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Twelve types of training  with the Peak Achievement Trainer Peak Achievement Trainer® Customers  Include:   *The Resilience Institute for Performance Improvement, Pricewaterhouse Coopers *David Leadbetter Golf Academy * United States  Army's Centers for Enhanced Performance * United States Olympic Training Center * U.S. Office of Personnel Management * Norwegian Olympic Training  Center * U.S. Army National Marksmanship Team * Taiwanese Olympic Team * Top Executives of a Fortune 500 Healthcare Company * A recent Super Bowl championship team * Major League Baseball star pitcher * PGA Tour Golfers * Olympic Silver Medalist Swimmer *Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach * Boston University * Canadian National Olympic Sport Center, Toronto * Ernest &Young, LLP *Australian Special Forces * LGE Performance  Systems * Penn State University * St. Lawrence University * Singapore Olympic Sports Council * Swing Solutions, Inc. * University College,  Dublin, Ireland * University of Hawaii * University of  Madrid * University of  Nebraska * University Of North Texas * University of Pittsburgh * University of Western  Sydney - Australia * Virginia Tech * Washington  University, St. Louis, Missouri * Wingate Institute of  Sports & Physical Education, Israel * Numerous other individual athletes, sport psychologists, schools, companies, therapists, and the general public     NeuroTek welcomes the IMG Academies in Bradenton, FL to the family of Peak Achievement users: David Leadbetter Golf Academy Bollettieri Tennis Academy IMG Academies Sport Psychology The Baseball Academy The Basketball Academy The Soccer Academy The Hockey Academy International Performance Institute(IPI) Brainwave Basics for Peak Achievement Training® When the Air Force designed the B-2 Bomber, they knew that it would be a highly complex airplane to fly, with many different tasks to do, despite the many automated systems. They sponsored a number of  complex studies of  the human factors involved in optimizing pilot performance, many of them performed by Dr. Barry Sterman of UCLA and the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Hospital.  In a brilliant series of studies, Dr. Sterman, who is a pioneer in EEG (brainwave) biofeedback research, measured the brainwaves of pilots and others, while evaluating their performance in tasks that simulate aspects of flying.  He discovered that various parts of the pilot's brains were constantly cycling between a processing mode and an “idling” or recharging mode, in which the brain conserved energy and refreshed its stores of  vital nutrients.  If you wish to understand his fascinating findings and the fundamentals of Peak Achievement Training®, we need to review a few fundamentals about brainwaves and the brain. I'll try to simplify this as much as I can, by making some broad generalizations.   However, if you are in a hurry or just not technically minded, you can skip ahead to the section titled Fundamentals of Peak Achievement Training®:  A Summary.  Dr.  Sterman  broke down the complex brainwave patterns he saw by analyzing how strong the output was at various frequencies.  The term frequency refers to the number of times the waveform goes up and down (cycles) per second (called Hertz, or Hz.).  You can take any waveform, no matter how complex it looks, and break it down into the amount of energy that it has at each frequency.  Figure 2 shows the frequency breakdown that the Peak Achievement Trainer®  performs on the raw brainwave shown in Figure 3.  There is a large idling rhythm at 9-10 Hz., usually called the alpha rhythm. Figures 2 & 3 Dr. Sterman divided the frequencies into chunks, so that he could look at how much energy output he could detect from 1-3 Hz., 3-5 Hz.,  5-7 Hz., and so on, by every 2 Hz.  He did not use the traditional Greek letter analysis of brainwaves, which includes delta (0-4 Hz.), theta (4-8 Hz.), alpha (8-13 Hz.) and beta (13-30 Hz.), because he thought it was too inexact.  The relationship between these Greek letters and various states of consciousness, such as sleep, daydreaming or reverie, relaxation, and concentration is now known to be very imprecise, and in some cases, misleading, so I'll only use them to designate these frequency ranges.    The Prefrontal Cortex One of the major complications here is that brainwaves and their frequencies correspond to different experiences as you look in different locations on the scalp.  For our purposes, the most important distinction is between the frontal lobe and the “back” of the brain, which includes central, parietal, temporal, and occipital locations.  Very roughly, you can think of the frontal lobe as the part of the cortex, the outer layer of the brain, forward of the lines from the front of the ears to about an inch in front  of the very top of the head.  The prefrontal lobe, which extends behind your forehead and then folds to lie on top of the roof of your mouth, is the part of the brain that is responsible for integrating various aspects of your experience and making decisions about how you act on them.  The back of the brain is primarily involved in processing specific information, such as the sensory inputs from your eyes, ears, and body.  The two systems, specific and non-specific, are each primarily connected to different parts of the  thalamus, an egg-shaped nucleus in the middle of the brain, which relays information to the cortex. The central part of the prefrontal cortex is strongly influenced by a network of nerve fibers carrying messages which help us to consciously focus on interesting and/or important experiences that are useful for survival.  These fibers contain the key neurotransmitter, dopamine. The Executive Attention Network Recent studies of the brain by researchers using powerful new technologies such as PET  and SPECT scanning and f-MRI have led to the discovery of the Executive Attention Network, the part of the brain that is most involved in directing where we focus our attention.  In other words, it choreographs the dance of  the brain, by turning on and off various parts of the brain that are necessary to direct our attention to certain aspects of our experience. According to a Scientific American Library book, Images of Mind, by Dr. Michael Posner (a cognitive psychologist) and Dr. Marcus Raichle (a PET scanner), the Executive Attention Network is located in the cleft or fissure between the two hemispheres of the brain, right below the midline of the scalp, an inch or two forward of the vertex, the very top of the head.  This part of the anterior cingulate cortex may actually be the central part of the brain's master delegator, somewhat like the executive assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of a corporation, responsible for carrying out the CEO's orders by coordinating the resources of the corporation.  The Peak Achievement Trainer® uses brainwave sensors located a little forward of this point—just below the hairline in the middle of the forehead--to detect what is happening in the central prefrontal cortex and the Executive Attention Network. When the Executive Attention Network encounters an experience that the brain judges to be unfamiliar, an experience that can't be easily categorized on the basis of prior experience, it turns on the prefrontal cortex, along with many other regions of the cortex.  As a result, we become aware or conscious of this new information.  The processing of this new information is spread widely across the cortex at first, producing a lot of high frequency messages from one part of the cortex to another.   The Cortex Idles to Save Energy However, continuing this high frequency processing indefinitely is not a very efficient way to run the brain, since it takes a tremendous amount of energy.  Even with the energy conservation measures it uses, the brain takes about 20% of the body's blood flow and metabolic energy.  Taking any more energy than it absolutely needs would be a real disadvantage to our survival.   The major energy conservation measure that is implemented by the Executive Attention Network, in collaboration with the thalamus, is to place parts of the brain that are not needed into “idle mode”.   As it sorts out the parts of the cortex that aren't necessary for a particular task, it sends them a message to slow down or turn off the energy consuming, high frequency processing.  With additional similar experiences, the Executive Attention Network forms habitual ways of information processing that save  energy by idling more and more of the cortex via these messages.  When it is in idling mode, the brain performs a number of system maintenance tasks that can improve subsequent memory and information processing.  However, there are virtually no EEG studies of the role of the midline prefrontal cortex in learning and memory. Since the rich network of dopaminergic fibers is centered there, it may behave very differently than other regions of the cortex.  The EEG Detects Idling Rhythms These messages to the cortex that put it in idling mode are low frequency (up to 15 Hz.), rhythmic brainwaves—idling rhythms--that can affect large portions of the cortex at the same time.  In fact, they are a very large portion of what we see in the visible EEG.   However, since the waveforms of many of these idling rhythms are irregular (not smooth sine waves), they have overtones, which show up on the Peak Achievement Trainer® as higher frequency (beta and above) brainwave outputs. The higher frequency brainwaves that are produced when regions of the cortex are turned on  are much harder to detect with an EEG instrument for three reasons: 1.     There are several layers of tissue that surround the brain, and then the scalp and the skin.  Higher frequency brainwaves find it much harder to go through these various layers.  2.     About 95% of the input to any cortical cell comes from other cortical cells, either locally or via longer fibers.  Since these other cells surround it on all sides and the timing of these inputs is random, the  net effect is that most of the activity is offset by other random activity, producing very little electrical voltage on the surface of the scalp.  3.     The EEG is most sensitive to currents that run in the direction of a straight line between the electrodes (ear and forehead), roughly in the direction that the idling rhythms run, from the thalamus in the center of the head outwards.    Therefore, the brainwaves that are monitored by the Peak Achievement Trainer® are primarily idling rhythms rather than indications that important information processing is going on in the cortex underneath the sensor.    The Peak Achievement Trainer® Detects the Absence of the Idling Rhythms The  Peak Achievement Trainer® is designed to detect the absence of the idling messages rather than the  high frequency activity. Although there is evidence that there are organized brainwave rhythms in the beta range, and that they may represent messages from one part of the cortex to another, my empirical finding is that when you concentrate, the brainwave sensor near the Executive Attention Network  almost always shows less output voltage at all the frequencies from 13 to 40 Hz.                        Lessons From Peak Performers: The Air Force Pilots When Dr. Sterman examined the brainwaves of  pilots doing simulated landing tasks, he found that the idling rhythms were suppressed in the parts of the brain that were being used at the time.  He was able to fine-tune his findings by looking at these brainwaves in various control conditions, in which the pilots did only part of the task.  To make a long story very short, Sterman concluded that in the back of the brain the processing of sensory inputs was associated with decreases in the idling rhythms from 11-15 Hz., while more complex thinking decreased idling rhythms from 8-12 Hz.  The harder the task was, the more that these rhythms were suppressed.  In fact, Dr. Sterman was able to pick the best 6 pilots--those who were eventually selected as B2 bomber instructors--by measuring how well they suppressed the idling rhythms in the parietal lobe.  This approach turned out to be more accurate, by itself, than all the other measures that the Air Force used in making this selection. The Concentration and Recharge Cycle Studies of pilots in the cockpit, as they actually flew their planes, showed that there was a short burst of idling rhythm between the individual tasks that they performed in the cockpit.  The better pilots needed a shorter rest period before starting to focus again.   We'll call this recharging period a microbreak. In fact, there is evidence that this kind of cycling between concentration and the microbreak is a basic way in which the brain functions.  For example,  there are studies that show that when we read, there is a brief idling rhythm in the visual cortex when we come to the end of a line and move on to the next.  Dr. Sterman performed a study which showed that these idling rhythms decrease right after a person is presented with a target to respond to, and then increase again when they finish processing their response to the stimulus.  In the back of the brain, this idling rhythm was an 8-12 Hz. (alpha) burst that increased as they became more familiar with the task.  As he looked at sites that were further forward in the brain, he saw that there was also an idling rhythm at 5 to 7 Hz. There are also good, common sense reasons to believe that the brain is set up to cycle between concentrating and taking a recharging microbreak.  Even the best of us cannot concentrate forever.  We need our breaks.  They are built in to our work and school day.   The concept that each of us has an “attention span” that increases as we mature from child to adult, and then decreases in old age is a clear reflection of this well accepted concept.  People who fail to regularly take these necessary microbreaks between tasks set themselves up for stress-related diseases because they accumulate the tension and anxiety from the continuous effort in their minds, brains, and bodies.  The most fundamental lesson of Peak Achievement Training® is that we all need to cycle continuously between concentrating and taking a recharging microbreak in order to consistently be at our best without overtaxing our brains. The Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Attention Network, New Learning, and the Cycle The prefrontal cortex is also capable of  alternating between concentration and idling.  When things are familiar to us, it can idle, and let the other parts of the brain carry out their habitual ways of processing inputs, turning on and off in well established sequences.  When they are unfamiliar, the prefrontal cortex and the Executive Attention Network get turned on.  They have the role of bringing these new experiences into conscious awareness and figuring out how to process them by activating other centers of the brain.  Dr. Sterman's research indicated that the  brainwaves of the frontal lobe, including the sites near the Executive Attention Network, also shows cycles when the individual is continually involved in detecting a series of targets. Right after a target is presented, the idling rhythm is suppressed, only to return in about half a second. After an event, the frontal cortex finishes its processing and goes into idle before the back of the brain does. The frontal lobe idling rhythm is primarily in the mid-theta range, between 5 to 7 Hz.  Japanese researchers have detected  this increased theta after doing other kinds of  tasks, and called it the “frontal midline theta rhythm”.  By using the multiple displays of the Peak Achievement Trainer® to examine the brainwaves of my students, I have been able to see their patterns as they concentrated and did a number of other things.  At first, I looked for the relationship between concentration and the decrease in 5-7 Hz. rhythms at the midline site close to the hairline.  I found that this was the clearest indicator of concentration that I had observed in my clinical experience.  The Slow Bars display permitted me to look at the voltage output at each frequency from 1 to 40 Hz., and a special feature of the program permitted me to look more clearly at the higher frequencies, which are usually so low in output that they are hard to see.  I saw clearly that as I and others concentrated, the voltage output decreased across the board, at all frequencies.  This difference is shown in Figure 4, which is taken from the same record as Figure 1.  The left side is concentration, while the right side is recharging.  Figure 4 Dr. Sterman had actually noticed the same thing, from about 5 to 15 Hz—all the frequencies that he measured—at virtually all the brainwave recording sites he tried.  Technically, this is called “event related desynchronization”.  In the frontal lobe, this suppression is followed by the return of the theta (5-7 Hz.) idling rhythm in about half a second, particularly after we see a target, rather than an unimportant control stimulus.  When people learn to suppress the idling rhythms, their attention problems clear up.  Several large studies, now being submitted for publication, show that the suppression of theta and or alpha (depending on age and recording site) is largely responsible for the success of other brainwave training protocols in treating people with attention deficit disorder.  Most all of the brainwave training protocols for treating attention deficit disorder have rewarded students for decreasing theta and/or alpha at central or frontal sites.  These decreases were much more consistently related to successful treatment than the changes in higher frequencies that were also evaluated.  Using a protocol that teaches the student to enhance beta may actually slow down training, because the feedback is less precise and more confusing than that provided by the Peak Achievement Trainer®.  It takes about ten sessions for a typical student to understand that type of brainwave biofeedback; almost everyone will understand this type of neurofeedback during the first session.  Interest or Absorption in Events Decreases Idling Rhythms It is clear that interesting or important events also cause this decrease in the  idling rhythm in the prefrontal cortex and the Executive Attention Network.  In Sterman's  study, the targets produced a larger rapid decrease in the 5-7 Hz. idling rhythm than the  control stimuli that they didn't need to respond to.  In working with my students, I have found that anytime I can entice them to become more interested in what they are doing, they generally respond by decreasing their brainwave output across the board from 1-40 Hz. Becoming absorbed in a particular experience is closely related to being interested in it.  In fact, absorption can be thought of as being a result of one-pointed focus on the experience—a focus so intense that other inputs, ideas, or conversations with others or yourself are ignored.  In working with students, I find that it is this type of  single pointed focus and interest that is most successful in inhibiting the idling rhythms. Fundamentals of Peak Achievement Training®:  A Summary 1.      The Peak Achievement Trainer® responds to single pointed focus, interest, and/or absorption in any experience by changing its visual displays and the sounds that it produces.  It detects when your prefrontal cortex and Executive Attention Network is not producing idling rhythms.  2.      You will learn to use these signals to enhance your ability to cycle between concentration and brief periods of recharging or idling, called microbreaks.  We all need to cycle continuously in order to be at our best consistently without overtaxing our brains. 3.      By strengthening your ability to concentrate, to recharge, and to easily and flexibly switch between them, Peak Achievement Training® will enhance your functioning, decrease your stress, and improve your mental and physical well being.  4.      Many of your important activities have built-in cycles of concentration and microbreaks; by understanding these cycles and strengthening your abilities, you will learn to do them more effectively.               Golf experts David Leadbetter and Robert Winters write about the Peak Achievement Trainer Peak Performance Center at a Fortune 500 Company doubled their executives' focus time & realized outstanding benefits Study shows the benefits of Peak Achievement Training and stress management for new learning New controlled study shows that neurofeedback helps children pay attention. Dr. Wes Sime's work with the Peak Achievement Trainer was covered in Reader's Digest. The New York Times Magazine included the Peak Achievement Trainer in a special issue on new technology that will change our lives in the next decade.  Read about why they called it "The Coach Who Will Put You in the Zone.  The Peak Achievement Trainer is based on US Air Force and NASA Research Brainwave Basics for Peak Achievement Training FoxNews article on  Peak Achievement  Trainer  All Articles Click Here