Do you ever wonder what the best version of yourself would look like? Imagine being able to focus on difficult tasks without distraction or mental clutter. Imagine compartmentalizing more effectively, quickly setting stressors aside. Imagine prioritizing among competing options as efficiently as possible. Imagine making one effective decision after another without hesitation.
Personalized repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (PrTMS) delivers results like these to business leaders, nonprofit founders, and high-performing professionals of all kinds. That’s why the C-Suite is flocking to PrTMS.
PrTMS fixes a scattered, distracted brain.
If your brain isn’t operating harmoniously, parts of it will fire at the same time as others. For instance, the emotional centers of the brain could activate along with the frontopolar cortex (FPC), which is thought to play a role in higher-order tasks like learning. This makes it difficult to concentrate, since the brain is getting in its own way and constantly trying to overcompensate for the fact that things aren’t running smoothly.
We call this “noise,” and it shows up on an electroencephalogram (EEG) as messy waveforms that zigzag across the screen. When the brain operates at cross purposes like this, it can cause feelings of anxiety and depression, as well as interfere with sleep. Think about driving a car with a flat tire — you can still drive, but it’s loud, uncomfortable, and potentially dangerous.
PrTMS offers a noninvasive, medication-free way to optimize brain activity. If you think of the brain as an engine, then PrTMS offers a tune up.
Diagnosing areas for improvement
The PrTMS treatment process starts by figuring out which specific parts of the brain require attention. To do this, an EEG machine maps activity in 19 discrete sections of the brain. This only takes five minutes, and there are no wires or gels. The patient also fills out questionnaires. If the physician judges it necessary, other neurocognitive tests may be conducted as well. The purpose of this step is to create a complete and detailed understanding of the patient’s brain health. This initial intake process usually takes about an hour.
Armed with this data, our medical staff finds the prime peak of the wave formation in the center of the EEG, which should be within a particular power band. They then develop an individualized treatment plan that will herd any troublemakers back where they belong.
PrTMS is a literal physical science — not an art. Analysts look at the brain and can see which parts, for instance, are likely causing you anxiety or disrupting your sleep.
How PrTMS nurtures peak performance
PrTMS differs from traditional TMS, which medical professionals have been using successfully for decades, by treating the specific parts of a given brain that require attention. TMS treats every patient’s entire brain indiscriminately, like a proverbial bull in a china shop. Conversely, PrTMS offers a precise, targeted treatment plan that is customized for the individual. Only those parts of the brain that are interfering with optimal performance are eased back into position.
This is done with a safe, extremely low-powered magnetic pulse. At The Brain Lab, our machine is so finely tuned that we can use the minimum required dose for each specific part of the brain. At any given moment, we only use about 20 percent of the power the machine is capable of.
After a qualified provider carefully reviews and approves the plan, treatment begins. Sessions last approximately a half hour and take place five days a week. On average, treatment plans last between six to eight weeks.
Unlike other therapies like neurofeedback or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), the patient doesn’t have to engage with or react to anything; all they have to do is sit in a comfortable leather armchair. A lot of people experience the sessions describe them as comforting. It’s not uncommon for clients to get sleepy and relaxed while they do it. The magnetic pulses sound like a soft ticking and feel like a very light tapping, and there’s absolutely no pain.
After treatment, patients’ neurons naturally return to firing in rhythm. For optimal brain function, the electronic signal we want to see is the path of least resistance, a clean line from the base of the patient’s head all the way around to the front. When the course of treatment is complete, the individual’s EEG looks clean and clear — a curve with each section of the brain in alignment.
PrTMS: A groundbreaking treatment
PrTMS is catered to each patient’s specific brain. It smooths out conflict and noise among different sections of the brain, realigning them to act in concert and cooperatively. As a result, the brain functions in accordance with its maximum potential. Focus, memory, decision-making, and other higher-order capabilities improve while anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions vanish.
— Nicholas Mathews is CEO and co-founder of The Brain Lab, a PrTMS clinic in Agoura Hills, California.
