Hemoencephalography (Toomim)

Domain IX · Biomedical, neuro & digital · Hershel Toomim, Jeffrey Carmen · 1997 · USA

What it is

Hemoencephalography (HEG) is a form of neurofeedback. Instead of EEG it uses a forehead sensor that tracks a blood-flow-related signal from the front of the brain, and shows it to the client as a moving bar, a tone or a movie that plays or pauses. The client learns, by trial and feedback, to raise…

Format

• nIR HEG (Toomim): Toomim coined the term "hemoencephalography" and built a near-infrared spectrophotometry system in the late 1990s (per Wikipedia's history, which cites Siever 2008). The sensor shines red and near-infrared light through the forehead and reads a ratio thought to track local…
• ADHD, autism, attention, other conditions: The reports are small and uncontrolled, or parent-reported, and many come from groups linked to the developers (Wikipedia summary). Toomim et al. (2004) had no randomisation, blinding or sham control, and they themselves raise regression to the mean as an…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Format: Sessions are individual, in the office, with a clinician present. Some home-training options exist (Wikipedia; Carmen p. 43). Course length varies widely between reports. The developers' papers give their own session numbers; follow the protocol and training you were taught, not a figure from this guide.
• Version followed: near-infrared HEG (nIR HEG) as Hershel Toomim's group describe it in Toomim et al. (2004, Journal of Neurotherapy 8(3)), and passive infrared HEG (pIR HEG) as Jeffrey Carmen describes it in Carmen (2004, Journal of Neurotherapy 8(3)) and in his NRBS webinar page. Both are described at the level of method only. This guide gives no device settings, sensor sites, threshold rules or session…
• pIR HEG (Carmen): Carmen is a New York-licensed psychologist who describes himself as the inventor of pIR HEG (NRBS webinar page). He developed it out of his earlier peripheral thermal biofeedback work (Carmen 2004, p. 23). A passive sensor reads infrared (heat) emission from the forehead, which Carmen treats as an index of frontal metabolic activity and blood flow. His main published use is migraine. Wikipedia's…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status, from independent sources:

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• clients choosing HEG to avoid seeing a doctor.
• worsening migraine after sessions that does not settle overnight.
• state use that turns into strain or worry. The trained state is calm effort.
• stopping medication without the prescriber's knowledge, and rebound headaches.
• psychological work being put on hold while the client waits for the device to work.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.