essentially lying
in stasis. I also began to wonder whether the appearance of occipital
alpha preceded oculomotor insufficiencies, or whether occipital alpha
emerged from oculomotor inadequacies, a classic chicken/egg dilemma.
Using visual therapy, Ludlum (1979) worked over a 2-6 month period on
two school-age patients. Both patients had accommodative convergence and
oculomotor difficulties, and were unable to suppress occipital alpha
rhythm during visual processing. Over the training period, both children
markedly improved their reading and other academic skills and their
attention to and enjoyment of reading increased as well. The patients
Authors Bio:
One theme has run through my work for the past 40 plus years-- a desire to play a role in waking people up, raising their consciousness and empowering them.
I was the organizer founder of the Winter Brain, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology and StoryCon Meetings and president of Futurehealth, Inc., with interests in Positive Psychology as well as being involved in the field of biofeedback/neurofeedback since 1972.
see my more detailed bio, reflecting my work in biofeedback, here.
In 2003 I founded www.OpEdNews.com , where I've written over 1800 articles and have published over 100,000 other people's writings, with the goal of raising people's consciousness in political and activist ways.
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