Neurofeedback Helps Omaha Woman Graduate College

Omaha Woman Earns Diploma with the Help of Neurofeedback

From Alternatives Newsletter Spring 2010

Omaha mom-to-be and recent college graduate Abby Mazzuca had come close to graduating before, but one obstacle kept getting in the way: algebra.  “I could never finish because I couldn’t pass math, even with a tutor.  I had such terrible anxiety and nervousness.  I would get so upset and worked up, and couldn’t calm down.”   Today she has her diploma and an A in math, thanks to Alternatives’ NeuroIntegration System and the professionals at the clinic.

Neurofeedback Helps Omaha Woman Graduate College

Omaha mom-to-be and recent college graduate Abby Mazzuca had come close to graduating before, but one obstacle kept getting in the way: algebra.  “I could never finish because I couldn’t pass math, even with a tutor.  I had such terrible anxiety and nervousness.  I would get so upset and worked up, and couldn’t calm down.”

Seven years after those failed attempts to graduate and now living in Omaha, Mazzuca was bound and determined to get her degree.  So she visited Alternatives, where her mother, Kathi Bratberg RN, the clinic’s holistic nutrition expert, had recommended that she take part in the Neurofeedback program administered by trained professional Jamie Moore. 

“I visited the clinic two to three times a week and actually did my homework there while I was on the NeuroIntegration System.  It was so simple.  I would hook up to the sensors and put on the glasses and earphones.  The music didn’t distract me at all.”

The system helped her focus on the ultimate goal – a B.S. in psychology – which she received last December from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.   Not only that, but she earned an A in math and made the dean’s list.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I showed 100 percent improvement in a couple of weeks.  I still had to work my tail off and do the homework, but I finally understood it.  It’s like my brain woke up.”

Helping her brain awaken is literally how Neurofeedback helped Mazzuca get past her math phobia, said Alternatives’ Moore.  “Math processing occurs in the parietal lobe,” Moore noted.  “Sometimes that part of the brain is in idle.  So we reactivate that area while the patient is actually doing math problems.  We decrease the alpha waves and up the number of beta waves.”

Decreasing Mazzuca’s math anxiety was somewhat of an opposite process, Moore said.  “Anxiety is generated from the opposite side of the spectrum and is a hyper arousal of the occipital and parietal lobes.  To curb anxiety we use visual and auditory cues to help the brain relax and go into idle mode,” Moore explained.

Moore said the NeuroIntegration System has helped at least five patients like Mazzuca who were having math, or language, difficulties.  “We’ve also helped students get better ACT scores.  We’re also having tremendous success with reduction of anxiety, and treating ADHD from adults to children, and depression,” Moore noted.

For more information about the NeuroIntegration System, contact Alternatives at 827-9450.