An article appearing in vol. 3 issue 2. of the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience

By Vijendra Singh and Lee Gerdes

Depression or major depressive disorder (MDD) is a very serious medical illness affecting an estimated 25 million Americans and millions more worldwide. It significantly changes an individual’s ability to function on a daily basis. Symptoms include persistently sad or irritable mood, pronounced changes in sleep, appetite, and energy, difficulty thinking, concentrating, and remembering, physical slowing or agitation, lack of interest in, or pleasure from, activities that were once enjoyed, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness, and emptiness, recurrent thoughts of death or suicide and persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain. The cause of depression is not very well understood, but the disorder has a neurobiological basis (Mayberg, 2007). We hypothesized that depressed individuals have an imbalance in the brain (Gerdes, 2008) and conducted a pilot study of brain training using brain state conditioning (BSC). We found that depressive tendencies can be suppressed by BSC. Read the rest of this entry »

By Vijendra K. SINGH, Lee GERDES

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Abstract
Brain State Conditioning™ (BSC) is an innovative technology that optimizes brainwaves in real-time to achieve balance and harmony of the human brain. Since the brain function is imbalanced in individuals with psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases, we explored the possibility of using this technology to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. We conducted a pilot study of 8 adult subjects who had symptoms of PTSD, depression and anxiety problems. The severity of symptoms was evaluated by Objective survey and Beck’s inventory for depression and anxiety. After the initial assessment of brain maps, individuals were administered with highly personalized training sessions, for example 4-5 sessions over 4-5 days. After the administration of BSC, we found a consistent decline in Beck’s inventory scores, which implied alleviation of depressive and anxiety tendencies. All subjects in the study responded to BSC technology and showed noticeable improvement in the quality of their lives. Thus we suggest that BSC is a viable approach to brainwave optimization to help people overcome health problems due to PTSD and depression. Read the rest of this entry »