Latest Developments in Brainwave Entrainment

Brainwave Entrainment Can Help You Dramatically Improve Your Mental States & Abilities!

Recently, professionals in the areas of psychology, neurology, medical health and self-help have begun utilizing the power of brainwave entrainment in their work with patients and clients. Advances in the effectiveness of brainwave entrainment have been significant.

What is brainwave entrainment?

It is a relatively young but rapidly growing field that involves the study of how altering brainwaves naturally can allow people to easily enter states of increased intelligence, creativity, relaxation, pure energy and more! Researchers and scientists have found that different bands of brainwaves are associated with different mental states. Scientific studies have shown that brainwaves not only provide insight into an individual’s mind and body, but they can be stimulated to actually change that person’s current state. By causing the brain to produce or decrease specific types of brainwave frequencies, it is possible to bring about a large variety of mental states and emotional reactions.

How does this work?

Here’s the science behind this incredible breakthrough: The brain is made up of billions of brain cells called neurons, which communicate with each other using electrical signals. All of these neurons sending signals at once produce a large amount of electrical activity commonly called a Brainwave pattern, because of its “wave” or cyclic-like nature. “Entrainment” is a principle in physics, where two cycles synchronize naturally with each other in order to work more efficiently. Entrainment is applied to chemistry, astronomy, electrical systems and much more – but can also be applied to the brain.

When the brain is provided with a stimulus, through the ears, eyes or other senses, it emits an electrical charge in response. This is called a Cortical Evoked Response. These electrical responses travel throughout the brain to become what an individual sees and hears. When the brain is given a consistent, repeating stimulus, such as drum beats or flashes of light, the brain responds by synchronizing, or entraining, its electric cycles to the external rhythm. This is commonly called the Frequency Following Response (or FFR), and it can be used to effectively alter our brainwave patterns.

In the last 10 years, there have been great advancements in the field of brainwave entrainment as it relates to cognitive functioning. Studies have shown that the brains of many people are actually functioning at low capacity. By targeting the specific brainwave band that is related to states of intense concentration and strong focus, scientists have been able to help individuals improve their academic performance. Entrainment can also be used to induce states of relaxation and even deep states akin to deep meditation. This can have profound benefits for people who are seeking to perform certain types of work, art or even attain certain spiritual states.

Still Wondering Whether Brainwave Entrainment Really Works?

In 1999, the Journal of Neurotherapy published a case study conducted by Thomas Budzynski, Ph.D. In the study Dr. Budzynski used 8 college students who were struggling academically. After undergoing audio-visual brainwave stimulation, the students outperformed a control group and significantly increased their grade point average. The GPA for the 8 students continued to rise even after treatment was discontinued!

Drs. Siegfried and Susan Othmer found that neurofeedback brainwave training in the 15-18 Hz range can produce significant shifts in IQ score, particularly with people who are suffering from ADD/ADHD and other disorders. In cases where the starting IQ value is less than 100, the average IQ increase was 33 points! They also found significant improvements in memory, reading and arithmetic. In a one year follow-up, trainees showed major improvements in self-esteem, concentration and self-expression.

There Are Two Ways to Alter Brainwaves: Binaural Beats and Isochronic Tones

Binaural beats are the most recognized form of brainwave entrainment because it is the earliest. With binaural beats, a slightly different tone is presented into each ear. The tones then combine in the brain to form a pulse or “beat”. The pulse heard by the listener is actually the difference between the two tones. For example, if the left ear is given a tone at 20 hertz and the right ear is given a tone of 30 hertz, then the listener will hear a beat of 10 hertz. And the brain will entrain to that rhythm.

While binaural beats are by far the most used form of brainwave entrainment, other more modern methods are quickly gaining popularity. The most promising of the new methods is Isochronic Tones. Isochronic tones are a somewhat less well known form of entrainment; however, they have proven to be much more effective. Isochronic entrainment uses a single tone that is manually spaced, turning on and off in a precise pattern. This actually enhances the effectiveness of audio entrainment.

Three More Reasons Why Isochronic Tones Are Better Than Binaural Beats:

1) Binaural beats require the use of headphones or special speaker assignments. Isochronic tones do not rely on speaker assignments, and therefore can be used without headphones or any special speaker assignments.

2) Binaural beats are incapable of entraining the brain’s hemispheres individually (because they require both ears). Binaural beats are a disadvantage because many of the modern entrainment protocols used in clinical work currently requires the use of separate stimulation to each ear. This is useful for deep meditation, depression, ADD treatment and cognitive enhancement.

3) Studies have found that binaural beats are not as effective as isochronic tones due to the way brain processes the beats. Dr. Gerald Oster’s, a pioneer in the field of brainwave technology, study of binaural beats concluded that the depth or intensity of the resulting "beat" is only around 3 decibels or 1/10th the volume of a whisper.

The difference between the peaks and troughs in the wave pattern determines the strength of the Cortical Evoked Response. Looking at the binaural beat pattern on a monitor, it is clear that the wave is shallow. The entrainment is harder to detect and leaves only a minor electrical imprint on the brain. Conversely, the isochronic tone pattern shows each pulse as individual and separated. This results in much greater evoked potentials within the auditory cortex of the brain.

Written by T Sebastian

T Sebastian is an author and life coach specializing in helping people break through their patterns and programs to live the life they really want.  To learn more about Brainwave Entrainment visit:  http://gfnproject.com/Introduces/OptiMINDzation Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=T_Sebastian

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Brainwave Entrainment and Binaural Beats

Brainwave entrainment is a rapidly growing field that involves the study of how altering brainwaves naturally can allow people to easily enter states of increased intelligence, creativity, relaxation, pure energy and more! Gerald Oster (1973), a biophysicist discovered that when two different frequencies are presented to your brain with the use of audio headphones, the left and right hemispheres begin to work together and we hear the difference between the two frequencies.

Brainwave entrainment is a very promising technology having real life changing power. Brainwave entrainment is technology that enables you to produce brainwave states, while producing their corresponding mental states, at will. Each of these brainwave states can be altered and directed by light or sound pulses due to the brain's own inherent frequency following response. Brainwave entrainment is not some far fetched new age gimmick, it has been proven by clinical study, and has been used by NASA, Fortune 100 companies and leading minds around the world.

Brainwave Entrainment is a scientific method by which you can control and manipulate your brainwave patterns. What brainwave entrainment attempts to do is change the brainwave frequency. It is the process of stimulation. When any aspect of our senses is used, the brain is stimulated and will emit an electrical charge as a sort of response to this stimulation. Brainwave entrainment is creating binaural beats to cause your brainwaves to move towards a specific frequency. This is something your brain does naturally. If your brain is subjected to external rhythms that are the same range as its natural rhythms the brain will eventually respond to the external rhythms and begin producing similar brainwaves.

Brainwave entrainment is an effective, unobtrusive, inexpensive, and mostly unknown technology with a history of 70 years of clinical use. If you are looking for a way to rid yourself of all of life's limitations, brainwave entrainment is definitely something you should look into.

Brainwave entrainment or synchronization is that practice where you can manipulate brain frequencies to match the brainwave state you want. As for example, if you want to induce sound sleep in a person, brainwave entrainment works by changing the brain frequencies to match the dominant brain frequencies that are present during sleep. Brainwaves are naturally occurring in the brain and play a part in all functions. Thousands of individuals safely use brainwave entrainment to influence brainwaves every day.

Brainwave entrainment is a naturally occurring phenomenon where the human brain has a tendency to change its dominant EEG frequency towards the frequency of the dominant external stimuli applied to it. The process of reproducing this entrainment effect using audio technology was discovered in the 19th century, and was scientifically defined and tested in the 20th century. Brainwave entrainment is awesome technology to reprogram the mind. It can be used for meditation, relaxation, inducing sleep, focus, energy or reprogramming the mind with positive thoughts.

Drug companies are the major researchers and research funders in the field of brainwave entrainment. They are not going to sink millions into something that will not provide them with a return on their investment. Drugs aim to have the same affect as brainwave entrainment but effect more than just your brain and develop dependencies and side effects. Brainwave entrainment using binaural beats is quite safe; the only exception being that if you are prone to seizures, you should consult with your physcian before using this technique. The same would be true about using brainwave entrainment with light.

Binaural beats are a type of brainwave entrainment. Basically listening to a binaural beat forces your brain into a certain brainwave frequency which effects your mood and thinking process greatly. This form of brainwave entrainment is creating binaural beats to cause your brainwaves to move towards a specific frequency.

Binaural beats are a product of using two distinct tones. The two tones are very similar. Binaural beats are sound frequencies that are believed to have the ability to bring the listener into altered states of consciousness as well as deep relaxation and meditative states. Binaural beats were first recorded as being studied during the 1930's, however most scientists believe that they were discovered long before the 1930's.

Binaural beats are an interesting phenomenon that has been studied extensively by scientists in the last couple of years. There are two distinct groups of people who have scientific interest in the findings; Neurophysiologists, who study hearing and Protoscientists, who are concerned with the use of these beats for relaxation and various other health benefits for human beings For example, women seemed to experience two separate peaks in their ability to perceive binaural beats- peaks possibly correlating with specific points in the menstrual cycle (onset of menstruation and approx. This data led Oster to wonder if binaural beats could be used as a tool for measuring relative levels of estrogen . Specific states of consciousness can also be learned as adaptive behaviors to demanding circumstances. Binaural beats are not the only way to elicit the frequency following response, as stated above, you can also use light stimulation. Binaural beats are recordings of specific rhythms whereby each specific rhythm is on a different frequency, when they are combined, the difference causes a binaural beat. When you listen to these beats, they cause the rhythm to train your brain waves to work on a consistent level.

Binaural beats are played through headphones and are perceived by the superior olivary nucleus of each hemisphere of the brain. The brain perceives the binaural beat and resonates to its frequency (frequency following response). Binaural Beats are produced in the brain when slightly differing tones are played in each individual ear. For example, if a 300Hz tone is played in the right ear, and a 305Hz tone is played in the left ear, the brain will then produce a third tone resonating at 5Hz (The difference between the two tones). Binaural Beats are no silver bullet - but they do have potential to be useful under the right circumstances. Binaural beats are heard when the right ear listens to a slightly different tone than the left ear. Here, the tones do not interfere physically, but are summed by the brain in the olivary nucleus .

Subliminal recordings usually have no immediate effects, and is doubted if they produce any effects at all. Binaural Beats work immediately, and can be felt upon first use.

Brainwave entrainment using binaural beats can be used by an individual (and in fact is being used every day by many ordinary people) to enhance learning, have more energy, sleep better as well as to combat feelings of depression, anxiety and the like. Can you imagine the value of being able to get rid of feelings of depression by simply putting on a headphones for 30 minutes? How beneficial would it be to be able to increase your energy, concentration, learning, etc so simply?

Lloyd Low is a long time entrepreneur and writer. He is the owner of several web sites and online businesses, including http://www.bizarticlesonly.com One of his joys in life is helping others to succeed. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lloyd_Low

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Brainwave Entrainment - Binaural Beats - A Brief Introduction

Brainwave entrainment is an effect achieved by listening to two slightly different frequencies of sound in the left ear and the right ear; termed binaural tones. These two similar frequencies are processed by the brain, which in turn creates a third warbling beat, as if the two frequencies merged into one resonating sound within your brain.

The centre of the brain mainly responsible for this are the superior olivary nucleus, a part of the brain stem. This phenomenon is known as the "frequency following" response and was discovered in 1839 by Prussian physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove.

This region of the brain is responsible for perceiving three-dimensional sounds in the environment and their motion through space. What are the implications of this 'phantom tone' generated? It has the ability to render you into an altered state. For instance many use binaural beats as a tool eg. to relax, enhance concentration, induce trance, produce deep meditative states, for lucid dreaming, sleep and as a platform for out of body experiences/'astral projection'.

The following chart shows common frequencies occurring in the brain, coinciding with their respective effects on the mind. It is important to note here that this is general rule and does not apply for everyone. For example, in those with a mental illness, such as schizophrenia, it is thought that delta waves are abnormally pervasive during the waking state.

> 40 Hz - Gamma waves...Higher mental activity, perception, problem solving, fear/anxiety

13-40 Hz - Beta waves...Eyes open, active, busy or anxious thinking and active concentration, arousal, cognition

7-13 Hz - Alpha waves...Eyes closed, relaxation (while awake), borderline-sleep and pre-wake, drowsiness, meditative states, lucid dreaming

4-7 Hz - Theta waves...Dreaming, deep meditation, Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

< 4 Hz - Delta waves...Deep dreamless sleep, loss of body awareness

In a brain not subjected to binaural beats in normal waking state, the data from an EEG would reveal the predominant frequencies in the brain to be in the 13-30Hz range (beta waves). The left and right hemispheres would not be synchronized so one side may have more or less than the other. Of course beta waves would not be the only waves in the brain, simply the most dominant as we all have varying volumes of other waves including a few delta, some theta, some alpha as well as gamma in our waking state.

But it's noteworthy that the dominant waves (in this case the beta waves) have the most influence overall on your mental state than any other; just like music played would lessen the perception of a loud fan, so would the predominant waves in your brain 'drown out' the other frequencies to some degree.

Of course if you were in a deep sleep or in REM the reverse would occur, as 1-7Hz take predominance (delta and theta waves) and the higher frequencies become less and less prominent with beta/gamma waves becoming more or less absent. The left and right hemispheres of the brain would be uneven, just like in the beta wave example.

Visualise the unsynchronized brainwave model as an abacus, each bead representing a quantity of a wave, each rack of wood signifying a wave from gammas all the way down to the deltas. The beads are in a constant state of flux: being pushed back and forth, disregarded entirely or unevenly distributed to the left and right sides. The synchronized brain, in contrast, would be mostly even in the quantity of waves on either side of the left and right hemispheres and in the average person would be dominated by beta/alpha waves in an alert waking state.

By synchronizing both hemispheres, they function synergistically rather than one dominating the other; thereby reducing the power struggle and increasing the efficiency of the brain. Binaural beats aren't the only means of achieving synchronicity between hemispheres, in fact rhythmic sounds such as drum beats or music may achieve the same ends, although you would not be able to program which frequency your brain would follow.

http://binauralresearch.blogspot.com/ BinauralResearch - Resources on advancing the science of brainwave entrainment/hemispheric synchronization and related altered states of human consciousness, including out of body experiences, lucid dreaming, expanded awareness and anything of metaphysical value. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_F

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