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2007 ISNR Conference Recap
| Recap by Merlyn Hurd | Minutes From the Member's Meeting |
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President Nancy White introducing |
Past President Judith Lubar honoring |
Membership and Conference Coordinator |
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Executive Director Cynthia Kerson |
Joel Lubar, Karl Pribram, Jay Gunkelman |
Presenter Yuri Kropotov and Judith Lubar |
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President Nancy White and |
Rebecca and board member |
Conference committee member |
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Members Steve Kassel, Meg MacDonald, |
Member Tamara Lorensen, |
Conference CoChair Hank Weeks |
Recap by Merlyn Hurd
The 15th annual ISNR conference was dedicated to Current Perspectives in Neuroscience: Neuroplasticity and Neurofeedback and was held in San Diego, California from September 6th to the 9th. The first impression of the hotel and conference center was that we were in a maze; it took me three days to find my room by myself. Yes, I met a lot of people that way and rode in those funny electrical cars and it all worked out. Jay Gunkelman, Hank Weeks, Ann Marie Horvat, Cynthia Kerson, and dozens of others need to be given a big applause for giving us the biggest conference yet. There were 450 participants of which 40 were students. At least 20 countries were represented with several old friends returning and many new friends dipping their toe in the ISNR pool. This review of the conference will be short since I seemed to have spent more time with vendors and friends then I realized when I went to write this column. Also on Sunday and Monday the SKIL workshop with Barry Sterman and David Kaiser held my attention. Now on to the conference:
Themes that were the focus of the presentations, keynote and otherwise, was correct selection of electrode placement and what to train; QEEG and LORETA utilization; autism patterns and treatment and use of EEG information to determine at risk clients.
Leslie Sherlin and Marco Congedo informed us of Independent Component Analysis (ICA) which can help us to choose the correct electrode placement and frequency, especially when it is difficult to determine the source. Their Guide to Neurofeedback Interventions is downloadable from the NovaTech website. Evian Gordon discussed Personalized Medicine drawing on the FDA and DSM-V criteria to enhance our knowledge and abilities to arrive at an appropriate training protocol. He emphasized the importance of understanding the mechanisms underpinning EEGs. James Thompson presented a very exciting examination of 3 methods of assessing mild brain injury. LORETA, you might say, came out on top.
Then the venerable Karl Pribram, masterfully assisted by Jay Gunkelman presented on the role of Direct Current in the brain. He noted that direct current across the cortex changed learning rates of tasks. Juri Kropotov, in his workshop on Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation provided us with impressive data on his work with depression, chronic pain, ADHD, and mental retardation. He focused on the designing of protocols, what polarity and current to select and length of sessions. Apparently, NIMH is funding a study in the United States , however, use of Direct Current stimulation by clinicians are in Europe and Russia at this point.
Stephen Porges in his keynote presentation related autonomic function to brain structures. In fact, he, like several other workshops, presentations and posters emphasized the need for using physiological measures and trainings along with neurofeedback to optimize benefits. James Loughead presented on lie detection via fMRI data. Anyone in the forensic line would be wise to get his ISNR DVD. It appears that lying activates prefrontal and/or inferior frontal and posterior parietal cortices more than truth. Michael Doppelmayr helped us to understand from his studies of ERD/ERS that the theta band has stronger activation during some cognitive tasks as well as more pronounced activation in task-related brain areas in the upper alpha band. However, in tasks when upper alpha activation is not relevant, an active inhibition occurs.
On Saturday night a banquet at the San Diego Zoo was held in a warm, lovely setting. The new board with Nancy White as president was installed, awards were presented and lots of chatting with each other was enjoyed.
As in the past several conferences the Clinical Corners were diverse and very informative. This year, we had the advantage of having scribes (students) taking notes so we will have most of the information ready for your reading pleasure in the January issue. The scribe who worked with my Clinical Corner took 3 pages of very detailed notes (wherever she is in school sit next to her, her notes are fine), so look forward to some useful peer information.
All in all, in my opinion ISNR is the most important conference each year for it provides one time for Neurofeedback clinicians and researchers to gather, exchange ideas and cement their knowledge of the operation of the brain and how to enhance its operation.
See you next year at the ISNR conference in San Antonio in August 2008!
Minutes from the Member's Meeting
September 9, 2007 San Diego, California
Meeting commenced 1:15 pm PDT
19 members attended at the start of the meeting
Richard Davis made a treasurer's report which included a report of the Research Fund activities.
Nancy White announced the new and incumbent board members.
Nancy White put forth a request for suggestions to improve the Society and Research fund.
Member Bob Gurnee suggested we send an envelope with self-addressed stamped reply for specific projects 2 times a year.
Richard Davis reported that within the allocations for the research fund the $31, 000 is already spoken for with the approved 2 year grants. If we were to consider further granting, we would have to rely on new sources of revenue.
Member Bob Gurnee suggested we allocate a percentage of the general fund for research fund. It was noted that the research funded to date has been for excellent studies.
The topic of student support came up. Hank Weeks asked if we could allocate funds from the general fund for students. He donated $250.oo to the student fund. Genie Bodenhammer-Davis and Richard Davis doubled his offer and Hank increased to $500.00 for a total of $1,000.00.
Nancy White discussed the beginning process we have had with PR firms and advised that we would need to think clearly about the budget we have. She suggested we should find a relationship with Washington connections.
Member and committee chair Cory Hammond suggested we offer his article," What is NFB" in .pdf format to anyone who wants it.
Leslie Sherlin advised to the members that those holding the position of Member at Large (he and Rob Coben, for this year) are the liaisons for members to the board and invited anyone who wished to communicate to the board that he/she contact one of them.
John Nash is moderator for the ISNR forum list serv. He invited people to join.
Nancy White advised her appreciation to the members for approving the By Laws. And that we have on next year's agenda a plan to develop a Policy and Procedures Manual. She asked if any members were interested in helping.
Leslie Sherlin motioned to adjourn the meeting. Richard Davis seconded and all else were in favor.
Meeting was adjourned 1:30pm PST