The Basic Training Clinician screen can be configured for any EEG frequency band of at least 2 Hz between 0.5 Hz and 48 Hz.
The Basic Training screen provides 2 Filters which can be applied 2 filters on one channel OR One filter for each of 2 channels.
For example, the Basic Training Screen could be used to:
- Reward/uptrain SMR at 2 training sites like C3 and C4 (two training sites, one filter per site)
- Reward/uptrain Alpha at P3 while inhibiting Theta at P3 (one training site, two filters)
- Inhibit/downtrain Theta at Fz while monitoring Beta at Fz (one training site, two filters)
- Reward/uptrain Alpha at Oz with no 2nd filter configured (one training site, one filter)
Filter Controls
The Filter controls vary slightly between the Clinician Screens. For instance, only the Basic Training clinician screen actually displays the “Raw” amplitude signal. The example below is from the Basic Training Screen.
Filter # Button Allows the user to disable the filter completely. If this box is disabled (unchecked), then no data will be recorded for this filter and the Filter will not factor into the assessment of goal criteria. Disabling a filter completely may be useful if the Clinician screen has more Filters available than are necessary for your training protocol. For example, the Four Filter Training clinician screen allows for up to 4 filters to be configured. But, if your Training Protocol only requires the reward/inhibition of 3 filter frequencies, then you could disable Filter 4 to accomplish that configuration.
Feedback checkbox When checked, the filter data will factor into the assessment of goal criteria and filter statistics will save with the patient data. When Feedback is disabled (unchecked), data from the set frequency range is still saved but the data will not factor into the assessment of the goal criteria. You may wish to operate with Feedback disabled for a filter if you just wish to monitor a particular frequency bandwidth without giving the trainee immediate feedback about that filter.
You can elect to uncheck the “Feedback” box which will still record the data from that Filter for Monitoring of a particular frequency during training, BUT that filter will not actually factor into the reward feedback that the client/trainee sees during training. You’ll notice that the amplitude bar/meter is grayed out in this scenario, but statistics are still calculated and displayed onscreen.
You can also disable a Filter entirely by unchecking the box next to the Filter # display. In this case, no data is saved from that filter and new feedback for that filter is provided. This may be useful in a scenarios wherein your chosen Clinician screen has more available filters than you actually require for your protocol. So, rather than record a filter unnecessarily, you can turn it off entirely.
Channel x dropdown Chooses which channel (x) this filter uses for its input. Also displays the currently set Sensor Placement for the selected channel.
Max uV Determines the ceiling of the vertical scale as measured in microvolts (uV) that is used to set the maximum range of the graph. You will be unable to set the Max uV to a setting that is less than the currently set threshold value.
Above/Below Chooses the player’s goal to be above or below the threshold. Also displays the percent of time the player met that goal since starting feedback.
“Above” would be the desired setting if you wished to Reward, Increase or Uptrain a particular bandwidth.
“Below” would be the desired setting to Inhibit, Decrease or downtrain a EEG filter.
Frequency Allows you to select the EEG frequency range that will be measured. You adjust this using the mouse to change the Min and Max settings in order to set the upper and lower boundaries of the frequency range desired. Can also be changed via the “Settings-Filter Frequency” menu from the top of the screen. Any frequency of at least 2 uV can be configured between 0.5 hz and 48 hz with the SmartMind system.
Displayed Statistics
Amplitude Displays the current amplitude (strength) of the signal. Amplitude is defined as the absolute value of the maximum displacement from a zero value during one period of an oscillation. Amplitude is a measure of the power of the EEG signal in microvolts (uV).
Mean(10s) Displays a mean for the last 10 second interval of amplitude data.
Total Mean Displays the total mean value of the gathered amplitude since the last reset.
Sustained Displays the maximum amount of time that the player has sustained the set goal since the last reset.
Amplitude Bars and Reward Signal
Raw Displays the amplitude level of the input signal for that channel. This display does not accommodate for any artifact detection and/or suppressed amplitude based on artifact detection.
Corrected x Displays the corrected amplitude level of the input signal for that channel. This display DOES accommodate for artifact detection and suppresses amplitude variation based on artifact detection. Also displayed is a numerical value (x) of the set threshold level (to the right of label “corrected”) by which the player’s goals are measured.
Filter Oscilloscope Displays the signal wave form for the filter.
Graphs On Turns the graph display on/off. Turning off the graphs for some slower machines may be necessary in order to conserve CPU usage. However, most Pentium III computers that are at least 800 Mhz have been found to be an effective minimum configuration for using the SmartMind system.
Feedback Options
Visual Feedback
Enables and disables star feedback shown above. This includes the M/P/L display (see below for definition of M/P/L). The star will appear gold when BOTH filters’ goals are being met. The star will appear red when NEITHER filters’ goals are being met or when “Excessive Facial Activity” occurs (i.e., the player tenses their face or jaw). Additionally, the star will change to the color Blue if only the criteria for filter 1 is met and will change to Green if only the criteria for Filter 2 is being met. The star will display a number in its center. This number denotes the number of seconds that the goal has been continuously achieved. This number will reset any time the star changes color. In EEG training, it is important to encourage the individual to sustain bursts of mental activity in relationship to the specified goal. The number in the center of the star is used to help guide trainees in achieving this goal.
M/P/L
Max Goal time / Percent Goal time / Last Sustained
This represents important information about the Goal used to measure an individual’s progress. Typically, the Goal is to have a Gold star, which represents that you are succeeding on all filters, but since filters can be disabled, this can change depending on your settings. “M” represents the maximum seconds the Goal was sustained. “P” equals the percentage of time the Goal was sustained and “L” is the length of time the Goal was sustained the last time the goal was achieved. Note that “L” will only reset if the Goal was sustained for 1 second or longer. This provides a way for the trainee to attempt to exceed their last best, sustained burst of activity that met the goal.
Audio Feedback
Enables and disables audio star feedback as set via the Settings – Audio Feedback menu.
Brings up a dialog which the Trainer uses to choose generally pleasing sounds for use as auditory feedback in EEG training. Lower pitched (less pleasing) or more distracting sound patterns are also provided to enable the Trainer to set auditory feedback that signals to the player that he or she has been in a non-targeted brain wave pattern for a specified amount of time. That time can be set by setting the threshold timer. If the player is in a targeted brain wave pattern, the positive auditory feedback will play immediately regardless of the threshold timer.
NOTE: The configured audio feedback sounds will only play if the “Audio Feedback” checkbox on the main Clinician’s screen is actually checked.
NOTE: It is generally best to configure auditory feedback such that only one sound will play at a time. This can be done by setting only the Star Gold and Star Red to sounds and leaving the Filter 1 Above/Below and Filter 2 Above/Below (found by clicking “Advanced” at the bottom or the window) set to None. You can “Preview” the feedback sounds selected and pick ones that the trainee likes.
Star Gold
Allows audio to be chosen for when the star is gold.
Star Red
Allows audio to be chosen for when the star is red.
Blue Filter (1) / Green Filter (2) Above Threshold
Allows audio to be chosen for when the amplitude of the selected filter is above the threshold level set by the Trainer. Make sure your audio feedback settings match your training protocol. For example, if you have Filter 1 set to uptrain SMR, then you will want to set the Filter 1 Above Threshold to a rewarding sound and the Below Threshold to None. If you are downtraining, then set the Below Threshold option to a sound and leave Above set as None or a clearly different sound.
Blue Filter (1) / Green Filter (2) Below Threshold
Allows audio to be chosen for when the amplitude of the selected filter is below the threshold level set by the Trainer. Make sure your audio feedback settings match your training protocol. For example, if you have Filter 1 set to uptrain Beta, then you will want to set the Filter 1 Above Threshold to a rewarding sound and the Below Threshold to None. If you are downtraining Low Alpha, then set the Below Threshold option to a sound and leave Above set as None or a clearly different sound.
