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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