Dr. Margaret Ayers 1946 - 2008: Pioneer in Neurofeedback Helped Adults and Children with Brain Disorders
Pam Vetter
March 30, 2008
Current brain research has shown that Neurofeedback can be an effective adjunct to the medical treatment of the following brain disorders: open or close head injury, coma, stroke, epilepsy, migraine and cluster headaches, anoxia (oxygen deprivation), learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, and clinical depression.
Dr. Ayers had undoubtedly performed more Neurofeedback sessions than any other individual in the field. She was responsible for the development of all digital real time Neurofeedback equipment that samples EEG at a rate which provides unparalleled definition of the raw EEG and filtered waveforms. Margaret was a master clinician without equal in her ability to interpret raw EEG patterns.
Margaret Elaine Ayers was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the oldest of four children born to Gladys and Ernest Ayers. Her siblings included Anne, Don, and Ken. Her mother was an elementary school teacher. Her father was a lawyer who had a profound impact on Margaret by creating an awareness to help other people.
At a very early age, Margaret was known as a gifted and spirited child. She was reading at the young age of two and a half as documented through testing at Columbia University. She had an uncanny sense of nature, learning how to tune into nature from her Native American playmates in Estanca, New Mexico. She had the ability to be still and listen to information. It was an ability that she retained for the rest of her life.
Raised a Methodist, Margaret was kicked out of Sunday School when she was eight for pointing out to the teacher that genetics supports the idea that since there are black people in the world at least Adam or Eve had to be black.
Margaret was frequently asked how she came up with the idea to create the all digital real time EEG feedback machine. She related that while in high school, Margaret read the Autobiography of a Yogi noting descriptions of yogis who spent 25 years in a cave to become perfected. They reported hearing their heartbeats and their brain waves. She understood that the cave served as an amplifier.
In her first year of college, she was given an assignment to design an original research project. Her paper described the use of a machine that allowed individuals to train their brainwaves to replicate those of the yogis to attain perfection without spending 25 years in a cave. The professor, giving her an A plus, noted that while it showed great imagination, it was too bad that such a machine did not exist. She often wished she could find that professor to show her that it does exist now.
Graduating from Seattle Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology as well as a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, Margaret became a brain researcher at UCLA Medical School. She completed her formal education with a Doctorate in Alternative Medicine from Rio Verdi University in Provo, Utah.
She was the first person to establish a private clinical practice devoted exclusively to Neurofeedback. She was the first to publish using Neurofeedback for the management of symptoms of traumatic brain injury and the first to use Neurofeedback to bring individuals out of level two comas.
She wore many hats during her lifetime. She worked as chief chef at Lawry´s in Los Angeles. Known for her exquisite palate among restaurant chefs and owners, she made suggestions that were heeded regarding their menus and wine lists. There were times she provided fresh lemons and fresh avocados from her own trees at no cost to restaurants in the Los Angeles area to help improve their cuisine. Her family and friends looked forward to her gourmet cooking.
She was a rancher in Paso Robles where she kept her racehorses and planted a vineyard to produce chardonnay grapes in the rich soil of the Paso Robles area. She took great pride in her colt, Endless Winner, who won first place at Hollywood Park.
She carried a lariat in her jeep, which came in handy when a cattle truck overturned on an LA freeway. She was on her way to work, stopped her car, pulled out her lariat (the only car that had one in it) and helped the police clear the road by roping some of the frightened animals and leading them from the road.
As an avid fisherwoman, her greatest moment came while in New Zealand; she caught, tagged and released a 220 pound blue marlin. The government of New Zealand awarded her a patch to wear on her fishing vest along with a certificate stating somewhere in the cold waters of New Zealand, there is a marlin carrying the name "Maggie Ayers."
As an art collector, she acquired her first serious piece while in high school, a Christ Head, and went on to collect elegant Japanese art, signed first editions, and original Disney cells. She never settled for mediocrity in any aspect of her life.
She was a visionary who invented and developed the only EEG technology that reveals the language of the brain. In her recent book, "Whispers from the Brain," she stressed the value of primary data in the EEG and described how to read and interpret the important information it contains.
After contacting over 250 people notifying them of her death, the prevailing comment stated by those called was, "My life changed for the better the day that I met Margaret Ayers." She was a true prophet in her own land.
Gratefully, her work and legacy will continue. Her dear friend, companion and colleague, Dr. Penny Montgomery will continue, along with engineering support from Michael Wolff, to run Neuropathways EEG Imaging and to provide training.
A research fund has been established to further her work. Contributions, if desired, may be sent to the "Margaret Ayers Research Fund" at 427 North Canon Drive, Suite 105, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. For more information visit www.Neuropathways.com.
Print
Email
