Talking to the Body: 'Soft' Biofeedback During BWE

Something that separates Neurofeedback from Brainwave Entrainment (BWE) is that the latter is a stimulus given 'to' your brain (choose-a-frequency), and the former is simply information 'about' your brain (change yourself to make the information change). One is doing something to you and you are reacting, the other is you doing something and the other thing is reacting.

One problem with BWE is that since it does not have EEG biofeedback (BF) monitoring involved, you don't actually know how your brain is responding to a given stimulus. I mean you might notice you feel more relaxed or more anxious but that is not specific enough in this case. This becomes a bigger issue when you understand that while humans are all pretty 'similar in general' -- alpha range frequencies are alpha for everybody "generally" -- we are all pretty 'unique in specific' -- some people will respond very clearly to 10 Hz and others to 9 Hz and some to 11.27 Hz. If one had BF info they could see what frequencies their brain responded to most notably or not at all.

Because BWE does not have BF you have to "guess in the dark". Or experiment extensively, and hope the result is clear to you, and because frequencies appear to be affective/effective to the point of the second decimal, that means even a 2 Hz range could in theory be 200 optional degrees of possibility.

Effective BWE, contrary to the "using bineural and using lots of frequencies" commercial myth I've been previously marketed at to believe I guess, is best done with a single frequency (or if using 2, using different kinds of tones, or a different kind of stimulation such as light + sound). So you can see that if you are left to sheer experimentation, in a second decimal point step, in a range of base frequencies of 0 to (I don't even know the top number but it's in the thousands at least, although MOST entrainment is done between 3-50 it appears), that could take forever.

But it made me wonder about Biogram Theory, about muscle testing, even about the most simple biofeedback. It made me wonder about Richard Bandler's NLP lectures related to mental tools and visualizations.

Why is it that one would be doing a session at X frequency for 20-30 minutes, and then the next day another and so on? Would it not be more constructive to get the mind suggestible, then tell the mind what you want to do, then go through the options so the mind can experience each of them briefly, and then just ASK the mind which is best? Now, if you have to speak, move, write something down, that will pull Beta into the mix I believe even if your eyes stay closed but hopefully at that point it's less an issue. You could ask the mind to show you a certain kind of picture(s) to represent a given answer or status. You could ask for a 5-star rating display or a thermometer or a numbered dial, anything that would tell you something about each frequency point in response to whatever criteria you are asking it to measure or relate to.

So for example you'd make a session that verbally explained you would be walking through a given set of frequencies. You take off the ramp (the auto-setting that 'graduates' one frequency to the next) so that the shift from one to the next is more noticeable. You give a note keying off the attention when the change to the next happens. You tell your body that you want it to experience these and then tell you which of those is (check one): most healthy; or best for absorbing suggestions about topic XYZ; or best for the brain adapting a frequency following response; or whatever the desired outcome is.

In theory, you should be able to 'map' your mind's opinion about all of it. Even for the higher frequencies you could do the suggestion part in lower frequency with a sort of post hypnotic command to show the visualization type responses during the later time.

Using a Biogram approach (finally, all my hypnosis-nlp-biofeedback-biogram work from years past is finding some use again!), you could design a mental tool that would be even more specific. For example you could create a scale from 0-100 and put the number of the frequency on it so it represents (for example) 8.00 to 8.99 Hz. You could add a little section off the side for 'not applicable / not on this scale.' Then you could simply ask your body to show you with a little dot or something, what frequencies would be best for dealing with _____. You could give it a gradient for example, use the color scale from red to violet with red the least and violet the most, or some other format like that. Using this approach you could get information on multiple points at once including variances in those points. Then you would know better what frequencies to use for your own unique brain for whatever.

Biogram also does a type of clearing. The only tech I know that addresses this same idea is Scientology although differently and I think with a lot less science approach (though I do think their palm-on-body, focus-attention-here is a very good technique). In Biogram you can scan your body using a biofeedback monitor, with instructions to your body to raise the tone or react when you reach a part of your body that 'has repressed or stored biochemical related to subject X'. Or, you can simply tell it to react to how much the overall body has related to that concept or injury or whatever, and then in either case, you work on having the body release that biochemical and put it in the waste disposal systems of the body. So it occurs to me you could in theory if you have problems to work out ask your body to to show you the frequencies which you "most need" to work with in order to release anger/fear about ___ or increase positive feelings or strength in ___ or whatever.

I mean the thing is right now there is not so much research--sure, lots, but monumental amounts left to be done even on a lot of basics--plus each person is unique--plus there are multiple different areas of frequency that seem to work on the same stuff (might be harmonics of the same number for example, or...?).

So if there were a way to use the amazing ability of 'mental tools' and 'visualization as biofeedback' to essentially DESIGN biofeedback into the process of brainwave entrainment, I think one could accomplish a great deal. I have worked with this concept in the past without the benefit of braintech and it was very successful so I suspect that with braintech it could be even more successful.

The odd thing is out of everything I have read I have not seen a single note or mention that addresses this kind of thing. I wonder if it's possible that my past work with biogram, which is a unique approach and distinct theory limited to the man I studied with for it, combined with my NLP background, has simply given me the idea which albeit kind of obvious just hasn't occurred to anybody else.

PJ

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Brainwave / Neurotech Introductory Info

I've finally found more useful introductory info and science references, though most of it came as a result of the Transparent Corp website, or the purchase of the NP2 product which gave me access to their member site. Over time I will distill / paraphrase some things here, plus link to stuff if publicly available. Here's a few public pages, pretty simple and a nice introduction to this overall:

What are Brainwaves?
http://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/brainwaves.php

Entrainment/Stimulation
http://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/entrainment.php

Entrainment Methods
http://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/technical.php

The above page has info on the different kinds of tones like isochronic vs. binaural and tone/pulse modulation.

A Brief History
http://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/history.php


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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Remote Viewing and Brainwaves

Remote Viewing is my other obsessive-vice. So I found this old reference interesting.

In the present study, the artist Ingo Swann, who helped develop the process of remote viewing (awareness of distant objects or places without employing normal senses), was exposed during a single setting of 30 min, to specific patterns of circumcerebral magnetic fields that significantly altered his subjective experiences. Several times during subsequent clays he was asked to sit in a quiet chamber and to sketch and to describe verbally distant stimuli (pictures or places) beyond his normal senses. The proportions of unusual 7-Hz spike and slow wave activity over the occipital lobes per trial were moderately correlated (rbo =.50) with the ratings of accuracy between these distal, hidden stimuli and his responses.

A neuropsychological assessment and Magnetic Resonance Imaging indicated a different structural and functional organization within the parieto-occipital region of the subject's right hemisphere from organizations typically noted. The results suggest that this type of paranormal phenomenon, often dismissed as methodological artifact or accepted as proofs of spiritual existence, is correlated with neurophysiological processes and physical events. Remote viewing may be enhanced by complex experimentally generated magnetic fields designed to interact with the neuromagnetic "binding factor" of consciousness.

From: Remote viewing with the artist ingo Swann: Neuropsychological profile, electroencephalographic correlates, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and possible mechanisms
PERSINGER M. A. ; ROLL W. G. ; TILLER S. G. ; KOREN S. A. ; COOK C. M. ;
Perceptual and motor skills ISSN 0031-5125 CODEN PMOSAZ
2002, vol. 94 (1), no3, pp. 927-949 [23 page(s) (article)]

PJ

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