AN AUDIO-VISUAL STIMULATION UNIT WITH EEG BIOFEEDBACK FOR ENHANCING COGNITIVE ABILITIES OF LEARNING DISABED BOYS

THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AN INEXPENSIVE, PORTABLE, ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH (EEG) BIOFEEDBACK UNIT THAT PROVIDES AUDIO AND VISUAL STIMULATION (AVS) AT BRAINWAVE FREQUENCIES TO AID IN THE TREATMENT OF LEARNING DISABLED (LD) SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER (ADD) OR WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD). THE UNIT WILL BE EASY ENOUGH TO OPERATE, SO THAT COUNSELORS AT SCHOOLS OR PARENTS AT HOME CAN USE THE DEVICE WITH CHILDREN. AN EASILY ATTACHED SCALP ELECTRODE WILL PROVIDE BRAINWAVE MONITORING AND THIS SIGNAL WILL BE USED AS THE PRIMARY CONTROL FOR THE FREQUENCY OF THE AUDIO AND VISUAL STIMULATION DELIVERED THROUGH STEREO HEADPHONES AND AN ARRAY OF LIGHTS IN GOGGLES. SINCE CHILDREN WITH ADD OR ADHD ARE COMMONLY DEFICIENT IN THE HIGHER FREQUENCY BRAINWAVES, THE ACTUAL FREQUENCY OF THE AUDIO-VISUAL STIMULATION WILL BE ABOUT 5% FASTER THAN THE DOMINANT FREQUENCY IN THE EEG. THIS WILL ENTRAIN THE CHILD'S BRAINWAVES AT A SLIGHTLY HIGHER FREQUENCY AND PROVIDE A CONTINUAL, GENTLY STIMULATION FOR THE CHILD TO DEVELOP THE HIGHER BRAINWAVE FREQUENCIES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE. BOTH AVS AND EEG BIOFEEDBACK ALONE HAVE BEEN FOUND TO IMPROVE THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF LD SCHOOL CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM ADD OR ADHD. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A DEVICE THAT, FOR THE FIRST TIME, INCORPORATES BOTH AVS AND EEG BIOFEEDBACK IN AN INEXPENSIVE, PORTABLE DEVICE THAT CAN BE USED EASILY AT SCHOOL OR AT HOME.