I get the infrared sensor that's measuring oxygen levels/blood in my PFC, but what I'm confused about is how is this increased over time, especially by me just sitting and staring at the screen?
I'm curious how this works and do think the science is accurate, but I'm also partly confused and thinking I'm doing it wrong/I should be trying to focus in a particular way.
Can someone help me understand exactly how using this device improve blood levels in the PFC, and also apparently mood, focus, etc.?
Thanks
Yes, that was very helpful. Thank you!
Hey Jeff, The device itself isn't doing anything (unless you believe in the photobiomodulation stuff - which I find questionable still). It's simply a passive blood flow monitor shaped in such a way that it allows light to bounce through your skull off the surface of your brain using a standard FNIRS imaging method - pared down for simple biofeedback exercise. So what's increasing your brain blood flow is you breathing, attempting to relax and concentrate while doing that breathing, and generally learning about what stressors or habits might inhibit that blood flow (e.g. bad diet and exercise habits, bad memories, stress triggers, etc) by paying attention to what comes up in your head while training. There's no magic here, it's essentially a self-guided psychotherapy tool with a form of basic physical therapy built in, but the biofeedback sensor allows you to see more about your brain than we are otherwise normally aware of, which can be a powerful too for a lot of people who need it. I've read recently that controlled breathing actually stimulates and syncs with your ACC too (the interior part of your frontal lobe) as it is responsible for that ability, so there might be a lot more to this as a physical therapy as well. It works wonders for kids with ADHD or autism due to some frontal lobe connection issues that they may have no other way to learn about and intervene on without a lot of drugs or whatever else that might not be the best solution. I'm not a doctor so I can't make claims, but I have plenty of papers backing this all up. You can find a list on the bottom of my About page, or read through this list here (which has about the sum total of readable HEG papers online): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mcUPSvMoxkBY10rmIFosigmE50tqagXhEwvrpgFjcEQ/edit?usp=sharing So here's how I suggest you focus during a session, settle into a nice deep breathing rhythm (no straining, no becoming light-headed from hyperventilating) and simply sit back and pay attention to the times when the ratio begins to drop. A consistent good breathing pattern will ensure your blood oxygen ratio increases, so if anything comes up in your head or your body and causes a noticeable dip in that score you will be able to make a connection. Basically when you notice these things you are able to internalize them better and process them better over time, and with more resilience to stress. Hope that answers some questions, again there's no magic here but that's a good thing, this has some serious potential in intervention and prevention work as well as in general mental health education.