BCIA Continuing Education Posts

The BioSource Faculty Explain Peer-Reviewed Science

5-Second Science: The Link Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychosis

Using a large nationally representative dataset, the researchers found that people hospitalized for TBI were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic conditions than similar individuals without TBI.

Biofeedback

Zachary Meehan

3 days ago4 min read

5-Second Science: Nitazenes Are 50-250 Times More Potent Than Heroin

Just when you thought the opioid crisis couldn’t get worse, a new class of drugs is quietly overtaking fentanyl as the deadliest threat on the street: nitazenes.

Psychopharmacology

Fred Shaffer

4 days ago5 min read

5-Minute Science: Alzheimer's Risks Can Be Reduced by Lifestyle Changes

The US POINTER trial reveals that older adults can boost their brain health through targeted, structured lifestyle changes.

Physiological Psychology

Fred Shaffer

4 days ago6 min read

5-Second Science: The Power of Open-Ended Questions in Therapy

It’s not just what you say—it’s how you ask. In a world of apps and algorithms, human connection still drives the heart of healing.

Therapy

Zachary Meehan

4 days ago4 min read

5-Second Science: How Your Brain Wakes Up From Sleep

The brain follows a consistent pattern when transitioning from sleep, with specific rhythms and regions activating in a predictable sequence. These changes vary depending on the sleep stage and even predict how alert or sleepy a person feels upon waking.

Psychopharmacology

Fred Shaffer

Jul 225 min read

5-Second Science: Common Viruses May Contribute to Parkinson's Disease

Researchers found human pegivirus (HPgV) in the brains of individuals with Parkinson’s disease, but not in healthy controls.

Physiological Psychology

Fred Shaffer

Jul 225 min read

5-Second Science: Optimists' Brain Activity is Unique

Optimistic individuals share similar patterns of brain activity when imagining the future.

Physiological Psychology

Fred Shaffer

Jul 226 min read

5-Second Science: Connectome 2.0 Achieves Live Near-Microscopic Brain Imaging

Vivid images reveal individual axons and even cell bodies, while a person is awake and breathing.

Physiological Psychology

Fred Shaffer

Jul 174 min read

5-Min Science: Human Neurogenesis Confirmed

A groundbreaking study published by an international team of researchers led by Jonas Frisén at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm has finally provided compelling evidence that yes, adult human brains do indeed grow new neurons

Physiological Psychology

Fred Shaffer

Jul 117 min read

5-Min Science: Brain Structural Differences Precede Substance Use

Children who later initiated substance use had larger brains overall, including greater whole brain volume, larger cortical surface area, and bigger subcortical structures.

Psychopharmacology

Fred Shaffer

Jul 1014 min read

5-Min Science: Four Distinct Types of Autism

Autism may actually be four distinct subtypes, each with its own genetic fingerprint and developmental trajectory.

Therapy

Fred Shaffer

Jul 108 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Frontal Intermittent Rhythmic Delta Activity (FIRDA)

Frontal intermittent rhythmic delta activity (FIRDA) is not a diagnosis—it’s a clue.

Neurofeedback

Fred Shaffer

Jul 1012 min read

5-Minute Science: Are We Missing Autistic Girls?

Although ASD is historically considered more prevalent in males, this assumption may reflect diagnostic bias rather than biological reality.

Neurofeedback

Zachary Meehan

Jul 76 min read

Psychopharmacology Debates: Cannabis Associated with Cardiovascular Risk

The comprehensive analysis found that people who use cannabis are 29% more likely to experience a heart attack, 20% more likely to have a stroke, and more than twice as likely to die from heart disease compared to those who don't use cannabis.

Psychopharmacology

Fred Shaffer

Jun 218 min read

How Antipsychotics Affect the EEG

Ben's case exemplifies the core insight of Dr. Swatzyna’s clinician detective model: that not all psychiatric symptoms are psychiatric in origin, and that functional abnormalities in brain activity—detectable on EEG—can signal the presence of invisible, systemic pathology.

Psychopharmacology

Fred Shaffer

Jun 2020 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Four Montages

All montages compare EEG activity between one or more pairs of electrode sites.

qEEG

Fred Shaffer

Jun 2016 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Diffuse Beta Activity

The presence of diffuse beta is not inherently abnormal, but it does merit clinical consideration. It may reflect endogenous factors such as individual variability in cortical excitability, exogenous factors such as the use of CNS-active medications (e.g., benzodiazepines, barbiturates, certain anesthetics), or non-cerebral factors such as EMG contamination.

BioSource Faculty

Jun 1910 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Rhythmic Mid-Temporal Theta of Drowsiness (RMTTD)

In recordings of drowsy subjects, RMTTD often coexists with slowing of the posterior dominant rhythm and the emergence of vertex sharp waves, further supporting its link to transitional drowsiness states rather than to epilepsy or cortical dysfunction.

BioSource Faculty

Jun 198 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Slow Alpha

Not all slow alpha is a pathological sign. A subset of these slow rhythms, especially when reactive and morphologically stable, represents not a degradation of function but a subharmonic of the canonical posterior dominant rhythm (PDR), generated by the same resonant thalamocortical loop but oscillating at half the fundamental frequency.

BioSource Faculty

Jun 1914 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Fast Alpha

The most pressing clinical issue surrounding fast alpha is its frequent misclassification, particularly when spectral peaks in the 18–19 Hz range are erroneously interpreted as beta spindling, pathological fast activity, or early signs of drug effects.

Neurofeedback

BioSource Faculty

Jun 1812 min read