BCIA Continuing Education Posts

Aug 9, 20255 min read

5-Min Science: When Your Immune System Hijacks Your Mind

Studies suggest that between 1% and 5% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia actually have autoimmune conditions.

Aug 8, 202514 min read

5-Min Science: Lithium Deficiency May Be an Early Alzheimer's Driver

The brain needs tiny amounts of lithium to stay healthy, and people with Alzheimer's don't have enough of it.

Aug 7, 20257 min read

We've Launched Mentor GPT

Mentor GPT is a free, highly specialized guide to certification, biofeedback, neurofeedback, qEEG, physiological psychology, psychopharmacology, and research methods. You can access it from our website menu.

Aug 3, 20252 min read

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

Jul 30, 20254 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.

Jul 30, 20255 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.

Jul 30, 20256 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

Jul 29, 20254 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.

Jul 22, 20255 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.

Jul 22, 20255 min read

5-Second Science: Optimists' Brain Activity is Unique

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

Jul 22, 20256 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

Jul 11, 20257 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.

Jul 10, 202514 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

Jul 10, 20258 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

Jul 10, 202512 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

Jul 7, 20256 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.

Jun 21, 20258 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.

Jun 20, 202520 min read

Interpreting the Raw EEG: Four Montages

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

qEEG