Neurofeedback: Training Your Brain's Operating System with Dr. Andrew Hill
Based on Episode 157 of The Journey Podcast
Imagine being able to see your brain's electrical activity in real time and learn to consciously modify it. That's the promise of neurofeedback—a technology that's been quietly transforming lives for over 50 years, yet remains largely unknown to most people.
Dr. Andrew Hill, founder of Peak Brain Institute and cognitive neuroscientist, has spent 25 years mapping over 25,000 brains and training clients worldwide to optimize their neural functioning. His journey into neurofeedback began in the trenches of acute psychiatric care, where he witnessed profound human suffering with limited treatment options. What he discovered in neurofeedback challenged everything he thought he knew about the brain's capacity for change.
From Psychiatric Burnout to Neural Discovery
Hill's path to neurofeedback started in residential care facilities and locked psychiatric units. "I was seeing incredible suffering," he recalls, "but also seeing a lot of really deep patterns—a lot of holding patterns, revolving doors, people getting palliative care for mental health without much long-term change."
The healthcare landscape was simultaneously collapsing around effective treatment. Over just four years, the average length of stay for acute psychiatric patients dropped from 11 days to three days—barely enough time for antidepressants to begin working. After an injury forced him out of direct psychiatric care, Hill pivoted to tech work during the dot-com boom.
When that bubble burst, he found himself at a small clinic that combined developmental work with something called neurofeedback. "I walked in hoping to get an internship observing a day or two a week, and I walked out with a job."
Within months, Hill was witnessing transformations he hadn't believed possible: severe ADHD cases improving by multiple standard deviations in six to eight weeks, seizures disappearing, anxiety and trauma symptoms resolving, executive function dramatically improving. "This was not what I thought was possible with adult brains, let alone developing brains, and it seemed to be happening in both."
What Exactly Is Neurofeedback?
Neurofeedback is operant conditioning for your brain waves. Small sensors placed on your scalp pick up electrical activity from neurons firing. This EEG signal gets processed in real time, and when your brain produces desired patterns, you receive immediate feedback—often through visual displays, sounds, or even video games.
"Your brain learns to reproduce the states that get rewarded," Hill explains. It's like having a mirror for your mental states, allowing you to consciously train patterns of neural activity associated with calm focus, better sleep, emotional regulation, and peak performance.
The technology isn't new. Dr. Barry Sterman's breakthrough work with cats in 1965-66 discovered that training specific brain rhythms (sensorimotor rhythm or SMR at 12-15 Hz) could make subjects seizure-resistant while improving executive function and sleep quality. Around the same time, Dr. Joe Kamiya pioneered alpha training—essentially biofeedback-based mindfulness work.
The Blind Men and the Elephant Problem
Despite decades of clinical success, the neurofeedback field has struggled with fragmentation. Different schools emerged with conflicting theories about mechanisms and optimal protocols. Some focus on traditional frequency bands (alpha, beta, theta), others on slow cortical potentials, still others on real-time fMRI or micro-stimulation approaches.
"They all agreed that neurofeedback worked well and were getting effects better than most medications for these same complaints," Hill notes. "Yet they had really different ideas about the right way to do it, and those ideas were not reconcilable. I call this a blind man and elephant situation—we all have a piece of this thing we're describing."
This frustrated Hill enough to pursue formal neuroscience training at UCLA, where he could study the mechanisms underlying these clinical observations. His research focus became understanding individual differences in brain function and how to optimize training protocols accordingly.
The Science Behind the Training
Modern neurofeedback operates on several well-established principles:
Neuroplasticity: Your brain continuously rewires itself based on experience. Neurofeedback provides specific, repeated experiences that promote beneficial neural changes.
Operant Conditioning: When your brain produces target patterns, immediate positive feedback strengthens those neural pathways. This learning happens below conscious awareness but with conscious participation.
Regulatory Networks: Key brain networks—like the default mode network, salience network, and central executive network—can be trained to function more efficiently and with better coordination.
Thalamocortical Rhythms: Many protocols target the thalamus, your brain's relay station, to improve overall cortical regulation and information processing.
Research by Dr. Joel Lubar found that three neurofeedback sessions per week provided twice the impact of twice-weekly training, while four sessions offered only marginal additional benefits. This optimal frequency reflects how the brain consolidates new patterns.
Beyond ADHD: The Expanding Applications
While neurofeedback gained recognition treating ADHD and seizure disorders, applications now span far beyond clinical conditions:
Peak Performance: Athletes use neurofeedback to achieve flow states and maintain focus under pressure. Musicians train for enhanced creativity and reduced performance anxiety.
Executive Function: Entrepreneurs and professionals optimize decision-making, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
Sleep Optimization: SMR training strengthens sleep spindles—the brain waves that gate sensory information during sleep and promote memory consolidation.
Trauma Recovery: Alpha-theta protocols can help process traumatic memories by accessing theta states associated with memory reconsolidation.
Immune Function: Emerging research by Dr. Gary Schumer shows certain protocols can dramatically increase T-cell counts, with levels rising from 20% to 120% of normal ranges following 30 sessions.
The Individual Alpha Frequency Revolution
One of Hill's key insights involves Individual Alpha Frequency (IAF) training. Rather than training fixed frequency bands, this approach targets each person's specific alpha peak—typically between 8-13 Hz.
"IAF serves as a biomarker of processing speed in thalamo-cortical networks," Hill explains. "Faster IAF correlates with quicker information processing, better attention, and improved reading comprehension."
By upregulating someone's personal alpha frequency rather than generic "alpha," practitioners can achieve more targeted cognitive enhancement. This personalized approach represents the field's evolution toward precision brain training.
What to Expect: The Training Process
A typical neurofeedback program begins with comprehensive brain mapping—recording EEG from 19-21 scalp locations while the client performs cognitive tasks. This reveals patterns of over- and under-activation across different brain regions and networks.
Training sessions last 30-45 minutes, typically 2-3 times per week. Clients might watch a movie that gets brighter when their brain produces target frequencies, play video games controlled by their brain waves, or listen to music that becomes clearer with desired neural patterns.
"The brain learns to reproduce the states that get rewarded," Hill notes. "Most people start noticing changes within the first few sessions, though lasting improvements typically require 20-40 sessions."
Unlike medication, neurofeedback effects tend to be long-lasting because they represent learned neural patterns rather than temporary biochemical changes.
The Future of Brain Training
Hill sees neurofeedback moving toward increasingly personalized approaches based on individual brain anatomy, genetics, and functional patterns. Advanced techniques like real-time fMRI allow training of specific brain networks with millimeter precision.
"We're moving from a one-size-fits-all model to truly personalized brain training," he explains. "Understanding someone's unique neural signature allows us to design protocols that work specifically for their brain."
The field is also integrating with other optimization modalities—combining neurofeedback with meditation training, transcranial stimulation, photobiomodulation, and lifestyle interventions for comprehensive brain health.
A Technology Whose Time Has Come
After decades in relative obscurity, neurofeedback is gaining mainstream recognition. Professional athletes, executives, and biohackers are discovering what Hill learned in those early clinical years: the brain's capacity for positive change far exceeds what most people imagine possible.
"We're essentially giving people a mirror for their mental states," Hill reflects. "Once you can see your brain's patterns, you can learn to modify them. It's like having conscious access to your brain's operating system."
For someone who entered neurofeedback from a place of skepticism about human potential for change, Hill's journey represents both personal transformation and scientific validation. The technology that pulled him out of psychiatric burnout continues revealing new possibilities for human optimization and healing.
The question isn't whether neurofeedback works—decades of research and clinical practice have established its efficacy. The question is how to optimize its application for each individual brain, and that's where the real frontier lies.