“the goal is to reduce suffering, not to be average.” That moment tied with the mind mapping details for sheer gold.

The biggest surprise when I got neurofeedback was that it was unconscious. I didn't have to do anything. Just sit there. It was a completely foreign concept that I could learn without doing anything, without trying. Even though it's technically classified as behavioral therapy, it's not reinforcement for the user outwardly behaving a particular way - it's not behavior in the plain usage of the word. I think it would be helpful to a lot of people to see a video of an actual neurofeedback session, including the collaborative conversation about creating a goal. So they could see that the user is just sitting, and see what the technician sees on their screen and they adjust the settings, and how the feedback is a colored dot on the user's screen and/or drumbeat or other sound that the user chooses. And maybe screenshots of "this is how the user's brain scan looked at the beginning of the session, and this is how it looked at the end of the session." And then the check-in at the beginning of the next session, when the technician asks "how did it go since our last session?"

As a parent of a autistic child, thank you for this video!!!

Having come to the unshakeable conviction, at age 65, that I'm on the spectrum, with the support of several of these tests (AQ: 35/50, and others), but mostly on the overwhelmingly powerful anecdotal evidence from your videos and others, and how all this very simply explains...ME...and MY LIFE...I've proceeded to make sense of tics, habits, formerly inexplicable social discomforts and anxieties, visceral aversions, and, in general, perplexities concerning this "other planet" I have tried to cope with my whole life. It is so startlingly, and yet wonderfully, vivid and starkly plain to me, I feel no need of a formal diagnosis. It is enough for me to take the things I'm learning and let them bring me integration, healing, perspective. And, very importantly, prerogative, to make CHOICES where I didn't realize it was even a matter of choice. One small instance: I am painfully, excruciatingly hyper-vigilant, registering and coordinating, not far removed from choreographing, where everything and everybody is, what their trajectories are compared to mine, in a place like a supermarket. Which tends to mean a lot of looking at people, in front of, next to, and behind me. Along with a compelling sense that I am somehow supposed to be politely sociable, at least acknowledge them. Just like you do in a packed, buzzing party that's absolutely killing you yet you feel that persistent "onus" to interact. At the same time, and this is the astronomically ironic part, I am intensely introverted. Frankly, all the people I'm focusing so fixedly on in a crowded public space like a supermarket are precisely the "mass" I'm viscerally longing to get away from. And so I end up making tons of oblique contact with masses of people that another part of my mind recoils from gratuitious contact with. Talk about exhaustion.... So one thing this discovery has helped me make consciously can be expressed like this: I can choose one of the two modes, either the hyper-vigiliance or, if it's not too simplistic to put it this way, the introversion. In other words, give rein to my hyper-vigiliance or give rein to my private-space maintenance. Even simpler, look at people or don't. And what I am finding is, I can allow my introversion, my instinct NOT to look, NOT to broadly and gratuitously interact, to take charge and subdue my hyper-vigilance (which is the far more counterproductive and distressing of the two instincts). It always feels a bit like being rude, arrogant and reckless, not scanning everything/everybody around me (who knows, maybe I'll accidentally step into someone's way), but I remind myself very consciously and intently that it's NOT rude, NOT arrogant, NOBODY is expecting me to pay attention to them. And the outcome of "doing the supermarket" (and similar contexts) in Introvert Mode rather than Hyper-Vigilance Mode is a remarkably enhanced peace and sense of equilibrium as I leave the challenging context.

I have a friend who has specialized in Neurofeedback and used it for more than a decade ( the one guided with a encephalography, not the "dynamic" one that apparently doesnt' do much according to professionals) and he has found greand results in a wide array of patients and with long lasting/permanent results. I defnitely want to try once there is availably near me.

Interesting and thanks for presenting. He said no one’s normal, no one’s typical. I wonder if he would say that if he could not work in the field he went to school for because of differences. My brain is not optional. Be weird he said. He calls it weird like I could be something else like normal. He said no one’s typical is that like everyone is a little bit autistic, maybe. You can change it if you know about it he says. I am not sure you can change just cuz you know about it. I don’t think that’s how agency works. Goals for things you can’t achieve is very frustrating and he says to have goals but I am not sure neurofeedback would help figure out goals. He is selling something ultimately.

I'm almost 38 and was diagnosed with Asperger's (ASD) about two years ago. Your channel and videos are a godsend. Thank you for all that you've done and shared and are doing and sharing.

Maybe it's my age speaking, or the way he came across compared to where I am in life. I do understand the basic idea of what he is doing, however it seemed to me that he worked awfully hard to keep from outright saying the method is trying to "fix" anything non-typical. Yes, he couched it in that idea of being beneficial, and perhaps he really meant it, but my gut response was cringing and telling me to back away. All my spidie senses were tingling. That being said, I do believe we can retrain our brains...many of us who are high masking have, in my opinion, done that rather well all by ourselves...or with the help of parental conditioning or yes, MODELING. This sounded more like a hypnosis pitch..."personal trainer" is what he said they do? Maybe he can help those who are interested in changing something to "get along" better. I just wish he hadn't sounded to me like a sales guy telling me I'm not good enough the way I am. I've spent the last 10 years literally trying to figure out who I am after my husband died and I finally got a chance to not live to please everyone else. I've been individuating and he wants to change people. My Mom did that to me and it led to a life of hellish experiences. He kind of gave me the creeps...I know, that's blunt. I'm tired of being told I am not good enough the way I am and I need to change. Edit to simply say, I can understand why some people might like to try this. And I would be interested if anyone does to hear the results. I am just a little jaded.

There's strong evidence for neurofeedback assisting trauma recovery so it's a shame it isn't more widely funded and available for that. I tend to think the plasticity in autistic brains has more to do with trauma healing and stress reduction than an alteration of inherent traits.

That sounds a little like behavioral therapy? But maybe with the goalpost being more of the individual’s well-being and less „socially adequate behaviour“

Regardless of the trauma I suffered as a child, I’m still struggling to accept my ASD diagnosis. I’m caught in a loop that traps me in the past and cycles through my trauma. My therapist appears intent on ignoring my repeated requests to address the trauma and insists I relive my early life but without context as to why. I get a lot of fancy descriptions of conditions or syndromes or observations made by other professionals but it’s still not helping me in any way at all. I still feel the same way I did in spring 2020, and later when I started therapy.

This is good for those of us with alexythymia. I often don't know I'm stressed until I start having bad gut issues.

Wow... i searched "Neurofeedback near me" and got a number of hits. 3 hours away seems like a drive I wouldn't hate. I can't wait til this technology is viable in-home.

That is super interesting. Would be great to give it a go. I like that it's about greater self awareness, self understanding and self control - not about others controlling you to be more 'normal'.

With the exception of a few people, I have trouble reading faces. Brain fog has been a problem in the past few years. I wish someone would try neurofeedback with me.

Right off, you can feel and observe all of the things he say's you can't. We just get in the habit of focusing our minds outwardly and not inwardly. I learnt how to meditate effectively years ago. It's hard to find a technique that works effectively to even get started but once you do it's pretty amazing how quickly you can learn to do all sorts of things that supposedly are not possible.

I love this perspective, can't wait to learn more about neurofeedback!

Exciting topic! I was wondering if it would work. Thank you Paul for the work you do.

Very insightful, thankyou. I especially like the idea of learning how your unique brain works without any preconceptions or symptomatic judgments, and without thinking in terms of good/bad, normal/weird, but more our own aspirations and suffering. Also expanding personal agency. Although my autism diagnosis has been extremely helpful in so many ways, there is still the question of who am I as an individual, and what is my unique neurological profile, that differs even from other autistics? I always thought it would be really awesome to actually see what was happening inside my brain, rather than just making guesses. I 'feel' things like electric impulses and sensations in my brain sometimes, and I even visibly see things that look like neural connections lighting up sometimes in my field of vision (usually with a migraine or sensory overload). So I've always wondered what they could mean. This technology could potentially be an interesting way of training interoception as well. I have a strong belief in working WITH modern technology, rather than relying on it. I do think, in combination with this equipment and knowledge, we also need: 1) People administering or coaching with a detailed expertise and open-minded attitudes, like Dr Hill. 2) To understand your own goals authentically (i.e. not influenced by what you think you SHOULD do or aspire to, but something you genuinely want and feels right for you). I can see this very easily being used in the wrong way, but it could also be really great for self-understanding, finding genuine self-management strategies, and also potentially better aligning internal neurologies to the right environments. How accessible is this as an option right now? Thanks again for bringing this to light.

Fascinating! I'd love to get neural feedback about my own brain. Thanks for sharing your results Paul. x

This is something I’m sort of trying to do already with me associating specific sensations in my head with specific functions! This sort of treatment would seemingly confirm a lot of my existing knowledge while it would probably allow me to better optimise my mental functions since computers/programming is a special interest of mine! :)

I love the way he approaches the brain

Late to this but very interesting. I scan brains for a living and it is a constant source of fascination about how they work!

Very informative. Thank you Paul and Dr. Hill.

That was soo interesting and hopeful for the future. Thanks Paul

Very interesting!! Loving these new vídeos you are making! Thanks so much for sharing all theses informations!

"Cats are really bad instruction followers." I stopped the video right there, because I think that's a very human-centric view. Learn how cats and other animals communicate with each other and respond to various cues from interaction with humans. Perhaps I'm being very suspicious with the near-constant smile on the person's face on the right, so my bias and projection are showing, but then the thought switches to having people who are neurodivergent in a system that does not accommodate them sufficiently being compared to cats. I like cats. I have many cat-friends. I have earned their trust and respect.

Thank you. I love you and really appreciate you 💕

Great Chat. Thanks.

neurofeedback was a great eye opener on how to control my attention!

Definitely did find that interesting. Good interview.

Thank you so much!

Thank you for this video. 👌🏻

Just trying to process and consolidate this… here goes… Nuero feedback seems to be about using nuero plasticity to consciously form new neurological pathways, much like writing a new piece of software to suite your purpose. Is that about right? As a teacher I find this interesting, it’s what we try to facilitate on a daily basis.

Very interesting and I’m definitely going to take a look at what might be available regarding this, but somewhere nearby. Having some names or institutions now can at least be beneficial to weed out the ‘oh this is something new I can make money with/take advantage of people while I have no clue what I’m doing’ wanna-be neurofeedback practitioners later on. (No I’m not cynical or anything 😂)

As always, a good video but I will have to watch it several times over to digest the content.

I've already sorta got some of that when I enter my receptive/empty mind state. Plus, for whatever reason, I occasionally feel an electric sensation and crackling in my head, as well as various other sensations on my right hemisphere that I can sometimes catch.

🤯😍😁 Thanks so much, Paul! I'd love to do this. I wonder if costs are astronomical... 🤔

Very cool indeed.

I like this stuff. Does Dr Hill have offices in Australia, near Melbourne? Or does he know anyone around Melbourne who practices neurofeedback like he does?

Having got my (later in life) diagnosis of autism at age 52 in 2021 after 21 years living alone in the U.K. as an Irish gay man from an only child Rural Irish Catholic background, I’m looking for anything, as there is hardly any support nor understanding out there - my family in Ireland simply do not understand this, as much as when I first came out as gay in my teens, even though they “encouraged” me to go for the diagnosis in 2019 and they believe that only ultra strict discipline, based on thier observance of traditional Catholic social teaching, is “The only way” to “manage” this “condition” and they disapprove of my living alone without a live in carer and travelling long distances alone without a chaperone

Off the wall question. I have not been formally diagnosed yet, I am confident I have asd, when I was a toddler my mother was told by the doctor that I was probably mildly retarded. They didn’t know what asd was back then. Here’s my question, how many people with autism are near sighted and farsighted? If you wear glasses and are autistic, please comment below. Wondering if there might be a correlation?

Is this related, at all, to the work that John Elder Robinson made known, esp. in his book "Switched On"?

Is it science or pseudoscience? Neurofeedback was, last time I checked one of the fuzzier cases of the demarcation problem, but it failed to meet my personal epistemic bar.

I'm autistic, but I don't think there are physical signs of it. Observe me, the way I talk and do things, yeah, that's clear. In conversation, SIL suggested it;s because I am also gifted. That made perfect sense. I was in a group of four classes, first year of primary plus the three following years. Getting perfect score consistently in arithmetic tests probably was noticed. And English and comprehension matching kids two years older. The kids would have noticed. Together with lack of fine motor skills, so poor at sports. My early view of the world was that you could be good at sports or good at classwork but not both. Then I found people who were good at both and had to reframe my beliefs.

I tried neurofeedback a few years ago and it made me feel really bad! (Plus the practitionner charges a lot and does nothing at all!) I couldn't find my words and was confused in a strange state for hours after a session... i would not recommend it personally. (I am autistic and adhd). A dangerous path to follow I believe... it goes back to wanting to change us towards a more neurotypical version without clearly saying it... i don't like it

From his Peak Brain website, neurofeedback is successful in 'treating age-related cognitive disorders, anxiety disorders, addiction, and symptoms of the autism spectrum.' In other words - autism itself is something which needs to be medicalised, problematised and fixed. Truly revolting.

I suppose it all comes with a Price tag? It’s so tricky that when you have a quirky brain not everything is flowing to be able to understand more.

I'd need to see an independent longitudinal study on autistic people, as I wonder if it might perhaps be used as a scientific form of ultimately teaching someone to mask, which as we know, is not an expression of our authentic selves and can lead to burnout.

Also maybe chack out something very different... Psychoanalysis. Leon Brenner on KZfaq talks about autism beautifully... ❤

Sounds like Bryan Johnsons Kernel Braintree

yes.interesting. maybe. wow.

Lost after one minute I guess I just don’t have the patience nor the attention span. I have no idea what he’s talking about.

Hi, Paul! This is really interesting work and I'll have a look around for someone that does this, but I'm still having a bit of trouble with you calling everyone Autistic now. When and why did that change. Or did I miss something? And if it's a spectrum, what am I missing? The reason being, I could consider myself and Aspie, but Autistic is too much for me. Thanks for the help.

Andrew Hill is all over youtube but he’s such a car salesman. Not suprised to see him show up here again. I actually know someone who got REALLY messed up at his clinic: peak brain institute. I was also in a group with Andrew where he took zero responsibility when confronted by this guy. He spend a fortune and took him over a year to get back on track from the danage to his brain. So just saying…be careful!!!

Neurofeedback didn't do anything for me. Just frustrated me and made me feel defective, like every other form therapy has so far.

Paul. You have a whoop??

whats an autism though google dont tell me so maybe its not scientifically known?

As we are part of the superior group why would we need feedback especially from neurotypicals

So, whats the cost? And will it actually help to cure autism?

Neuro Feedback has been around for awhile but that guy…..

Neurofeedback is an obvious grift.

20:30

18:20

Yeah keep ignoring clinical eft techniques, the fastest and easiest and free way!

I would just love to have my brain mapped! That sounds incredibly fascinating and awesome! 🙂