Entrainment. I've had a brainwave.

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by Simon, May 18, 2010.

  1. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    On a recent thread called are you getting enough sleep there was a section on entrainment, where I made this statement.

    'If you work in an environment with other people, your heartbeat will show up in the brain waves of any weaker people in the group. In other words, you get entrained down to their level. This is one of the reasons at the end of the day you go home mentally tired'.
    That thread can be seen here - http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93727

    I was asked on that thread to provide further information on entrainment, so here goes.

    Entrainment is a function of resonance, or the frequency an object wants to vibrate. We all function to a certain rhythm. Our heart beat, respiration and brain waves are entrained to each other. If you slow down your breathing, your heart rate will drop and your brain wave pattern will alter. The opposite effect is to calm the mind and the heart rate and respiration will drop.
    With entrainment you can change the natural oscilating pattern of one object and replace it with the oscilating pattern of another.


    In 1666 Christopher Huygens coined the term entrainment after he noticed that two pendulam clocks had moved into the same swinging rhythm. The accepted reason is that small amounts of energy were transferred between the two clocks when they were out of phase. The clock (or system) with the greater frequency slows down, while the other accelerates until both are in phase.

    It is easy for two different people to become entrained. Females who work in the same office for any long period of time can start to share their menstrual cycle. A similar example may be the entrainment between a parent and their child.

    You may have noticed effects of entrainment yourself. If you have spent any time with a person mentally weaker than you, your stronger brainwave will actually slow down, while their brain wave will speed up. The outcome is you will get entrained down to their level. This is why you sometimes go home at the end of the day mentally tired.
    Electrical equipment also resonates a certain frequency, so time spent in an office can leave you entrained and feeling weak.

    Brainwave entrainment refers to the brain's electrical responce to sensory stimulation, such as light. Entrainment is also linked to even greater cycles such as lunar cycles. We are nearly all entrained to sleep when it is dark and wake when it is light for example.
    When the brain receives a sensory signal it emits an electrical charge, this charge runs into and through the brain to become what we see and hear.
    When the brain receives a rhythmic stimulus it is reproduced in the brain as an electrical impulse. If this stimulus is fast enoug it can resemble the natural rhythm of the brain, called a brainwave. Brainwaves are related to mental state. You could not normally go to sleep for example listening to AC/DC, but could listening to the calming sound of the sea.

    The brainwaves are as follows: -

    • Gamma (100 - 38) HZ (Hertz=cycles per second)
    • Beta (38 - 15) HZ
    • Alpha (14 - 8) HZ
    • Theta (7 - 4) HZ
    • Delta (3 - 0.5) HZ.


    Gamma Brainwaves.
    Not much is know (in comparison to other brainwaves) about Gamma waves. They have been seen in states of both physical and mental peak performance, periods of high concentration and schizophrenia.

    Beta Brainwaves
    Normal waking consciousness is when beta brainwavwes would be observed.
    Anctious, busy or active thinking produces these brain wave patterns.

    Alpha Brainwaves
    Alpha brainwaves are seen when we are relaxed, daydreaming or visulaizing.
    Sensing is the word here. Hearing, tasting and smell can stimulate alpha waves.

    Theta Brainwaves
    Subconscious, dreaming (REM Sleep), hypnosis and meditation produces Theta waves. It is connected with intuition and creativity.

    Delta Brainwaves
    These are the lowest frequency waves and represent unconsciousness or dreamless deep sleep.

    Binaural Beats
    We now know that our brain operates at certain frequencies at certain times of the day, depending on our mood, our surroundings, our company, stimulation to light and so on. It is possible to alter the state of mind by means such as meditation, but an ever more popular method is binaural beats.
    We all know that music can affect our mood. Rock concert leave you buzzing, whereas a folk concert might leave you more mellow.
    It is now possible to obtain very low frequencies from a fairly high sound,so if the frequencies of two sound sources are applied seperately, one to each ear, a binaural beat frequency is created. What is heard is not the two seperate sound (frequencies), but a frequency difference between the two sounds. It is like playing the number 1 in one ear and number 3 in the other and hearing number 2.
    So by listening (through headphones) to certain frequencies it is possible to alter your brainwaves, whether that be higher frequencies to stimulate thought processes, or lower frequencies to help relaxation or sleep.

    I use binaural beats at work. If I feel mentally drained I use a certain frequency for 10 minutes to perk myself up. If a feel a headache coming on I can usually stop it by using another frequency.

    Binaural beats are not just a buzzing in your ear. There are some good ones that can be downloaded (some for free) on I-Tunes. They are mixed in with calming sounds of the ocean, bird song, thunder and rain and can nearly all be customised to suit you.

    Certainly worth a look.

    I now need a rest as I have been typing for ages and have become entrained.

    Thanks if you managed to read right through.

    Simon.
     
  2. Thanks for the information.

    I have heard that females spending alot of time in close proximity with other females may have their mentrual cycles become entrained.

    However I have not heard of any other types of entrainment.

    Do you know what the stimulus is that would impose these effects on individuals. In other words what specifically are those people receiving which has an effect on their physiology?

    In the case of the female mentrual cycle, I would assume it would be pheremones?

    What can we perceive (consciously or sub-consciously) from someone sitting behind us in the office that may have an effect on us.

    Sorry if I sound skeptical. I'm not, I'm just intrigued.
     
  3. Taiji_Lou

    Taiji_Lou Banned Banned

    This post was great. Read the whole thing.....:)

    Thanks!
     
  4. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    Sounds like pseudo scientific mumbo jumbo to me.
     
  5. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    You mean you didn't understand it.
     
  6. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    If that's what I meant, that's what I would have said.
     
  7. BuddhaPalm

    BuddhaPalm Valued Member

    I know something about this stuff. Binaural beats are inferior to isochronic beats. Binaural beats come in two audio tracks, both being different beats that make it sound like one. Binaural beats are good at balancing both hemispheres of the brain. Isochronic beats are more powerfull because it's a beat on one track and it stops and starts very abruptly, this way your brain doesn't have to put all the information together, it just gets sent to it more effeciently.
    I've used Quantom Mind Power for over 6 months, supposedly the strongets brainwave entrainment you can buy (now he has Quantum Confidence which is supposed to be much better) with interesting results but nothing to make a big difference in my life.
    While listening to one of the tracks i heard a womans voice say 'you are creative' and then somethig like 'it's time to go back'. Back where? Back to God?
    A few times i would be half asleep and have quite lucid and strange dreams. It made my body feel great, like all the endorphins were released and running through me. But i never achieved that something that i was looking for.
    The problem with these types of things is that they train your brain frequency to mimick what you are listening to and it can be quite dangerous because it's not something natural to do.
    My friend suffered from anxiety and he talked about Neurofeedback like it was magic. So i went to check it out for myself and i felt the difference in my first session. I walked away a lot more calmer, focused, my mind felt flat, a good flat like you get after a workout and motivated. Everyone that does it says it makes them smarter too. Neurofeedback wokrs by listening to a track, any type of music you like and during that track there will be interreutptions and these interuptions are training your frequencies to be at their normal best. The before and after graphs will show how much of a difference has been made.
    This stuff is great, i feel better everytime, the results ar quite amazing. I think this will become very popular in not only treating mental tension but also to improve your learning skills.
     
  8. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    I came across this a while back:

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFFMtq5g8N4"]YouTube- Ken Wilber Stops His Brain Waves[/ame]

    Apprently this guy can stop his brainwaves. I guess its quite impresive?

    BuddhaPalm, I had a look at this "Neurofeedback", anywhere online to try it out for free? Its just a piece of software right?
     
  9. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    Possibly an interesting connection here too:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10154775.stm

     
  10. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    Nice stuff BuddhaPalm, I will have a look into it when I get time.

    I have got some good Binaural Beats from the I-Tunes store and have just noticed there are some isochronic beats there also.
     
  11. BuddhaPalm

    BuddhaPalm Valued Member

    I'm interested to see how you go.
     
  12. BuddhaPalm

    BuddhaPalm Valued Member

    You have to find a certified practitioner/instructor. My guy is a psychologist and charges 135 but you get your rebate back if you have health care so in the end you pay a gap of 55. He also has his wife and friend who do the Neurofeedback and they cost 60. A session will go anywhere from 30 min to an hour, dependin how comfortable you feel. Supposedly it's a bit strong for some people so they always start you off light, less, weaker interuptions than they may bring it up a notch to see how you CNS reacts and if it's fine then you get going with the stronger interuptions.
    Supposedly they are working on makig this avalaible to everyone, like having it in your ipod and listening to it whenever and for however long you want. I can imagine listening to Neurofeedback for a few hours every day will bring profound changes in so many ways.
     
  13. BuddhaPalm

    BuddhaPalm Valued Member

    That's interesting. Thought makes you less creative and supposedly all the great artist were completely in the moment, with little or no thought when they did their work. Mona Lisa as an example.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2010
  14. John R. Gambit

    John R. Gambit The 'Rona Wrangler

    This is interesting stuff. I'm going to check out these iTunes isochronic tones and see if they can help me sleep or meditate more efficiently. I believe they subjected us to some experiments using similar principles when I was a psych student (I was such a damn guinea pig during those years it's hard to recall everything they did to us. *twitch*). I'll report back any positive or negative results, assuming I can get to it in a timely fashion.

    Thanks for posting this Simon. :)
     
  15. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    I will be interested in the results.
     
  16. StevieB8363

    StevieB8363 Valued Member

    Actually, that's not universally accepted.

    How long did these two clocks stay "in phase"? If you sit in traffic, you will observe that the indicators of cars in front of you all flash at different rates - but if you wait a while they will all "synchronise" - for a couple of seconds. Then they get out of phase again.

    Our heart, brain and lungs are linked by our nervous system. If they weren't "entrained" we would be in serious trouble. Can you point to any scientifically verifiable connection between the heart rate/brainwaves of different people?

    If I have to work with the new apprentice I go home "mentally tired", because in addition to my regular workload I have to deal with the strain of telling that halfwit what to do - repeatedly. I'm not "entrained" down to his level - I'm simply working harder, with an added source of stress. Of course it's more tiring!

    Quite frankly, what you have posted sounds about as convincing as homeopathy.
     
  17. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    It is not my job to convince you of entrainment. I've posted my ideas and included plenty of information on brain waves.

    If you don't like the idea that's fine, if you feel the theory is as sound as homeopathy that's fine too.

    I personally would look into how brain washing, hypnosis and other brain altering states work before debunking the theories outright.
     
  18. John R. Gambit

    John R. Gambit The 'Rona Wrangler

    You're absolutely correct, it isn't universally accepted. About half of the studies have shown menstrual cycle synchronicity, and the other half have not. The synchronized half have been criticized for poor research methods (seemingly rightfully so). However, there is still strong evidence that supports that womens' menstrual cycles are socially governed by pheromones, so, despite the poor research methods, I believe in the future we will probably discover the phenomenon still exists.


    http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-who-live-together-menstruate-together&page=2

    Also:
    How the heck did you get the link the show up within the quote under the posted by section?
     
  19. StevieB8363

    StevieB8363 Valued Member

    Like this: (quote="(url=etc.)Insert Name(/url)") Blah Blah Blah (/quote)

    If women's periods synchronised by exposure to each others hormones/pheremones that wouldn't be particularly mind-boggling. But I have trouble with the notion that my heartbeat can be affected by other people's brainwaves.
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2012
  20. Putrid

    Putrid Moved on

    I have used this technology on and off for the last 25 years and am highly skeptical about it.In fact I built a hemi sync machine in the mid eighties,long before the technology became commonplace.I have found the results to be inferior to autogenics and Buddhist meditation.Over the last few years this technology has been over hyped to a ridiculous level with no real proof that it works.There is big money in it and several individuals have become millionaires through peddling CDs that cost hundreds of pounds.

    If you are having problems getting to sleep all you have to do is slow your voice down and tell yourself you will never get to sleep but saying it in a very slurred and tired voice.Within a few minutes you will be fast asleep.Its a method developed by Richard Bandler and it works extremely well.

    If you are curious about this technology you can download a free trial version of Neuroprogammer 3.

    http://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/index.php

    This is the industry standard and is used by most people who manufacture expensive CDs.It works quite well and I do agree with Simon when he says he gets a quick "pick me up" when using this technology.What I am cynical about are the claims that it will lead to deep levels of mediation such as that experienced by Buddhist monks.In my experience all these machines will do is put you in a spaced out state that is about as far away from proper meditation as you can get.Certainly relaxing and may help relieve stress but its not meditation.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2012

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