Some people wish to experience the benefits of neurofeedback by simply buying professional equipment and training themselves and their children. However, neurofeedback is not so easy to use, because it requires specialized experts regarding cerebral functions, knowledge above the equipment’s operating mode and software.

          For the training to be successful and to avoid negative effects, individual training is vital. The individual training must be performed in connection with the symptoms and the brainwave pattern, the latter being different for every person. Not everyone needs the same exercises, with the same location for the electrodes, and research has shown that personal brainwave pattern is hard to distinguish, and it requires more than just observing the behavior symptoms of a person. This is the reason why physicians will question the patient regarding his medical history (clinical history of symptoms). In many cases, patients can be asked to undergo psychological or neuropsychological testing. Some physicians do a thoroughly examination using QEEG with brain mapping using 19,21,32 electrodes, or even more.

          QEEG is an scientific and objective instrument used for the evaluation of cerebral functions, procedure that takes approximately one and a half hour.

          It consists of placing a snug cap which contains small electrodes on the head to measure the electrical patterns coming from the brain.This is done while the patient is resting quietly with his or her eyes closed, also with the eyes open or while he/she is reading.

          Afterwards, the EEG is processed, through a tedious and lengthy procedure to remove any artifacts that may have occurred during the process. The gathered brainwave data is then put into a sophisticated normative database and compared to norms for how the brain should be functioning according to the patient’s age and sex.

          This assessment procedure allows us to then determine in a highly scientific and objective manner whether and how a patient’s brainwave patterns are significantly different from normal.

          During the 1970's and 1980's there was a great deal of experimentation with QEEG. As a result, QEEG became a powerful scientific tool for treating mild traumatic brain injury, ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities, depression obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and panic attacks and a variety of other conditions including autism, schizophrenia stroke, epilepsy, and dementia Clarke, Barry, Mc Carthy, Selikowitz, 2001; Hoffman, Lubar, Thatcher, Sterman, Rosenfeld, Striefel, Trudeau, Stockdale, 1999; Hughes, John, 1999; Thatcher, Moore, John, Duffy, Hughes, Krieger, 1999).

          QEEG has even been able to predict outcomes from treating conditions such as ADD/ADHD (Suffin & Emory, 1995), alcoholism and drug abuse (Bauer, 1993, 2001; Prichep, Alper, Kowalik, Rosental, 1996; Prichep, Alper, Kowalik, John, Merkin, Tom, Rosenthal, 1996; Winterer, Kloppel, Heinz, Ziller, Dufeu, Schmidt, Herrmann, 1998).

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