Throwback to 12 years ago when my younger brother was diagnosed with Aspergers and my family was frantically trying to figure out how we would best support him. We decided on "Brain Training," or in fancier terms-- Neurofeedback for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Basically, my brother's brain was mapped which revealed that he had hyperactive delta waves and hypoactive alpha waves. This means that his everyday consciousness resembled a typical person's dream-state. The brain training itself was a game on a screen that he controlled by activating his alpha waves more and decreasing the activity of the delta waves. By doing this, he was learning to connect brain activity with functional connections, in turn, improving his sociocommunicative abilities.
The idea is that his brain would eventually just learn to do this on a regular basis (LTP??) because of the brain's experience-based plasticity---AKA operant conditioning (Datko, et al. 2017).
The question is, can we use this type of conditioning for other behavioral disorders, such as ADHD, OCD, anxiety, etc.?
Fascinating. I would be curious to know if this practice could be used for autistic adults as well as children, or whether you need the increased plasticity of a child's brain for it to work.
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting and thanks for sharing. I think you mentioned to me that the training your brother went through involved responding to computer-based programs.
ReplyDeleteOne of my good friends from college was autistic and growing up we did not have access to screens or computer programs like the current generation does. He told me how he grew up memorizing flash cards with facial expressions and colloquial phrases that people will use in common social situations. His form of "brain training" was to memorize expressions in order to find the "acceptable social response" to display or mirror. I love the idea of this computer-based "Brain Training" because of how personal you can make it and how interactive it is. The approaches we've made in Autism are fascinating.
But interestingly, I've also noticed a discord some parents have with computer/phone screen time. I volunteer for the Autism support group at the children's hospital and noticed that our tablets preloaded with games is the most popular activity with our kids. When there are emotional flare ups or situations, I've seen parents give their child a phone or tablet to calm down. I also have had the same parents ask me directly to prohibit their children from screen time because they want to maximize supervised interpersonal opportunities. I've had kids howl and break down when denied screen time. Thinking about my college friend who told me he categorized everything as binary yes/no situations to guide his decision making - I can see how this could possibly be confusing to some kids who associate computers as a fun training tool or reward in certain situations, but then a with-held object of desire in others.
This is amazing. I am so happy doctors and scientists are finding neurological and cognitive ways to help support individuals with ASD. In addition to Brain Training, I found another mechanism that utilizes smartglasses on students with ASD to not only help improve social engagement but also lower their irritability and hyperactivity in school. The program is called Empowered Brain and so far has proven to be a highly effective aid for students struggling with the social and emotional challenges of autism. It is extremely promising that different types of cognitive behavioral therapy are proving to not only be very feesible, but also a very effective alternative to the antipsychotic drugs that treat ASD, as these drugs tend to have significant undesirable side affects. I am very excited to see further advancements in this field!
ReplyDeleteVahabzadeh, A., Keshav, N., Abdus-Sabur, R., Huey, K., Liu, R., & Sahin, N. (2018). Improved Socio-Emotional and Behavioral Functioning in Students with Autism Following School-Based Smartglasses Intervention: Multi-Stage Feasibility and Controlled Efficacy Study. Behavioral Sciences, 8(10), 85. doi:10.3390/bs8100085
Cierra,
ReplyDeleteIn review of research I found that cognitive training methods show promise for cognitive enhancement in impaired neural systems [1]. So perhaps further research on the mechanisms underlying these disease etiologies (ADHD, OCD and Anxiety) can determine indefinitely the implications of cognitive therapy on management of these disorders. To some extent research shows that “brain training” is a potential intervention in psychiatric treatment of these disorders. This could have HUGE implications since this treatment option could replace drug-use as alternative treatment options. One study found that cognitive behavioral therapy was more effective than pharmacology use in long-term management of Depression [2], so perhaps ADHD, OCD and anxiety disorders have similar implications. This would be a great topic to further study since therapy is less-invasive any therefore may pose less risks to patient as well as e more cost-effective.
[1] Keshavan MS, Vinogradov S, Rumsey J, Sherrill J, Wagner A. Cognitive Training in Mental Disorders: Update and Future Directions. American Journal of Psychiatry171: 510–522, 2014.
[2] Sinyor M, Fefergrad M, Zaretsky A. Cognitive behavioural therapy or antidepressants for acute depression? Bmj( August 2015). doi: 10.1136/bmj.h6315.