NeurOptimal® Brain Training FAQs
Everyone including anyone who feels they are not functioning at their personal best or anyone under stress or highly affected by acute or chronic stress. Adults, teenagers, children, seniors, students, amateur & professional athletes, parents, professionals, educators, cancer survivors, Long COVID sufferers, concussed persons, LEOs & First Responders, healthcare workers, caretakers, military personnel, Veterans, and highly sensitive persons (HSPs) can all benefit from neurotraining.
NeurOptimal® communicates directly with your central nervous system, offering it information about the changes in its electrical functioning in real-time and reorienting it to the present moment. Instead of providing specific ‘direction’ to the brain, the world’s only nonlinear Dynamical Neurofeedback® utilizes mathematical transformations that serve as a mirror to the brain & relies on your brain’s natural learning processes to self-correct to more efficient & effective operation.
Developed & refined over three decades by Co-Developers Valdeane W. Brown, Ph.D. & Susan Brown, Ph.D. of Zengar Institute Inc., NeurOptimal® is designed to tap into our brain’s intrinsic ability to self-organize and is often described as effortless, power meditation. Many users notice a tangible relaxation response from a single session, particularly those who train routinely. As the brain re-organizes itself and builds a more flexible & inherently resilient mindset, challenges and concerns seamlessly fall away for most people.
NeurOptimal® is an effortless, informational workout tool for your brain that promotes its peak performance capabilities. It’s the world’s only dynamical neurofeedback® for central nervous system self-regulation & optimization. A more fit, flexible & healthy CNS contributes to our overall general wellness.
Manage: stress, performance anxiety, mental chatter & rumination, moods, mental & physical fatigue, and performance under pressure
Promote: healthy sleep habits, focus & concentration, mental clarity & sharpness, memory & recall, mindfulness, emotional regulation, learning capacity, positive mindset, adaptability & flexibility, coping skills, hand-eye coordination, physical balance, and self-esteem & confidence
Add brain training to your existing exercise routine for full mind-body wellness and reveal your best potential in your personal, professional, academic, & sporting pursuits.
It’s important to give the training process a chance to work! It’s best to be open to at least 10-15 sessions to start noticing your shifts. Twenty or more sessions promote optimal training outcomes. Since your central nervous system is doing all the work, we cannot predict how many sessions it will take for you to begin recognizing your shifts.
Some users notice shifts right away while others may need 20 sessions or more. Everyone is unique and your training experience will be unique to you. Once you complete an initial session series, it can be beneficial to return for in-studio or rental system tune-up sessions as frequently as you desire. Your brain will likely respond more quickly since it’s familiar with the training. Like massage therapy or chiropractic adjustments, some users train at their desired frequency indefinitely since it can feel particularly supportive to them in managing stress and maintaining their mental fitness & well-being.
Training frequency is completely client-directed. We recommend you start with one or two studio sessions per week. You can train up to twice daily with a system rental at home. It’s important to find a training pace that feels right to you!
It’s best to commit to an initial training schedule, much like you would for a ‘Couch to 5K’ running program, in order to promote & more easily recognize your training results. Training shifts are often subtle & seamless so they may be harder to recognize with infrequent initial sessions and you may become less motivated to train. Most users naturally space-out their sessions as they start feeling better. Occasional Tune-Up sessions and routine Maintenance training help keep your brain functioning at its best.
Yes. NeurOptimal® is a learning task. This unique, nonlinear neurofeedback method offers your brain timely, adaptive information about itself that allows it to re-organize itself which can result in many concerns lessening in duration, intensity, frequency or shifting & falling away completely (DIFS). Your brain is ever-changing, living tissue, however, and its functioning can be impacted by stress and other factors. It can be very beneficial to do occasional Tune-Up sessions in the studio or with a rental system. Like physical fitness regimens, massage therapy, or chiropractic adjustments, some users prioritize routine neurotraining because it feels particularly supportive to them in maintaining their mental fitness & well-being.
With NeurOptimal®, we are most concerned about how you feel. We offer progress Tracking Tools to help you summarize and compare how you are feeling before & during the training process. We recommend that you revisit your tracking tools after each series of 10-20 sessions. It’s not uncommon for loved ones to notice your changes before you do!
Since shifts are often subtle and seamless, you may not recognize them right away. It’s fairly easy to recognize what’s not going well for you in life, but it can be much harder to recognize what IS going well. We’ll encourage you to start asking yourself, “What’s different?” The answers to this question over time often reveal the changes we hope to experience with NeurOptimal®. Some users notice their shifts immediately while others may notice shifts weeks or even months into or after training when sudden realizations come to light (i.e. you haven’t had a crying fit in weeks or you didn’t overreact in certain situations like you might have in the past). Once users recognize how supportive brain training can be for their mental fitness & well-being, the tracking tools are no longer necessary.
Yes. NeurOptimal® is completely noninvasive. It is purely a source of information for your brain about the changes in its electrical cortical activity. It does not induce or force changes to the brain or direct the response of your central nervous system. Your brain intrinsically course-corrects toward performance efficiency through its natural learning processes. Thousands of users of all ages including pregnant persons, babies, toddlers, teenagers, adults, and seniors around the world have collectively accumulated over four million training hours over the past two decades. The FDA has designated NeurOptimal® a low risk General Wellness Product.
No. Side-effects are attributable to something that has physiologically induced change (i.e. medication, entrainment, or vibration/electrical stimulation). NeurOptimal® Dynamical Neurofeedback® is 100% noninvasive and does not ‘induce’ or force changes to the brain (central nervous system). NeurOptimal® is not protocol-driven and does not augment or inhibit certain frequencies to try to achieve desired outcomes like linear neurofeedback systems.
While it may seem like there’s not much happening during a NeurOptimal® session, your brain is actually working quite hard processing information about itself! Some users may experience challenging perceptions when they begin training due to the increased challenge the training represents to the brain (like sore muscles after a body workout.) As your brain begins the optimization process, challenges you’ve experienced in the past *may* intensify for a time as your brain begins responding to the information NeurOptimal® provides. Challenging or undesirable perceptions, if any, generally resolve within a few sessions for most users. Consult the NeurOptimal® New User Resources webpage for a more in-depth explanation.
Your BTL Trainer facilitates your neurotraining & makes training easily accessible to you. The client (user) is in full control of their training routine, not the Trainer. You may share as little or as much personal information with BTL Trainers as you feel comfortable. Sharing is optional but welcomed. If you choose to share your experiences with your Trainer, they will help you identify changes and summarize your Tracking Tools shifts.
NeurOptimal® has been designated a low-risk General Wellness Product by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). It is not considered a medical device or medical treatment. Therefore, sessions are not covered by health insurance and do not generally meet Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA) medical expense requirements. Employer Wellness Programs may reimburse you for NeurOptimal® neurotraining. Fitness activities (like gym memberships) are generally not considered qualifying FSA & HSA expenses unless you secure a Letter of Medical Necessity (LOMN). An LOMN is a document from your healthcare provider recommending a particular treatment, product, or device for medical purposes. NeurOptimal® Dynamical Neurofeedback® is a unique stress management & healthy lifestyle tool that’s a worthwhile investment in your overall health & well-being.
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NeurOptimal® Dynamical Neurofeedback® has been designated a low-risk General Wellness Product by the FDA. It is intended for general wellness use only and is not considered a medical device, treatment, or therapy.