Research
Brain Mapping​
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"You can only work on what you can see," thought Jozef Vervoort’s when in 1997 he purchased his first "brain mapping” apparatus, which was originally developed in the United States by Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Thanks to this "mapping of the brain", neural activity can be measured and color-coded on paper. This method makes it possible to measure and evaluate a subject's responses to acoustic and visual stimuli. We particularly focus on slow waves, and on the immediate proximity of slow and fast waves, which is the source of pronounced states of agitation.
Belgian neurologist, Dr. Werner Van den Bergh from the University of Louvain, brought to Atlantis an autistic child who was non-verbal and exhibited very aggressive behavior. Van den Bergh had heard about auditory brain stimulation as practiced in Sint-Truiden, and hoped to be able to help the child and his parents. The boy’s records included color-coded prints of his brain activity.
One glance at the autistic boy's records and Jozef Vervoort immediately knew where to start. He decided to purchase a Brain Mapping device for the institute so that he could work even more accurately on different areas of the brain. He quickly realized that, by precisely targeting functional disorders, he could implement the listening therapy more effectively.
Brain mapping (evoked potentials) gives valuable information, especially for children with autism, epilepsy, brain injury, anoxia (oxygen deprivation) at birth, and dyslexia, and even for people who are unable to take a listening test. "As soon as we get a patient suffering from one of those affections, we recommend a brain mapping," says Jozef Vervoort.
The cost is 140 euros for clients of Atlantis and Mozart-Brain-Lab, and the procedure takes about half an hour. A cap to which electrodes are connected is placed on the subject’s head. Then, the subject receives a series of sounds, via a headset, at different pitches, frequencies and durations.
Normally, the gathered evoked potentials indicate the conductivity of neuronal circuits in the brain, but in our context only the subject's reactions to acoustic and visual stimuli are taken into consideration.
To date, Jozef Vervoort and his team have conducted some 10,000 brain mappings. The evaluation of the maps is exclusively in Jozef’s hands. The consultation with the patient’s parents or relatives takes about 45 minutes, during which the tests results and a listening therapy strategy are discussed. The main goal of the treatment is to harmonize the different brain waves.
A new device was purchased in 2005. It is regularly updated at night via data line, thus always up-to-date.
A study by Jozef Vervoort, in collaboration with the Dutch professor Martien De Voigt and the Belgian neurologist Werner Van den Bergh, was published in the renowned American Journal of Neurotherapy. The study clearly demonstrates the benefits of using brain mapping in conjunction with the listening therapy per Prof. Tomatis.
