Myomancy ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism

Brightstar’s study on their treatment with dyslexia was covered on Myomancy.com a few days ago.  Digging into the background and the scientific basis of Brightstar’s system has reveled a complicated chain of connections.

Brightstar is a subsidiary of Epoch Innovations and on Epoch’s web site, Jose Kullok is listed as "VP Intellectual Property. Jose is a founder of the company, co-inventor of the BrightStar technology and has over 15 years experience in research & development. He was a vice president of research & development at Auto Balance, an Israeli-based startup in the medical field. He was also Chief Executive Officer at Non-Cognitive Technologies LTD, a company focused on biofeedback systems, heart rate variability, and autonomic nervous system measurement. Before this, Jose was a research and development manager at MediTech Inc., in Las Vegas, Nevada, and SKS Bio-Equipment LTD, in Jerusalem. Jose has a background in theoretical biology and physics."

SKS Bio-Equipment Ltd does not appear to have a web site but they were connected to a scientific review performed by S & J Kullok: Interactions between non-symmetric mechanical vector forces in the body and the autonomic nervous system: basic requirements for any mechanical technique to engender long-term improvements in autonomic function as well as in the functional efficiency of the respiratory, cardiovascular, and brain systems.

Saul Kullok and Jose Kullok are named on several a patents:
11th March 2004  - Apparatus, method and computer program product to facilitate ordinary visual perception via an early perceptual-motor extraction of relational information from a light stimuli array to trigger an overall visual-sensory motor integration in a subject.

11th November 2003 -  Apparatus, method and computer program product to produce or direct movements in synergic timed correlation with physiological activity.

S & J Kullok and Epoch Innovations Ltd are jointly mentioned in: 15th April 2004  - Apparatus, method and computer program product to produce or direct movements in synergic timed correlation with physiological activity . This appears to be the assignment of the 11th November 2003 patent application to Epoch Innovations.

The Kullok’s also presented a paper at the Sixth British Dyslexia Association International Conference entitled A combination of computerised photic stimuli technology and special needs teachings: A new and efficient method to ameliorate deficits associated with dyslexia. This paper was presented in connection with Epoch Labs of whom I cannot find any information. The web address points to a test page and its WhoIs details provide nothing useful. However the WhoIs details for Epoch Innovations web site points to Epoch Labs USA Inc. So its reasonable to assume Epoch Labs and Epoch Innovations are one and the same. Dr Stefan Bondorowicz, the third author listed on the paper, is Brightstar UK’s Director of Science.

According to an internal Stanford University publication [pdf] Epoch Labs sponsored Associate Professor John D.E. Gabrieli to  "measure the efficacy of a program to remediate reading problems among dyslexic youth".  Unfortunately I haven’t been able to track down the results from this work.

The patent applications are heavy going but it seems the studies and Brightstar are proposing a link between the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), visual processing and the cerebellum. The ANS has two parts, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic deals with our response to stress and is responsible for the fight-or-flight (F-or-F) mechanism. The parasympathetic system is the reverse of this. It returns the body to the normal state afterwards.
One of the roles of the ANS is the control of heart rate and blood pressure. Brightstar appear to be supporting the view that for some reason dyslexic children become stressed thus triggering the F-or-F mechanism. When people are stressed, the sympathetic ANS diverts energy away from long-term survival needs such as digestion to short-term needs like increased energy. It is not natural for anyone to be under long-term stress so a child who finds education stressful is likely to have some form of developmental problems and Brightstar are suggesting that in dyslexics this manifests itself in under-developed cerebellum and a magnocellular deficit.
The Brightstar approach is to train, using visuals and biofeedback, the recipient to be less stressed.  The biofeedback takes the form of a heart-rate monitor which makes sense as the ANS controls the heart-rate. Once the stress reaction is removed, the child is free from the handicap that has been holding them back.

Related Study:
Biofeedback of R-wave-to-pulse interval normalizes blood pressure - Indicates that blood pressure can be changed through biofeedback.

Jose & Saul Kullok are thanked in the acknowledgment section a study on ADHD

Many thanks to Robert who provide much of the information for this article.