Brainwave Entrainment
What Is Brainwave Entrainment?
The brain produces electrical activity as it communicates with all parts of the body. This electrical activity can be measured using an electroencephalograph (EEG) machine. Because the print out from an EEG looks like a series of waves we call the brain activity "brain waves".
During various brain states the electrical activity in the brain varies. When a person is wide awake the activity is stronger and the brain waves closer together. During rest brain activity decreases in intensity and the wave pattern of the EEG has fewer peaks. It is at its slowest during sleep.
Brainwave entrainment is a way of using sound to change the rhythm or speed at which your brain produces electrical pules. By changing the speed or rhythm of your brainwaves you can change how you feel.
For example if the speed of the pulse or tone you are hearing is slow, you will begin to feel more relaxed because your brainwaves will follow the sound they are hearing and slow down.
Research has found that as this brain synchronization occurs other bodily processes controlled by the brain also began to change.
So, for example, if you listen to a slow relaxing tone you will begin to relax. Your brain waves move into a slower alpha rhythm and your body follows suit. Your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, respiration rate and muscle tension all become slower and more relaxed.
Researchers have demonstrated this response in the brain by mapping the process using EEG. If you take a look at the image below you will see change happening over 6 minutes.
There are many different uses for entrainment all based on stimulating the brain to change its rhythm and in so doing to change the state of the listener.
That’s really all there is to it. But read on if you are interested in the history and detail of brainwave entrainment.
More on Brainwave Entrainment
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word entrainment as "to be carried along" or "to fall into synchronicity with". It was discovered in the 1930s that by using rhythmic flashing lights or pulsing sound the rhythm of brain waves could be changed, or entrained.
Research was undertaken to see if the change in brain wave activity had any effect on the person’s physical or mental state. If a person was very anxious with fast brain activity would they feel calmer if their brain waves were stimulated by sound or light to slow down?
This proved to be the case. An anxious person can become much calmer if they listen to a beat or tone that matches the beat of a calm state.
By the 1960s entrainment was being studied for its use in various therapeutic circumstances. One of these was in helping to calm patients undergoing surgery. The patient’s brain waves were entrained to produce slower waves and this resulted in them being less anxious. The calmer a patient is about surgery the less bleeding, gagging, and pain is endured.
Studies have continued until the present day, each new study shedding more light on the process and its uses. Entrainment is now known to be useful in treating many problems. These include ADD, chronic pain, depression, headache, PMS and insomnia.
In 1972 a landmark paper was published in Scientific American by Dr.Gerard Oster on the potential uses of binaural and monaural beats and noting that monaural beats were more effective at producing entrainment than binaural beats. Another notable study by Dr. Arturo Mans in 1981 showed that isochronic beats were able to produce brain wave entrainment much more strongly than either binaural or monaural beats. Since then a system called "harmonic box" which combines binaural and monaural beats as been invented and shown to be the most effective of all.
Binaural Beats and Other Forms of Brainwave Entrainment
Producing a sound that induces brainwave entrainment can be done in various ways. A very well known way is to create what are called Binaural Beats, there are also Monaural Beats, Isochronic Beats and Harmonic Box X. What are all these and what effect do they have on the brain?
Binaural Beats
If sounds with two different tones are played, one tone into each ear the brain will “entrain” that is become attuned to, the difference between the two tones. The brain itself creates this third sound.For example to entrain brain waves to 4 hz using this method you could play a sound with a pitch of 140 to one ear and a separate sound at a pitch of 136 into the other. The difference between the two is 4 hz and your brain will begin to produce a 4 hz wave. To get this effect you must listen using stereo headphones. Binaural beats sound more relaxing and hypnotic than either isochronic or monaural beats and so they are often preferred for relaxation or meditation.
Monaural Beats
These are similar to binaural beats except that the two sounds are combined outside of the brain. This means that headphones are not required when listening.
Isochronic Beats
Isochronic beats are tone based pulses that turn on and off very fast. This stimulates the brain to synchronize with the pulses and has been found to have a stonger effect than other types of brainwave entrainment.
Another advantage of using isochronic beats is that you do not need to liten using earphones. This makes them easier to listen when lying down in bed, where earphones can be uncomfortable When isochronic beats are used the volume must be loud enough for the listener to hear the tones.
Harmonic Box X
Harmonic Box X is a tone-based brainwave entrainment method described by James Mann in his book, Awakening Mind 1. The method is unique in that it incorporates both monaural and binaural beats, in a harmonic formation. It get a bit technical to explain how this works but this is what I have read about it in material supplied by Transparent corp.
Box X is called "Harmonic" because of the arrangement of the tones. Two binaural beats are set up to stimulate the primary brainwave frequency, and the voices are arranged in a way that creates a "crossover" beat of double the primary frequency (double = harmonic). Finally, the tones in one ear are set up to beat at triple the primary frequency, and the other ear is set up with the primary frequency.
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