August 17, 2011 - Article Appeared on Fox NewsRadio 550 KFYI
http://www.kfyi.com/pages/local_news.html?feed=118695&article=8980732

Brain State Technologies helped set stage for reclassification of addictive behavior.

Now that the American Society of Addiction Medicine has changed its definition of addiction to that of a brain disorder, rather than "bad behavior" which can be changed through willpower or punishment, a Scottsdale company says the reclassification is in agreement with the work it's been doing for the last ten years.

Lee Gerdes, founder and CEO of Brain State Technologies, says their research revealed years ago that scans of a person's brain show different patterns of brain activity that are indicative of different types of addictive behaviors, such as drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, etc.

"We contended over the past 6 or 7 years that addictions weren't a behavioral issue all. They were a brain functional pattern that was stuck," he told KFYI News. "You've heard people say, who were addicted, 'I don't know why I do this.' And they're telling the truth.  They don't understand it.  It's an automatic function" over which they have little or no control.

Rather than punishing the bad behavior of an addict, which Gerdes says doesn't work, he says addiction should be treated by re-programming the brain.  He says Brain State Technologies uses an EEG-based treatment called "brainwave optimization": "We put sensors on the scalp.  Those sensors feed data from the brain to a computer.  The computer analyzes the brain pattern and responds back to the client with sound" via headphones.

Gerdes says for some reason, the brain responds to the sound, which acts as a mirror image, showing the wayward parts of the brain how they should look or respond.  Then, the brain teaches itself and the addictive behavior fades.

In a 2005 study of drug addicts who were registered with the Yavapai County Probation Department, Gerdes says their success rate for the treatment was 100%.

Information about Brain State Technologies: www.brainstatetech.com