Different Kinds of Beats for Brain Stim

OK so I'm still learning here and will likely update this (and move it forward in date when I do) to better info as I learn more.

There are three primary TONE TYPES in audio (sonic) neuro tech / brain wave stuff:

1. Isochronic tones
2. Monaural tones
3. Binaural tones

Here's a few notes. I wanted to use the nifty brainwave spectrum or sine charts that transparentcorp had but I didn't want to steal them. Even though a google search indicates about 500 other websites have done exactly that.

Please, dive out to actual frequency charts of these for better example:
Isochronic; Modified Isochronic (volume filter); Monaural; Binaural

So in simple-speak, it's a matter of hammer-impact. The greater the valley between top of waveform, middle and bottom of waveform in the sine wave cycle, the more 'impact' it has on the brain.

You can change the 'shape' of the waveform. The smoother the cycle, the nicer it is to listen to. You can smooth or modify the waveform of isochronic tones by changing various aspects of them (such as varying-volume-per-beat as one example) which the various programs I've mentioned will help you do. That is sometimes called a 'filter' so a volume filter would be 'one' filter; if you applied a different effect as well you'd have two filters; and so on.

You can also change pitch. Understand the difference here, the waveform is the "beat pattern" which has nothing to do with the "pitch" -- you could do the same beat pattern in a high A or middle C or a 3-octave-spanning combination of many notes for a C-minor-7th chord. Think of a drum; it may have a low sound or high sound depending on the drum, even if you are pounding it at the same beat.

You can also add and change noise. Such as white noise, surf sounds, the type of stuff you hear in relaxation tapes or 'ambient alarms' and so on. You can place pulses within that kind of thing. This is called 'noise' or 'background' or both (depending on how it is used) in this tech. Background can also be music or other 'sounds'.

And of course you can change the video ('photic' is video, vs 'sonic' for audio). Just like with the audio wave forms, the more abrupt and 'largest differential' beat pulses have the most effect on the brain.

This is affected, obviously, by the intensity of the light! -- so high-output LED lights in your goggles might have more impact than the regular sort even with the same braintech program playing.

Details like varying waveforms in light intensity, color, etc. still need a lot of research. Actually EVERYTHING still needs a lot of research.

Most of this is up to ongoing experimentation for each person.

OK now on to the "separate hemisphere" stuff.

Binaural was my more modern intro to the mostly 'entertainment' aspect of brainwave entrainment. The idea here is that a pulse in left ear (right-brain) and right ear (left-brain) at the same time causes the center of the brain to create the "difference". However what this means is that you are not actually affecting the separate hemispheres as you choose; rather, you are using both hemispheres to create a single effect in the middle.

You can also aim a given frequency at a specific hemisphere (rather than their combination), which is somewhat different. I need to learn more about this and will post on it when I do. (Some diff between isochronic/binaural here. Need more input! Give me time, I just got my first book in the mail today about it ("Getting Started with Neurofeedback" by John Demos).)

The effect of combining numbers is almost absurd. The brain essentially combines and subtracts EVERYTHING because frankly it's like going into a drum and glass shop: you pound on this, you ding on that, and everything you touch sets off resonance in everything else, harmonics, etc.

You have what you put in; and what is created by what you put in. This is exponential. Now remember the point about the waveform 'extremity' -- the more specific, sharp, stronger hammer-beat having the most effect.

Consider that every new waveform you create, is adding to that overall sine wave. It takes very little until that sine wave looks more like a tapestry with a few slightly loose threads; so by nature the more waves you have at varying levels, the more the overall sine smooths itself out greatly.

ONE beat is like I showed above; make it TWO beats and now you have:
1, 2, 2+1, 1+2, 2-1, 1-2.
But the effects of what it creates interact also, so you have:
1+3, 3+1, 1-3, 3-1, 2+3, 3+2, 2-3, 3-2.
Again, you have not only what you input, but what is created in the brain by that input, and all of these things interact together.

So in the above example, there are other numbers created (frequency wave forms) besides 1, 2, and 3; there is also:
-1, 4, -2, 5,
plus there are multiple iterations of all the various numbers depending on what adds/subtracts to what out of all that mess.

And following on those, even if they are at 'lesser intensity', you then have yet-further math-effects (harmonics) such as -3, 9, etc.

It starts to make me think of the "All numbers are infinite" line in Liber al vel Legis. (I've had a lot of esoteric realizations around that verse.) (Don't read that book! :-))

It might be for this reason that one seemingly very informed fellow I'm corresponding with emphasized to me, "ONE TONE!" all in capitals, and said he believes nearly everything in the field and presets and especially 'multilayer binaural' are essentially crap for entrainment.

This doesn't mean that it isn't pleasant to listen to.

Some research showed that binaurals nicely relaxed you, they alpha'd the EEG--but then showed that they did so to about the exact extent that 'white noise' surf sound did! (Foster 1990, here). Also, Oster 1973 [Scientific American] showed the 'evoked potential' of binaural was very small compared to other techs. So I had previously mentioned that everyone referred to this without science ref but I've found a variety of science refs.

This reminds me of the research that showed that Transcendental Meditation was good for certain effects as claimed, but the "unique sound given to the trainer by God to give to you" -- er, actually there's only 4 at basic level, one each for men/women of adult/child age, but that is not commonly known (cult secret! damn that was SUCH a cult!) -- could just as well be 'roast beef, roast beef' and get the same effect. (I have no ref for that sorry, it was in some book I read circa 1991 -- after taking TM training and then meeting someone who'd been deeply involved in the cult in Iowa for years, who enlightened me.) The meditation style -- basically a zen no-mind format [compared to say, shamanic active meditation formats], is nice for relaxing, and 'spacing out' (aka 'transcending') and the resulting side effects on daily brainwave states, but frankly just way too passive for me. I'm told what they call the Siddhis (that word has meanings in the east as well), the 'advanced' form of TM, is more specific and proactive).

So to some degree it comes down to how much you really want to affect your brain; how much of the "frequency following response" it is important to you to create; how pleasant you want things to sound; and what you want to accomplish.

You can deal with insomnia, focus, learning, relaxation, meditation, most hypnosis, and things like that in pretty simple alpha-theta ranges which even subtle complex waveforms like the beautiful bineaural stuff is likely capable of getting you into.

I think for more specific effects, exploration, and the higher and lower (Delta, Gamma, etc.) stuff you'd probably need to stick to isochronic and photic stimulation.

PJ

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Rumors in Need of Reference

Really, there is not a ton of information about neuro-technology on the internet, it turns out.

There are several commercial companies making claims that either can't be backed by science or are referring to a broad span of science 'in general' which may not apply to what someone does with their product or what they are advertising.

There are a variety of a surprisingly small number of people (given the sales of brain-tech items and that this has been going on since the early 1990s at least), most of whom do not have much experience with it and are asking questions.

Of those who do clearly have some experience with it, most of the answers are "there aren't any answers" and most of the assertions they make, they provide zero actual reference to legitimate science. This isn't entirely their fault. There may not be any legit science or it might never have been posted. They may have got the info from someone they took seriously or from their own experience (although the latter would be nice to have noted). But the end result is that someone new to the field has no idea what to take seriously.

Humorously when I do searching for information, I often find 3-10 pages with the identical phrasings on them, all with the same complete dearth of useful information.

I'm going to make a post I can update to include various rumors, assertions, and half-references I find, which need more information. One would think they were true the way they are tossed about with all the absolute faith of doctrinal details at a revival meeting, but I'm a bit skeptical since if they had something solid behind them, I would expect to stumble on it at some point. When I do, I'll post on it and make a link to that from this post.


RUMORS, ASSERTIONS AND HALF-REFERENCES

[s]Isochronic tones are much more effective at 'entrainment' than monaural or binaural.[/s] see posts 6/17/09

Shaping the waveform of the isochronic tone not only makes the sound more pleasant (I don't question this part) but creates less harmonics which may interfere with the overall intention to entrain.

Frequencies below the audible level cannot entrain.

There is no particular difference between the effectiveness of monaural vs. binaural tones.

Adding sonic stimulus to photic stimulus has no particular increase in effect.

Sonic stimulation is not particularly effective alone.

In 1942 'tactile stimulation' was demonstrated to have an entrainment effect. (Cannot find this paper though I believe it exists.) Questions: What KIND of tactile stimulation specifically? Why is there no further info about a tactile approach? (Prior to the late 80s this would have been much easier to arrange than light/sound for mechanical/technical reasons I'd think so it makes me wonder.)

10 Hz entrains faster/easier than all other frequencies.

Entrainment is not when a targeted part of the brain (eg the part affected by the sensory(s) you are stimulating) has a frequency following response, but when other parts of the brain also then pick up that response.


Other notes

Apparently this field has its own definition of 'meditation' which is basically when one is fully in alpha-theta with no beta. I disagree with this because they are only referring to one type of meditation, the 'no-mind' sort that gets all the press in the West; there are other types of meditation such as shamanic meditation which tends to be theta-delta with a little high beta I suspect (haven't measured it, only guessing), as one example. In a perfect world they would use a far more specific word than 'meditation' which encompasses a lot of things that are definitely not that frequency description (even intense prayer, held fast, is considered a form of meditation).

It was pointed out to me (by CraigT) that entrainment is kind of a mis-focus in any case; that there may be many reasons, applications, and benefits that really don't have anything to do with entrainment or whether it is really happening. I don't doubt this, and if anything it sounds reasonable and more interesting in a way, but I'd like more info. I suppose I'll trip on it myself.

PJ

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Gamma notes

Gamma brainwave notes from a blog. I'm mostly posting 'succinct summary' stuff here aside from later experiments so for more detail I'll give links.

Paraphrased; condensed

Gamma -- determined by the amount of synchronous gamma firing -- has been positively associated with children's language development, cognitive skills, behavior and impulse control, and found to be lower in children whose parents had history of language impairment. Previous research in adults & animals says Gamma heightens during the processing of linguistic information, during the formation of ideas and memories and during other abilities. It fires between 2 regions of the brain during associative learning, when a new concept is linked to one already known.

Low gamma coherence within different hemispheres is associated with ADD and learning disabilities. Children with non-verbal learning disabilities had less connectivity in the right hemisphere. Too much Gamma is associated with ADHD, positive associations in Schizophrenia (i.e. hallucinations) and epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease, and negative symptoms of Schizophrenia (i.e. blunt or flat affects).

Gamma training in children 6-16 with non-verbal learning disabilities had positive effects, enhancing various non-verbal cognitive abilities such as processing speed, freedom from distractibility, arithmetic and coding. (2x weekly, 35 minute BWE sessions, alternating between excitatory [14 Hz to 40 Hz ramp-up] and inhibitory [40 Hz to 14 Hz ramp-down].

from: What Gamma Can Do For You
http://www.mindupdate.com/?p=98

PJ

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Comparisons Between Audio, Photic, AVE, Monaural, Binaural, Isochronic, Ganzfeld

This overall review of brainwave research suggests what I'd gathered:

Further studies are needed to compare the effects of auditory, photic, and AVE stimulation at the same frequencies for each outcome and to compare the clinical benefits of monaural, binaural, and isochronic beats and the use of white noise vs music as a background.

from: http://www.musicmefree.com/brainwave-study.pdf

In other words, nobody really knows. Well I guess we can only move upward from knowing next to nothing!

PJ

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Entrainment Duration

Apparently of the formal research done and reviewed, a few details were left out of the trials done so far. These things remain as questions. Which is... nearly everything it seems like!

Many practitioners and developers of BWE tools believe that repeated exposure to BWE will allow the user to enter the desired brain states unassisted. Indeed, the study by Patrick which found improvements in overall intelligence and behavior, gradually withdrew the stimulus until users could produce the targeted brainwave frequencies on their own. Most studies that examined long-term effects did not withdraw stimulus over a specified time period before testing, so the duration of the effects are unclear. Nor are there studies that compare the effects of duration or frequency of stimulation, so it is not known whether there is a minimal length or frequency of entrainment required to achieve each positive outcome or if there is a limit to the intensity of symptom relief from BWE.

from: http://www.musicmefree.com/brainwave-study.pdf

So many good questions. How long to entrain the brain to habit X, before original habit Y returns? Does it need 'refreshing'?

I also wonder, if you entrain your self to X and Y, and then later to Z, is it "changing" what you're entrained to, or merely additive?

PJ

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Hypoglycemia Affects Brainwaves

Low blood sugar while you sleep affects your brain waves apparently.

The aim of the project was to detect specific EEG patterns related to hypoglycemia. EEG analysis was performed using a probabilistic classifier and unsupervised learning for the construction of learning sets for the classifier. Unsupervised learning and additional tools were used in the search for EEG patterns occurring when the blood-glucose level was below the hypoglycemic threshold. The rate of these specific EEG patterns was below 5% in normal nights. In patients who were known to have no or a reduced glucagon response to hypoglycemia, the rate increased to 20-80%.

From: Detection of EEG patterns related to nocturnal hypoglycemia.
GADE J, ROSENFALCK A, BENDTSON I.
Methods Inf Med 1994;33(1):153-6.
Department of Medical Informatics and Image Analysis, Aalborg University, Denmark.

PJ

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Binaural vs. Monaural FFR Music During Sleep

Two things I found interesting.

1. First that the initial cycle of entrainment attempt during sleep was less successful as if attempts later were moreso. If someone were going to be targeting frequency following response tech toward themselves while sleeping, a delay might be useful.
2. Second that the monaural was not any less successful at this than the binaural, suggesting that quiet speakers on a headboard or each side of the bed (or pillow speakers) might be just as useful as someone trying to sleep with earbuds on.

Our results indicate that delta EEG entrainment occurred as a result of the music being presented during sleep. The entrainment response was not stereophonic specific, it occurred with the monophonic and stereophonic music. Significant increases in the incidence of delta in the EEG were found only in the data recorded during the second presentation of the music. This increase in delta during the second music presentation was not confounded with the passage of time nor was it confounded with naturally occurring increases in delta associated with deep sleep; there were no differences between the incidences of delta during the monophonic and the stereophonic music. The lack of any significant differences in the data recorded during the first presentation of the music suggests that the EEG of the first transition from wakefulness to sleep is less malleable perhaps due to higher levels of cortical activity inhibiting relaxation.

From: A pilot study of EEG entrainment as a sleep aid
MARQUARDT CJG, ORR LL, PERUGINI M, RADONJIC D
Sleep Research 1997; 26: 267.
Sleep Disorders Centre, Royal Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

PJ

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Photic Stimulation in Color: RGB Absorption Through Eyelids

This seems like a big deal. You can't get a white blend if your R of the RGB is massively stronger without affecting its intensity for example. I wonder why our eyes pass through red light and not the others? I mean what evolutionary thing could cause that? In any case I think this has real significance for people using photic stimulation (flashing lights particularly LEDs). It's too bad they didn't cover other colors and not just RGB.

Although it has been reported that light treatment during sleep can modify biological rhythms, the amount of light that is transmitted through the human eyelid has not been established. We evaluated eyelid transmission with a visual threshold response. Estimated light transmission through the eyelids was 0.3% for blue, 0.3% for green, and 5.6% for red light. The eyelid was an effective attenuator and acted as a red-pass filter. Illumination intensity and color balance after passing through the eyelid should be considered in evaluating the effects of light treatments during sleep.

from: Light attenuation by the human eyelid.
ANDO K, KRIPKE DF.
Biological Psychiatry 1996;39(1):22-5.
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, USA

PJ

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