As we [American Psychological Association Practice Organization] reported last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced changes in 2010 to Medicare's payments for the practice expense portion of numerous services including those commonly billed by psychologists. As you may recall from our July 15 Information Alert, CMS's proposed rule would have resulted in an expected reduc ...

The International Society of Neurofeedback (ISNR) petitioned state Attorney Generals to commence a "restraint of trade action" against health Insurance Carriers in June 2009. The author(s) of the letter put forth a strong rationale for mandated insurance coverage of neurofeedback / biofeedback, including that insurance carriers hold neurofeedback / biofeedback efficacy research to a higher burden of proof. ...

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is an acute medical condition that results from a significant impact to the human skull. Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) occurs when mTBI symptoms, such as dysphoria, anxiety, and chronic pain continue for an extended period. There is much debate over the causes of PCS with physical attributions (i.e., physiological/neurological changes) on one side of the continuum and pur ...

The fundamental design concept of Z score biofeedback [also known as Z-Score neurofeedback] was first introduced in 1998 (Thatcher, 1998; 1999; 2000a; 2000b). The central idea of the instantaneous Z score is the application of the mathematical Gaussian curve or ‘Bell Shaped’ curve by which probabilities can be estimated using the auto and cross-spectrum of the electroencephalogram (EEG) in order to identify ...

The Scientist Research News Update series was created to give our readers a sample of ongoing genetics and hardcore science research and trends, and today's 10-19-09 update certainly fills the bill. Read on to find out more about how late nights and irregular sleep might contribute to the onset of Alzheimer's, researchers translate complex genetic processes into music, small amounts of stress may actually p ...

I am excited to share with you an important biometric that we are able to observe with Valsalva Wave Pro, the new Coherence instrument. I am presently calling this biometric the “whole Valsalva Wave,” whole because it provides us with a much more complete view of what the blood is doing, including respiratory, heart beat, and vascular components, than traditional heart rate variability (HRV) measures. ...

The National Institutes of Health / Mental Health (NIH/NIMH) Research News Update for October 2009 details very interesting and, at times, cutting-edge research. For example, scientists have started to assemble the first Transcriptional Atlas of Human Brain Development, patterns of cerebral "neuronal avalanches" in may be related to mental illness, high tech robots may have helped find a new treatment compo ...

I am pleased to announce that The Behavioral Medicine Report will republish select editions of the Coherence Newsletter. Best selling author, researcher, noted presenter, and all around nice guy Stephen Elliott writes and publishes The Coherence Newsletter. His monthly writings cover very interesting research-based and theoretical aspects of the mind-body-heart connection, including heart rate variability ( ...

The APA Practice Organization released a formal Information Alert just minutes ago to its members. This latest announcement details that the senate finance committee passed healthcare reform legislation. Only briefly mentioned was that a republican "crossed the isle" to sign on to the reform bill. No matter your opinion on the current debates over healthcare reform, this bill appears to benefit psychologist ...

In a soon-to-be published meta-analytic study*, researchers report that neurofeedback benefits people with treatment refractory (resistant) epilepsy. The authors' review of current research revealed that almost 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, or 0.8% of the general population, and that approximately 33% of patients with this unfortunate medical condition do not benefit from traditional medical tr ...