Dr. Mack Murtagh attaches a device June 22 to Ella Beiser to measure electrical activity in the brain at Goodwill NeuroRehab Services in Lewiston. The medical practice offers neurofeedback therapy for patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
LEWISTON — Goodwill NeuroRehab has purchased equipment to perform neurofeedback therapy for patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries.
The therapy teaches patients self-control of their brain by measuring brain waves and providing audio or video feedback to the patient.
The medical practice began offering treatments in late February and has seen many positive effects, according to the clinical director, Dr. Mackenna Murtagh.
Twelve patients are receiving treatments between their two clinics in Scarborough and Lewiston. Of those, Murtagh cites Maureen Giles as their “best case” yet.
In 2006, Giles was in a car accident that left her with physical injuries and a traumatic brain injury. For years, she went to talk therapy to process the event, but until the end of 2021 her brain injury went untreated.
“I was still a kid when it happened, and my parents, my mom, didn’t get any treatment for me, Giles said. “I was ignorant, and maybe she was, about how bad a car accident can affect you. We didn’t really know what to do.”
Despite talk therapy, she continued to suffer from depression, anxiety and brain fog. She also had difficulty concentrating, frequent migraines, sensitivity to light and chronic pain.
“I’d been on a search trying to figure out what is going on with me and I got a neuropsych eval done,” Giles said. “And they said, ‘Yes, you have depression and stuff, but you also have complex PTSD, and you have a traumatic brain injury that needs to be addressed.”’
That’s when her doctor suggested going to Goodwill NeuroRehab. However, it was the height of COVID-19 and it took her nearly two years to get into the clinic. Now that she’s there, she said she feels incredibly lucky.
Items are stored in a basket June 22 for use by patients to calm their brains during treatment at Goodwill NeuroRehab Services in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
“I feel like I was let into this state-of-the-art, really cool club. And I got access to all these really awesome resources. I just felt really lucky for that,” Giles said.
She initially tried eye movement desensitization reprocessing therapy with Murtagh. The therapy changes how a traumatic memory is stored in the brain by having the patient bring up the memory while performing a specific tapping rhythm or eye movement pattern.
“It was a traumatic memory that was obviously very emotional,” Giles said. “And it was making my brain not work, right. It was keeping me in a fight or flight mode.”
In February, when Murtagh told her about neurofeedback, Giles said she was excited about the prospect of more growth.
“I had done (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) for a long time. And while it was helping me, when it came down to it I just wasn’t able to implement all the things that I knew,” she said, from skills gained in therapy.
Since starting neurofeedback, her life has changed dramatically, she said. For one, she doesn’t feel like she’s in fight-or-flight all the time.
Ella Beiser wears a device June 22 to measure electrical activity in her brain at Goodwill NeuroRehab Services in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
“I didn’t realize, but I was reacting to everything and now just being able to be a part of life and make decisions, everything feels more slowed down and more in my control,” Giles said. “That has changed everything for me.”
It has allowed her to perform daily tasks such as leave the house and go grocery shopping without stress.
“Honestly, not having everything be so intense has made my life easier and my kids’ lives better,” Giles said. “Because now we get these memories that were a lot more difficult to have, like these fond memories.”
Her insomnia has also improved due to neurofeedback.
“I hadn’t dreamt in years,” she said. “I felt like I was half awake all night, and I didn’t sleep, I didn’t dream. I was tossing and turning. And now I rest. I sleep through the night and I’m not half awake anymore.”
When starting neurofeedback treatments, Murtagh takes a brain map, a 20-minute recording of the electrical activity in different parts of the brain. The activity is broken down based on wavelength. Each has a name and is linked with different things. For example, having high beta waves is associated with anxiety, hypervigilance and PTSD symptoms.
If treating insomnia, Murtagh sets a threshold for beta activity and every time the patient’s beta waves are below the threshold they receive a reinforcement via audio or visual cues.
“It functions on operant conditioning, which is how we get kids to do their chores, which is we provide a reward when they do something good,” Murtagh said.
Patients sit in a comfortable chair and wear a wireless dry cap connected to the scalp and ears via nodes that read and transmit the electrical activity in their brain to the computer.
The doctor can project a game on the screen in front of patients for them to view. When their beta waves are below the threshold, their character does better in the game.
This is often confusing for patients. “They’re like, ‘I’m not doing anything,’” Murtagh said. “And they’re right to some degree, they’re not consciously doing anything. Their brain is doing all the work.”
Giles’ favorite is a racing game where each player is a cat. During the race, she tries to think positively and stay calm.
“I started telling myself, ‘it’s not even a competition anymore. You’ve already won the race.’ That type of thinking is when I start running, and I win every single race,” Giles said.
She said she never loses, which is notable since she asked Murtagh and he said people lose all the time.
Neurofeedback has helped Giles with sensitivity to light, migraines, brain fog, verbalizing her thoughts and concentration.
“It’s small ways,” Giles said. “But for me, they’re huge.”
Giles still has many neurofeedback sessions to complete and she’s excited to see more improvements.
“I really just want to be better. I want to be my best me,” Giles said.
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