This paper offers an opportunity to the neurotherapy community to build the bridge between functional MRI and QEEG analysis especially with the availability of swLORETA and DTI analytics. The findings from this study suggest that trauma decreases the robustness of internetwork communications, thereby lending support to what I've suggested regarding the CNS's response to trauma involving a 'regression' shift to a more primitive (lower glucose demand) organizational algorithm that predates the development of bilateral connectivity through the corpus collosum. These data would be helpful in organizing a treatment model to support the renormalization of internetwork connectivity and a corresponding reduction in dissociation which is a primitive (primary process) object-relational mechanism for discriminating similarities and differences.

AbstractObjective:Dissociative experiences commonly occur in response to trauma, and while their presence strongly affects treatment approaches in posttraumatic spectrum disorders, their etiology remains poorly understood and their phenomenology incompletely characterized. Methods to reliably assess the severity of dissociation symptoms, without relying solely on self-report, would have tremendous clinical utility. Brain-based measures have the potential to augment symptom reports, although it remains unclear whether brain-based measures of dissociation are sufficiently sensitive and robust to enable individual-level estimation of dissociation severity based on brain function. The authors sought to test the robustness and sensitivity of a brain-based measure of dissociation severity.
Methods:An intrinsic network connectivity analysis was applied to functional MRI scans obtained from 65 women with histories of childhood abuse and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The authors tested for continuous measures of trauma-related dissociation using the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation. Connectivity estimates were derived with a novel machine learning technique using individually defined homologous functional regions for each participant.
Results:The models achieved moderate ability to estimate dissociation, after controlling for childhood trauma and PTSD severity. Connections that contributed the most to the estimation mainly involved the default mode and frontoparietal control networks. By contrast, all models performed at chance levels when using a conventional group-based network parcellation.
Conclusions:Trauma-related dissociative symptoms, distinct from PTSD and childhood trauma, can be estimated on the basis of network connectivity. Furthermore, between-network brain connectivity may provide an unbiased estimate of symptom severity, paving the way for more objective, clinically useful biomarkers of dissociation and advancing our understanding of its neural mechanism
ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19060647

This is the latest publication showing the impact of safe, self-administered infrared light therapy as an effective treatment neurotrauma and related neurodegenerative conditions. The device used in this study was the Vielight Duo which provides both 10hz and 40hz stimulation to the brain as well as the body's blood supply through intranasal stimulation.  The study results suggest that the 8 weeks of stimulation resulted in increased brain volume in an number of regions and a decrease in hippocampal volume and overall network connectivity in relation to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The assumption that the intranasal stimulation would stimulate hippocampal activity is not supported by this study's results as the power density of the intranasal applicator is lower than the transcranial diodes and the amount of photons that could reach the brain would be rather limited. The intranasal unit does provide an excellent vehicle for stimulating the entire body's blood supply as it passes through the facial region every 4 minutes and thereby can irradiate all the free floating mitochondria now found to be in the blood stream. 
                               "Along with other data, the results suggested that the free-floating mitochondria
                               in healthy blood were in fact functioning, respiring organelles. The team estimates
                               that there could be between 200,000 and 3.7 million cell-free, intact mitochondria
                               per milliliter of blood plasma." 
Z.A.A. Dache et al., “Blood contains circulating cell-free respiratory competent mitochondria,” The FASEB Journal, doi:10.1096/fj.201901917RR, 2020. 

Quietmind Fdn. has been a long time advocate of PBM treatment and has taken a leading role in the integration of Vielight and other forms of PBM with neurofeedback and functional medicine. This study further illustrates the need for careful titration of stimulation dosing in order to avoid negative reactions (headaches) which can result from overstimulation. QMF provides consultation to Vielight users to optimize clinical results while minimizing adverse response potential.

The documented lack of improvement in delayed recall after 8 weeks of treatment while free recall did improve suggests the lack of neural connectivity improvement. This is not surprising and has been discussed in previous publications and underscores the relevance for an integrative treatment approach that seeks to improve both tissue level pathology with PBM and neural connectivity using brainwave biofeedback or neurofeedback training. This therapeutic combination leverages the value of increased perfusion, oxygenation and ATP production while renormalizing neural connectivity.  

Quietmind offers clinical and technical consultation to anyone purchasing Vielight devices through our clinical trial programs. Please contact our office for details info@quietmindfdn.org or call 610-940-0488.
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www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.00952/full

The growing recognition of serious neurological damage happening to people who were infected with COVID 19 is now growing and scientific findings are struggling to answer the question as to its viral or inflammatory cause. Treatment choices will turn on the underlying causative factors but the need for a quick and safe treatment is considerable now. I can speak from my personal experience with having had CV19 starting in late March and being tested as free of virus in late April about the impact this illness can have on neurological functioning. I had several spike of fever to above 103F and severe chills and productive cough and fatigue. I thought originally I had pneumonia until the test proved it was CV19. My neurological symptoms included ataxia, impaired cognition and was occasionally unable to organize my communication adequately, particularly with word finding and auditory processing. 

I was fortunately had the Cognitolite 1068nm pulsed (10hz) transcranial infrared unit at home and used it 2-4x daily for well over a month and then tapered to 3-5x/week now. I also was taking 2G VitC q2hr and tapering by half when my urine turned bright yellow. I never had GI distress during this period of high dosing nor afterward. I also was taking 5-10K D3 and Zinc daily and flushing my system with filtered water and electrolytes.  

It would seem likely that my symptom severity was decreased by this regime and it would now seem reasonable from further investigation that the use of transcranial photobiomodulation could be used as an initial intervention with minimal side effect potential while patients are evaluated for viral or parasitic and other neuroinflammatory markers that would indicate the need for antiviral or anti-inflammatory treatment. 

Quietmind Fdn. is making the Cognitolite treatment is available for home use by rental of the device on a donation basis. Please call 610-940-0488 to discuss the protocol.  
​
www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5

With the publication of this study jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2770551, we are now entering a new level of recognition for the use of light therapy for treating neurodegenerative diseases and neurotrauma rehabilitation. The use of transcranial light therapy in treating TBI is now showing to be safe, easily tolerated and effective in making measurable changes in brain physiology. These findings are welcome addition to the published research and clinical programs at Quietmind Fdn. over the past 13 years with the Cognitolite and for 6 years with Vielight's Neuro photobiomodulation devices. We are conducting ongoing trials with Vielight's devices and can offer participants substantial savings and free clinical assessments. 

Our hope is to advance further with these techniques and hope to collaborate with the team at Harvard and elsewhere on designing new integrated tools that will deliver the correct amount of light to produce the optimal cognitive and physical responses for people with head trauma and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. More information on our current clinical trials can be found at www.quietmindfdn.org/trials.html

Recent work done in clinics in the US have shown that exposure to green light in the prodromal (early) stages of migraines can significantly reduce their severity. This report provided by Kaiyam Medical. I think this would be good to combine with neurofeedback to rework the CNS' response to stimulation. 

www.kaiyanmedical.com/post/defeat-the-migraine-with-the-power-of-the-green-light

This article shows current findings related to cerebrovascular reactivity(CVR) as a marker for dementia onset and progression. We've been promoting photobiomodulation with both the Cognitolite, Vielight and other LLLT devices as a means of decreasing vascular reactivity which in our case we've referred to as 'vascular inflexibility'. Not unlike how the healthy flexibility of the cardiac rhythm is undermined by various factors that lead to infarcts and other problems, we see cerebral vasculature as being susceptible to similar challenges. Neurofeedback training will help sustain the improved level of functioning by optimizing cortical electrical functions that will help improve vascular responsiveness.

https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/neurocognitive-disorders/alzheimers-disease-and-dementia/cerebrovascular-reactivity-predicts-cognitive-impairment-independent-of-ad/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pa-update-hay-20200824&cpn=&hmSubId=6Qh5EgxRQ0A1&hmEmail=VFLBRZ7KAOgTOytGd7O2WyfFDtHnYy33zUsxQGbtptc1&NID=&email_hash=24523e9d8526aea879f1cbe868535f18&mpweb=1323-102963-6650987

I tested positive for cv19 in early April and was tested as negative on 4/27 and donated plasma the next day. I was sick for 2+ weeks and managed to avoid hospital and lasting damage to my lungs and brain by adding two things to my treatment regimen, high dose Vitamin C and near infrared stimulation to my brain. I took 5 doses of clarithromycin and some promothiazine with codeine over 3 days. I spiked 103 several times and otherwise ran between 99-102 for 2 weeks. I'm quite sure the Vit C which I took about 6-10g/day saved me a lot of damage. 

Here's a further discussion of the value of Vitamin C from Medium -
​ https://link.medium.com/RmfCaNNG18

The new article in Wired on Network Neuroscience's contributions to our deeper understanding of how the brain really works is a very useful introduction to this facinating new field that helps integrate biomedical engineering with cognitive neuroscience. It is important to note that the tools they are using are mostly functional measures, of water and blood flow to identify network activity. What I hope they will begin to use quantitative EEG dynamics more and more to elucidate the mechanisms of action in brain networks at rest and under task.  Our research in this area has provided a model for understanding individual response patterns in terms of variations in dominant frequency activity. When measuring the EEG at rest we can start to see specific patterns of electrical activity that results in a particular frequency being produced. The actual frequencies are constrained both in terms of absolute range but also their variability within that range. For example, person with generalized anxiety disorder may generate a pattern of activity that is limited to between 6-12 hz with occasional bursts of higher frequency activity in the mid to upper 20hz range, while the person with major depression generates more 2-7hz activity with very little variability. We can measure this activity without using radioactive tracers and extremely expensive devices that suck up tremendous amounts of energy and some often requiring large amounts of Helium.

We look forward collaboration with network neuroscientists and providing them with the other side of the neuronal equation where you work to understand and then influence the brain's electrical activity in order to modify its chemistry.

click here for the Wired article: ​https://www.wired.com/story/a-radical-new-model-of-the-brain-illuminates-its-wiring/

There'd been many sessions with Trudy over the 10 years I'd been working with her that focused on fears, real and imagined. We'd come together first in an attempt to help her son who'd struggled with early childhood trauma at the hands of his father. She carried the pain and the guilt of this trauma and worked tirelessly to provide the best help she could find for her son and skipped over the centrality of her own healing as part of how the family-as-a-whole could find peace and a measure of happiness. 

She wanted to explore her irrational fear of the dark that arose whenever she slept alone in her lakeside cabin surrounded by family members' homes and the familiar land she'd visited all her life. The fearful imagery was of someone attacking her in her home and not feeling like she could protect herself from the invasion of her space. Nothing of this kind had ever happened there so this was entirely a production of her own psyche that seemed at first glance to be the residual trauma from when her children were abused and she was unaware until they were almost killed and the authorities took the chilren away and arrested the father. She was able to regain custody and raised the boys herself and tenaciously worked to instill in them a sense of independence and self sufficiency which succeeded in some ways but definitely not in others.

While this was the easy explanation it wasn't the truth as these fears predated her marriage. As we talked about the situation, she recounted a story she'd mentioned before about having possibly been molested by one of her relatives who was developmentally disabled in some way and he'd been known to seek out young children and undress them without any indication of molestation beyond undressing. Her story unfolded as before but the critical difference was the noting of how her mother had told her to not say anything of what had transpired to her father for fear that he would seek to harm the boy when apparently no real harm had been done. This collusion to keep a secret about abuse was important to explore and it had a resonance to the traumatic events that transpired to Trina and her children. I began to see the connection that may have formed wherein Trina rendered herself dumb as to what was happening in her own home and focused her attention away from what her husband was doing to the children and more about keeping the family stable with a regular income which was her father's role. She wouldn't allow herself to be aware as this was the bargain she made with her mother who sought to not say anything out of having to admit she had not been watching what the children were doing. 

The connection carried a strong emotional charge and we both felt the weight of this moment and the physical experience of relief that arises when the unconscious becomes conscious. The whole arc of the therapy came clear in that moment and there was a palpable sense of resolution. 

I got a note from Trina today that she'd spent 9 nights in the cabin after the session with no experience of panic or fear except for one night and she could take care of herself and go back to sleep. 

This reminded me of my own resonance to secrets and lies of omission in my own childhood that shaped my relationship with my family. I lost my father to congestive heart failure when I was 3 but was not told what happened to him and helped to deal with my feelings of loss, anger and grief. I was alone in my pain as a child and my family was happy to continue the illusion of normalcy with occasional comments about what a great person he was. No mention of my mother's pain and sadness. It was as if she was seen at fault for his death by both his parents and hers. I was left very much alone with no opportunity to clarify what had really happened to him. I also was never made aware until after her death, that my mother had a child out of wedlock and gave her up for adoption 2 years before I was born  

I recall the walk down a darkened road in California in my early 20s fearing that something unknown would strike out at me. The terror I felt remained as a palpable sensory experience for many years although there was no rational basis for that nameless dread. I always felt in touch with my fear of the unknown until working in group therapy training I learned to separate the facts from the feelings I was having in relation to the facts and this became a way to regulate my response to my thoughts and fantasies. I could explore what my feelings were as sensory and emotional arousal and then explore the thoughts that stimulated my responses. It became quite clear that I was conflating the two and using the physiological response to my thoughts as confirmatory evidence for their validity. This fundamental cognitive error was at the crux of my neurosis as it is for many who suffer from anxiety and the depression born of chronic anxiety. 

Struggling to learn the truth and thereby quell my anxiety became a primary compensatory focus  from an early age, this then encouraged me to use the quasi-linear problem solving model of connecting the dots. I wasn't capable of more complex analytical methods at that point. I feel I resonated with Trudy's experience more directly in terms of wanting to understand what was going on more completely as a way to help me regulate my agitated and regressed state.  

Early diagnosis of dementia offers the best options for successful intervention to mitigate disease progression. This article is describing how we might use our own subjective awareness of memory challenges as a vehicle for engaging more directly with early treatment options, e.g., photobiomodulation, neurofeedback training, functional medicine/lifestyle assessment to improve cognitive and behavioral functioning. The article describes a study that included CSF analysis for both amyloid and tau-proteins to help evaluate pathophysiological status. Might not evaluation using Quantitative EEG assessment and OCT analysis of the retina offer both less invasive and more sensitive detection of neurological dysregulation? We might then also afford ourselves the opportunity to obtain safe, reliable, noninvasive, non-drug, low-cost, easily deployed interventions aimed at individualized symptom and root cause remediation. 

https://neurosciencenews.com/dementia-memory-perception-16654/