Brainwave entrainment

Marcelo Lazo Duabyakosky
Art and Cultural Studies
EPFL
May 7, 2011

Brainwaves entrainment: a new drug to achieve world happiness.

New studies in electrical activity of the brain related with conscious states could be the new medicine approach against the stress and other disorders. Audio and optic stimulus at certain frequency relieve the negative symptoms of the stress. Nevertheless,there is not scaping that brainwave stimulus could be use to manipulate conscious state of people or it could became an adictive issue. In addition, there is sceptical people about this new scientific research due to it is hard to believe that sound or light could change our mood and awareness state. Therefore, it is recommended to inform people about how to use brainwaves, their advantages and sideeffects before the implementation. In the correct scenario it is possible to consider brainwaves stimulus as a useful tool to influence in the conscious states of people, helping to create a happiness culture relieving the negative symtoms of the stress.
Vibrations from rhythmic sounds have a profound effect on our brain activity. In shamanic traditions, drums have long been used to transportthe shaman out of his or her body into other realms of reality through the use of constant rhythmic vibrations. Researcher Melinda Maxfield, studying the Shamanic State of Consciousness, found that the steady rhythmic beat of the drum struck four and one half times per second was the key to transporting a shaman into the deepest part of his shamanic state of consciousness. In direct correlation, wesee similar effects brought on by the constant and rhythmic drone of Tibetan Buddhist chants that transport the monks and even other listeners into realms of blissful meditation.

Brainwaves have been studied since the 1930s when Hans Berger invented the electroencephalograph (EEG) in order to record the trace electrical activity at the surface of the human skull. This wave-like property of theelectrical signals led to the term “brainwaves”. The frequencies of these waves fall into 5 ranges that are commonly studied: gamma (30-70Hz), beta (13-30Hz), alpha (8-13Hz), theta (4-8Hz), and delta (1-4Hz).

Many studies on sleep and meditation, among other areas, have verified the connection between the rate of brainwaves in human subjects and their states ofconsciousness and the possibility to alter a person’s state of consciousness by exposing them to a sound or optic stimulus.

Brainwave audio technology uses sine wave generators to create two separate frequency waves, which are introduced to each ear independently. The brain reacts by creating a third tone, making up the difference between the two. This signal is called a binaural beat andits pulses could drive or guide brain activity into a wide variety of specific brain states. Thus, effortlessly and naturally, the brain activity slides into rhythm with this binaural beat.
Brainwave states can be tied to various mental symptoms or “disorders” brainwave patterns associated with anxiety, depression, stress, ADD, and other disorders like schizophrenia, epilepsy, and autism. Resultsof some scientific experiments demonstrate that those symptoms can be systematically altered and reconfigured with the appropriate attention to brainwave states.
Nevertheless, an incorrect use of brainwaves stimulus could bring undesired results. One possible scenario is that some people could become addicted to the stimulus. For example, the use of delta brainwaves to achieve deep sleep couldcreate some dependency in people to fall asleep. In the other hand, experiments prove that after correct brainwave training people could enhance brain abilities to achieve the desired conscious state without receiving the stimulus.
The fact that brainwave stimulus can change or alter the conscious state of people can be used to manipulate them. The capability of inducing specific and desired...