Visual Concentration Attention Therapy focuses on how the brain works and explains behavior characterizing mental and substance use disorders in terms of brain activity.
The brain is a powerful and remarkable organ that contains 86 billion nerve cells (neurons), each having about 7,000 synaptic connections (circuits) with other nerve cells. The neural circuits can be likened to the electric wiring you’d see in a vehicle or building.
Neural circuits are the paths through which the information received from our environment is interpreted and transferred. They link sensory inputs (via sensory neurons that carry information from sense organs to the brain) and motor outputs (via motor neurons that carry messages from the brain to the muscles) with different areas of the brain.
Neurons use chemical (neurotransmitters) and electrical signals to transmit information between the brain and body and different areas of the brain. The electrical activity and level of brain chemicals in healthy people lie within certain normal ranges. But this can change.
Research shows that the brain’s chemistry and electrical activity can be dysregulated by external or internal factors—giving rise to substance abuse disorders, mood disorders, learning disabilities, and other brain disorders. The most easily noticeable discrepancies are imbalances in neurotransmitters that function as inhibitors or stimulants in the neurological system.
For example, excessive consumption of alcohol can trigger the release of stress hormones and deplete the brain’s natural resources of dopamine (“feel-good” or “reward” hormone) and GABA (inhibitory neurotransmitter).
Likewise, depression is a symptom of imbalances in the brain’s chemistry. Depressed individuals tend to have lower levels of the “well-being” neurotransmitter serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. And in people with schizophrenia, there may be disruptions in the neurotransmitters glutamate, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
VCAT is designed to improve attention, concentration, perception, cognition, and memory by promoting effective communication between neurons and functional centers in the brain and sensory-motor system. It targets the brain’s malfunctioning areas (overactive, underactive, non-active) and stimulates the brain’s circuitry through neurocognitive stimulation within the Visual Field (VF).
A key part of how VCAT works is based on the brain’s ability to change and reorganize its connections, functions, and structure in response to stimuli (i.e., neuroplasticity). And even after the brain is conditioned to the VCAT’s treatment, we believe it can self-train and automatically compute VCAT principles in real-life daily practice.
Neuroplasticity describes the processes of synaptogenesis (formation of new connections between neurons) and neurogenesis (growth of new neurons). The brain can continually adapt and rewire itself to compensate for disease, the effects of substance abuse, injury, or environmental changes.
The mental and cognitive stimulations from Visual Concentration Attention Therapy produce higher plasticity by building stronger communication, connections, and functioning within your brain’s neural networks.
VCAT increases oxygenated blood flow throughout the brain, enhances the frequencies of brain waves to increase cognitive abilities, promotes sustained attention, and encourages the regulation, restoration, and healthy balance of neurotransmitters. These are the mechanisms that underly addiction, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and many other psychiatric disorders.
As a brain training modality, VCAT challenges your brain to learn new tasks through science-based systematic patterns that enhance neuroplasticity based on visual stimulation. Regular “exercising” using VCAT may also help delay the progression and onset of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases caused by substance abuse or brain injury.
Did you know that your eyes are an extension of your brain? And that the Visual Field (VF) is a reflection of your brain? The visual system (including the Visual Field) is intimately connected to the brain—and can be used as a therapeutic avenue to train the brain and restore balance.
Light coming in through your eyes can enhance your endocrine and nervous system function. Receptors in the retina send electrical messages to the visual cortex, pineal glands, and hypothalamus for further processing.
With this in mind, VCAT addresses dysfunctions within these electrical activities using two Treatment Diagram Platforms:
- External Visual Field Model (VFM): This is based on the science of Visual Field and Hemispheric Lateralization (the tendency for some neural functions to be specialized to one side of the brain or the other). External neural stimulus coming from the visual field stimulates neural networks and neurons—enhancing oxygenated blood flow, electrical discharge, neurotransmitter discharge, and brain wave activities.
- VCAT Neural Cognitive Model (NCM): Internal cognitive stimulus creates neuropathway connections deep in the brain to promote faster data analysis and processing.
