Why a Brain Map is so important in treating ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder

ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders originate from the brain, which is why it is so important to analyze the brain when creating a treatment plan for either condition.

Consider an analogy, if an adult patient is suffering chest pain or experiencing symptoms suggestive of a possible heart problem, then the physician will evaluate the patient’s heart by initially performing an EKG (electrocardiogram), measuring blood pressure, and listening to the patient’s heart with a stethoscope. The physician evaluates the possible source or organ causing the symptoms; in this case, the heart.

This is Medicine 101 and is necessary in order to gather essential information for deciding the most appropriate treatment plan. The point I want to make here is that it should be no different for evaluating brain functioning in a patient with symptoms of ADHD or an Autism Spectrum Disorder that are obviously coming from the brain.

Unfortunately, when treating ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders, many treatment providers fail to properly evaluate brain functioning by obtaining a quantitative EEG brain map, leading to a treatment based on incomplete information about the underlying brain dysregulation or source of the symptoms. 

Creating the Right Treatment Plan for your Child

At the Drake Institute, every patient we see has their brain activity evaluated via a quantitative EGG brain map before any treatment plan is created. Why? Because children in treatment with very similar symptoms like poor sustained concentration and task completion often show different imbalances on their brain maps, unique to their brain functioning.

Consequently, neurofeedback treatment protocols for each patient should be different and individualized to improve their specific dysregulation. The same is true for other disorders we treat in addition to ADHD/ADD such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, Anxiety, Depression, and Obsessive Compulsive disorder.

For example, a child with ADHD with excessive emotional reactivity may show a brain map pattern of the frontal lobe being overstimulated.  At the same time the child could also have an area in the right posterior part of the brain which was under stimulated which can be linked to impulsivity.

Having identified these dysregulated patterns from the brain map, we can develop a treatment plan that targets both areas to develop more normal patterns of brain functioning. Whereas drug-based treatments may only temporarily suppress symptoms, the Drake Institute’s treatment enables the child to retrain the brain to exhibit stable, healthier brain wave patterns that can lead to long-term improvement.

Get the full story about our innovative treatment process by visiting our website, or contacting us now.

Email: drakepatients@drakeinstitute.com

Phone : 1-800-700-4233

Website : https://www.drakeinstitute.com/about-the-drake-institute

Kind Regards,

David Velkoff, M.D.

Medical Director