The attached design is a protocol to downtrain coherence (13-18 Hz) while also inhibiting power from 15-30.
The sounds (or animations) only come when both high betas are below threshold, and when the coherence graph is below threshold. You can raise the hibeta thresholds using “h” and the coherence threshold using “c”. If you raise them both above the typical values on the thermos and graphs, the sounds and animation will be continuous (always on).
By using “H” you lower the hibeta threshold, causing it to inhibit sounds and animations. By using “C” you lower the coherence threshold, causing it to stop meeting its criterion, hence also inhibiting sounds and animations. If you lower both of them enough, the animation will dim out, and the sounds will disappear.
The coherence being used is the “pure” coherence for beta, which is that expected by Coben and Thatcher for standard coherence training. To get QEEG values from BMr values, you have to “square” the BMr value. So if BMr says 0.5 (50%) then the QEEG would say 0.25 (25%). If the BMr says 0.8 (80%) then the QEEG would say 0.64 (64%). This is for historical reasons, and the conversion will effectively go from one to the other. The published graph shows how our coherence matches Thatchers, which is very good.
If you set the MMP player to “modulate contrast” then the video will be very dim unless the criteria are met. By adjusting the thresholds, you can ensure a good amount of feedback. If you are using DVD’s, you also set the thresholds for suitable feedback. The DVD player also has a “minimum brightness” you can set for suitable feedback.
The movie will be visible whenever all criteria are met, so you need to ensure that the the thresholds are not too low. I suggest for
example setting the hibeta threshold so that the hibeta thermos are above threshold about 10 to 30 percent of the time. Set the coherence threshold so that it is below threshold more than 50% of the time. A total feedback rate of 50 to 80 percent would provide “enough” movie feedback to train with, and still keep the movie “interesting”.
The hibeta thresholds for both channels will move together with the “h” and “H”. If you have to adjust one of them separately, you press e.g. “1” or “2” first, and then use “h” or “H”. To go back to controlling both channels, press “0”. This is the standard way to control either or both channel thresholds. The status line on top of the training screen will give you a message about the mode you are currently in.
This design has all manual thresholds, so by watching the thermos control panel and the Event Trend graph, you can see exactly what is happening. You will need to watch the thermos and the trend graph continuously, and use the keyboard to adjust thresholds as necessary. There is no automatic thresholding in this design. If you get too much sound or animation, you need to lower one or both thresholds. If you do not get enough sound or animation, you need to raise one or both thresholds.
By adjusting the thresholds, you can “titrate” the training. If the hibeta thresholds are low, then that downtraining will be emphasized. If the coherence threshold is low, then the coherence downtraining will be emphasized.
Typically, the hibeta thresholds are a bit high, so the downtraining is “light”. That is, the hibeta are only above threshold about 5 or 10% of the time. This makes them more like “guard bands”. To really train hibeta down, lower the thresholds more.
It is our experience that you will want to watch the thresholds and rates of feedback closely. Especially with coherence training, the brain can learn quickly, and significant changes in less than 5 sessions are not unheard of.
Be very careful not to overtrain coherence. The coherence may go down with training, and overshoot in the negative direction, producing hypocoherence. The hibeta power is much less susceptible to this type of behavior. Also, you can’t really do too much
downtraining of high beta. But you can do too much downtraining of coherence, with adverse effects.
Again, be very careful not to overdo the coherence downtraining. If you train into a hypocoherent range, then there can be abreactions. Jonathan Walker and others have been known to do a second QEEG after as few as 5 sessions. Watch the coherence values, and note how much they are going down across sessions. Emphasize the monitoring of subjective and clinical changes, and re-evaluate your plans after a few sessions with this design. If you know your coherence target, that would be helpful, as you can train to reach the target, but not go any further.
