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The delta mind state is found during deep sleep and may also be detected in the waking state in people suffering from profound depression or extreme tiredness. Delta frequencies are also associated with deep trance states produced by long-term master meditators. Because this frequency band is not well researched, and entering the 'waking delta' state is beyond the ability of most people without long practice, these frequencies are not used in MindWaves recordings.
The theta mind state is associated with light sleep and deepened states of meditation. It also seems to be connected with vivid visualisation and even with hallucinations of some types. Many experienced meditators are able to enter a light theta state at will, and so gain access to subconscious imagery. Some psychic researchers claim that deeper theta frequencies accompany psychic activity, particularly 'out of body' experiences.
The alpha mind state is probably the most common mental state in most people's waking day. Light alpha states are most frequently experienced while the body is resting and the mind is idly preoccupied, for example when driving a familiar route or watching television. It is the major 'default' state of the brain when not engaging in conversation or actively thinking about a problem or task. Deeper alpha states are associated with the 'hypnogogic' state (just before falling asleep) and meditation. Subconscious suggestibility is greatly increased in alpha and light theta states.
The beta mind state is associated with active awareness and directed thought, and especially with social engagement. Intense focus and concentration tend to generate mid to high beta frequencies in the frontal areas of the brain. As most people live fairly 'automated' lives, higher beta mind states tend to the exception rather than the rule except in people with high levels of anxiety.
The gamma mind state is normally only experienced while highly aroused, for example in response to a real or perceived threat or danger. Because the mind can be running in 'overdrive' while it deals with situations involving extreme danger, subjective (experienced) time can seem to slow to a crawl until the brainwave patterns slow down again. Conscious memory of events experienced in gamma states tends to be poor, but deep subconscious imprinting seems to take place. Strong gamma frequencies have recently been observed in Tibetan monks who have taken part in experiments to investigate the nature of deep meditation.
The brain does not actually operate exclusively in any one of these frequency bands at any time, regardless of mental state - there are brainwaves at most frequencies present most of the time, whether you are deeply asleep, watching TV, or being interviewed for an important job! All that happens is that according to what you are doing, brainwaves in one frequency range or another tend to become predominant, i.e., more common than others. However it is convenient to refer to 'alpha', 'theta' etc. as shorthand for the dominant brainwave pattern under any given set of conditions, and that is what is meant when these terms are used here.
Altered states of mind
When it is operating at differing brainwave frequency bands, the brain actually functions in different 'modes', rather than just being more or less active, as many people assume. Each mode represents what we experience as 'altered states of mind' ranging from intense concentration then down through various states of external awareness to meditative and hypnogogic states, and finally to deep sleep (unconsciousness).
The mechanism that determines which mode we are in at any particular time is buried deep within our brains. The dominant neuronal firing rate is registered by parts of the brain called the reticular formation and the inferior colliculus. Between them, these parts of the brain actively modify mental functioning by means of neurochemicals, altering the ways in which each brain cell operates to change overall mental functioning.
From our point of view this is very useful. It means that if the brain can be guided into producing more of any particular brainwave frequency, it will automatically begin to drift into the 'mode' that is associated with that frequency band. In other words, it opens the way to actually controlling the active 'state of mind' in a safe, natural and completely temporary way.
This is the key to the function of the 'Part 2' MindWaves recordings: - each recording incorporates a set of new sound technologies that actively but gently 'pull' the brain into selected receptive states so that the subliminal suggestions that are subsequently presented are absorbed with as little resistance as possible. This is made possible by a phenomenon called 'brainwave entrainment'.
How entrainment works
When certain rhythmic or pulsating sights or sounds are processed by the brain, the 'timekeeper' parts of the brain show a tendency to move towards synchronisation with this signal, provided that it is fairly close in frequency to the active dominant brainwave frequency. This phenomenon was first reported in 1839 by a German 'gentleman amateur' experimenter called H. W. Dove, and later became known as the 'frequency following response', or 'brainwave entrainment'.
What happens is that the neurons that deal with incoming sensory information are naturally forced to fire at a rate that matches a pulsating sound or flashing light, in order to process the raw input from the eyes and ears into a form that the brain can use. As this processing is carried out, electrical signals are produced that match the frequency of any recurring variables present in the sensory input, i.e., repeated variations in intensity or frequency.
These cyclic signals then become added to those parts of the brainwave spectrum that are already naturally firing at this frequency, automatically strengthening them. Other parts of the brain detect this imposed brainwave rhythm and in turn fall into step (become 'entrained'), further strengthening the effect through positive feedback.
While areas of the brain are tending to fire at the entrained frequency the brain's control system then automatically tends to match the 'mind state' to this dominant frequency as described earlier. If the entrainment frequency is too far from the brain's natural dominant frequency at any given time, the effect becomes weak or even entirely absent. This ensures that the brain can never be 'taken over' by any form of external entrainment, merely guided gently in a direction that is desired. So entrainment effects are completely temporary and as soon as the entraining stimulus ends the mind state simply reverts to normal, although if the transition is too rapid there can be a feeling of disorientation or detachment for a few minutes afterward.
The most commonly used form of audio entrainment is called 'binaural beating'. A 'binaural beat' is heard when two pure but slightly different tones (sine waves) are presented, one at each ear. Because of the way the ears are 'wired' to the brain, the signals from each ear are split and fed to separate auditory processing centres (olivary nuclei) in each half of the brain, where they are processed into useable data.
During processing, left and right ear signals are compared and this gives rise to a third 'ghost' frequency which actually causes a part of the brain to resonate at the ghost frequency. The ability to accurately detect the tiny differences between left and right ear signals is thought to be a consequence of our ability to 'direction find' the origin of a sound by detecting minute phase differences in the signals arriving at each ear.
The frequency of this third tone represents the difference in frequencies between the two tones fed to the left and right ears, and is often referred to as the 'offset frequency'. For example, if tones at 100Hz and 110Hz are simultaneously heard, a binaural beat at 10Hz will be 'heard'. Although this 10Hz tone has no physical reality, it will be completely 'real' to the brain and will give rise to a detectable EEG pattern at this frequency. Under the right conditions this electrical activity in the brain will then lead to an actual shift in recorded brainwave activity as entrainment occurs.Any audio frequency below about 20Hz is outside the hearing range of humans, and so this method of artificially creating very low 'virtual' audio frequencies provides a means of using the entrainment phenomenon to induce the production of brainwaves at virtually any desired frequency in the normal operating range of the brain, and so of altering mind states more or less at will.
However, binaural beating is not the only methods of producing the entrainment effect, and the recent development of new sound technologies has opened the possibility of using a range of techniques to produce similar entrainment effects, often more efficiently than by using binaural beat methods on their own. These technologies include L/R channel phasing plus a number of ‘isochronic’ methods including balance modulation, frequency modulation and amplitude modulation. Several of these techniques are employed in the production of MindWaves recordings together with low-frequency binaural beats, to produce some of the most effective brainwave entrainment recordings currently available.
Hemispheric synchronisation
Under normal circumstances, the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain work semi-independently, exchanging information across a bundle of nerve fibres called the corpus callosum. The two halves of the brain process the same information in rather different ways, with the left hemisphere breaking down information and applying logical (deductive) reasoning processes, and the right hemisphere looking for spatial and sequential patterns, and adding its own intuitive (inductive) inputs. The hemispheres continually exchange the results of their processing about any particular thread of thought and the resultant 'executive summary' is what the conscious mind perceives (in fact, this ongoing summary of whatever is the focus of attention IS the conscious mind).
Because the two hemispheres are basically 'dong their own thing' and operating out of synchronisation, the exchange of information is generally rather inefficient and so the resulting 'thought' can be muddled, rambling and inconclusive (the normal state of mind of many of us!).
However, if the two hemispheres can be brought into relative synchrony, the exchange of information across the corpus callosum becomes more rapid and accurate, resulting in a depth and clarity of conscious thought that many people experience only rarely at best. In this 'synchronised' state not only is thinking clearer and faster, but visualisation becomes vivid, memories flow more easily, and ideas can be approached from different perspectives, giving rise to a new order of creativity.
The good news is that when you listen to binaural entrainment tones, because both hemispheres process BOTH sounds (i.e., from both ears) independently, when they become entrained they automatically move into synchronisation, with all the advantages this brings.
The even better news is that, unlike the other effects of entrainment, this effect is not entirely temporary. For some reason that is not clearly understood at present, the brain seems able to 'learn' this trick, and after repeated entrainment sessions it gradually gains the ability to at least partially synchronise the two hemispheres on its own. This means that you can gain access to better and faster problem solving abilities, increased creativity levels, greater energy and enthusiasm and a host of other benefits simply by repeatedly listening to effective brainwave entrainment recordings.
We have designed one program (our 'Synchrony' Program) to efficiently bring about hemispheric synchronisation on demand.
Brainwave Entrainment
Tools for personal development
What are brainwaves and why do they matter?
It is quite well known that the human brain produces electrical signals which can be measured externally by means of an instrument called an electroencephalograph. Essentially, these machines measure and record minute electrical potentials detected by electrodes attached to the scalp. The recorded signals exhibit regular pulses of activity occurring at a range of frequencies from around 0.5Hz (1 'wave' every 2 seconds) to about 40Hz (40 'waves' per second). To give you an idea of the range of these brainwave frequencies, an old-fashioned 'grandfather' clock might tick at around 1Hz, while the hum you hear near a large electrical transformer is at normally around 50-60Hz, depending on where in the world you live.
Brainwaves occur across broad ranges of frequencies simultaneously, but particular bands of frequencies tend to dominate at any given time, and these bands are associated with particular mental 'states' (see table below). Because the neurons (the cells in your brain that create the signals) have a limited amount of chemical 'fuel' available to them, the energy level of brainwaves tends to remain roughly constant, so that for example, while the frequency of 'delta' (see table below) is low, the amplitude or strength of the signals tends to be high, while in 'gamma' the reverse is the case.
