Research › Practitioner Perspectives
Combining EEG with Heart Rate Training for Brain/Body Optimization
STS Instructor Authored by Thomas Collura
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Article at a glance
Practitioner perspective. This article describes a clinician's own experience, cases or methods. It was not peer reviewed or controlled, so it can be subjective. Read it as practical insight, not as evidence that a treatment works.
- Area
- Practitioner Perspectives
- Authors
- Collura TF
- Journal
- NeuroConnections (Winter 2009)
- Year
- 2009
- Protocol
- Combined alpha enhancement and heart rate variability (respiratory sinus arrhythmia) feedback
- Equipment
- BrainMaster EEG with a pulse-oximeter finger sensor
Key findings
- Alpha above a set threshold earns a high tone; a sustained fall in heart rate on the exhale earns a low tone
- A bell sounds only when both happen together, rewarding a full, relaxed breath with alpha present
- Breathing training helps restless or anxious clients settle into neurofeedback
- Protocol design and rationale only; no outcome data
A how-to article describing a simple protocol that trains alpha brainwaves and heart rate variability together. Alpha is rewarded with a flute tone whenever it rises above a manually set threshold. Heart rate is read from a fingertip pulse sensor, and a deeper tone sounds during a sustained fall in heart rate, which happens on a long, relaxed exhale. A bell sounds only when both conditions are met at once, and a flower animation can open and close in time with the breathing. The author argues that the combination fills gaps in each method: breathing work settles restless clients so they can attend to neurofeedback, and alpha feedback adds a calm mental state to breathing training. It describes the design and the trainee's experience; there are no outcome data.
Read it in NeuroConnections, Winter 2009 (ISNR archive), p. 8 →