What works?

[CraigT]

There's been lots of questions about what sessions work for what purposes and I understand that because of FDA restrictions on what can and can't be said about therapeutic application, MindPlace and its associates cannot provide straight answers.

I'm in New Zealand where no such restrictions apply, and I am not in any way affiliated with MindPlace or its associates, except as a very satisfied Procyon user. I also use other BWE applications from other sources.

What I'm wanting to do here is give an overview of what I have come to expect to work, based on the successes my wife and I have enjoyed. I could write a book on the reasons why she and I may not be typical, so please understand that what works fo me may not work for you, however, my results are consistent with much of the plentiful research on BWE. You may also deduce that we are both quite nuts and have personal access to a wide range of issues to address I have a strong technical background and believe I have been reasonably perceptive and objective in assessing 'successes', although I will not deny wishful thinking/placebo effect - I do want to get better!

As these results apply to any BWE source, I won't use specific session names, just reference to frequency bands. There are documents detailing how these bands relate to Procyon and Proteus sessions, so it shouldn't be too hard to work out which session to use. Marisa is also really good at suggesting which session to use for a particular frequency range.

Headache - alpha
Anxiety - mid-low alpha
Depression - SMR/beta
Stress/Tension - high theta/alpha/SMR
Addiction/OCD - alpha/theta
Random aches and pains (fibromyalgia) - very-low-delta or gamma
Insomnia - theta/delta
Restlessness - low-alpha/theta
Agitation - theta
Drowsiness - beta
Lack of concentration/ADD - SMR/low-beta
General malaise - SMR
Boredom - high theta or low beta
Lack of creativity - high alpha/low beta

As a general principle, choosing a frequency within a band depends on whether you want a more relaxed or more activated state - alert relaxed would be high alpha, while calm relaxed would be low alpha. I've found that a few percent either way makes very little difference, and my response does vary day-to-day and with my overall physical and psychological state.

Trying more of something in which I am not deficient often causes me irritation or discomfort - i.e. a depression session if I'm not depressed may well make me feel worse, or delta when I'm neither sleepy or in a state to pursue deep meditation will just irritate me. I also find that if I get into a state that is unsuitable for what I then have to do, I can experience some distress - i.e. a long theta session followed immediately by complex technical tasks is not good for me. These negative effects are always quick to pass and I am absolutely confident in the safety of trial-and-error. I would advise extreme caution in driving or operating machinery after low alpha/theta or delta sessions.

In some cases I have had best results with long periods of continuous tone, others I benefits fom ramping and shifting - generally if I want 'activation' a more dynamic session is better. Sometimes different left/right hemisphere stimulation has been better, but this gets a bit more complicated than I really want to get into here, and in reality, is probably more 'ideal' than necessary.

I have not been able to authenticate any specific frequencies, such as Schumann Resonance or the Resonant Frequency of the LSD Molecule - they work just like any other neighbouring frequency within their band.

An interesting thing happens with high beta and gamma, in that rather than becoming more activating, it tends to become calming again. My assumption on this is that the beat is so fast that it merges into a soothing drone.

I hope this is helpful, but feel free to take all I have said with a grain of salt. Above all else, have fun, experiment, and enjoy this wonderful technology!

Cheers,
Craig

[Marisa]

Thanks Craig!

You rock!



M.

[synaesthesia]

Thanks Craig. Your post is a reminder to me to be more experimental and use my AVS machines when it may be useful not just at the routine spots when I think I have the time

Mark

[jloom]

This is pretty insightful.

I had posted a question about doing the 60min session with alot of low frequencies and I finding that it caused irritation. An irritation that was hidden below the surface of my "wiped out" conscious state. It blind sided me a couple of times in the real world so I had to stop the Long and Low sessions. In all honesty I wasn't really able to surrender to the "push" of the binaural beats by detaching from the contents of my mind. I just kept thinking, thinking, thinking the whole time. So either I suck or this session is just not for me at this time.

Recently I've been doing just the opposite, I've been cranking the binaural beats up to about 30Hz. My thinking on this is it will bring me up to the "speed of life" and my ability to intrepret and respond to my environment will be up to that pace.

To be blunt, I really don't know what the hell I'm doing, but posts like this are helpful.

Thanks,
jerome

[CraigT]

Jerome,

I'm really pleased you found some value in my ramblings

As for 'knowing what you're doing', I'm a great advocate of trial-and-error, but a very important aspect of success in this strategy is strict observation of cause and effect. Do whatever seems to make sense, but also note other factors - use of drugs/alcohol, time of day, recent activities, stress levels, environment, etc - then review the outcome carefully. You'll then need to try it again, particularly if you're pleased with the results, to make sure it's repeatable. Posting successes here is a good way of checking too - if others have had similar results it's a good indication that you're on the right track.

It's important not to be thinking about the entrainment session while engaging in it - conscious thought will override most entrainment (obviously this is fine if the entrainment is intended to enhance conscious thought!)

It's useful to have a broad sense of what the brain is doing in it's daily routine. Entrainment doesn't cause it to do anything it wouldn't do of its own accord - it just encourages it into areas where we would like it to spend more time. Entrainment doesn't cause it to release hormones/neurotransmitters that it wouldn't otherwise - it just helps get it into the states where it would naturally release the particular ones that we believe would be desirable. Each mental process uses different parts of the brain, and one characteristic that changes with different mental processes is blood flow/blood distribution within the brain. With entrainment exercise, plus nutrition, mental and physical exercise, it is possible to improve blood flow, thus oxygenation, thus efficiency, of various brain regions.

The four frequency bands broadly relate to four major states of consciousness where the body/mind are engaged in four major aspect of life.

Delta is the state where consciousness is pretty much shut down and the 'automatic' repair and construction tasks are performed - it is essential to physical wellbeing, including growth and healing.

Theta is a state of low level consciousness where 'automatic' mental processes are given priority. During waking hours we are bombarded with vast amounts of sense data, far more than can be processed in real time. Much of it is stashed away in short term memory for later processing. During theta this post-processing is performed. Dreams are the most conscious level of this process, though much occurs that we'll never know about. All the masses of sense data is sifted through and categorised, compared to previous knowledge, stored in longer term memory according to it's relevance. Relevance is largely established by the number of connections it has to existing knowledge, which is to say, the more you're exposed to a certain type of information, the more you're likely to retain.

Alpha is non-participative consciousness. In this state you are fully conscious of all incoming sense data, but not actively processing it. This is an ideal learning state. It is relaxed because the incoming data is not being judged or assessed.

Beta is participative consciousness. The brain is fully engaged in analysing what is presented to it. In this state much sense data is ignored - we can become oblivious to surroundings, engaged in a single task. This can be a stressful state if the sense data, or focus of analysis isn't constructive, because the brain is 'thinking' and it will think about whatever it can find - even if that line of thought is circular or negative. An absence of fresh data, particularly when dealing with problems, can lead to obsession, or dwelling on already processed, 'stale' information. 'Thinking' is not always the best solution to a problem!

Using entrainment to force the brain into a state that is unsuited for the current circumstances is relatively futile. A delta session when you're obsessed with a problem is unlikely to work. Likewise, a beta session when you haven't slept for 40 hours is probably going to be less than satisfactory. It is possible, however, to nudge an unwilling brain away from undesirable states. If stressed, it is far better to spend some time in alpha than to try to knock yourself unsconscious with theta or delta. If you're very tired, you're better to gently warm up with high alpha/low beta (SMR) than plow straight into beta or gamma.

Entrainment works best when everything else has been dealt with. Proper nutrition, hydration, exercise, external stimulation (conversation, reading, games, study, etc.) and a sleep pattern/environment conducive to good sleep is essential. Just as vitamin supplements and energy drinks won't make your body fit without proper care, entrainment won't make a neglected brain fit.

Again, I hope this might be a bit of help in getting the most out of your entrainment sessions.

Cheers,
Craig


P.S. Just thought I'd better make the very important point - this is always a discussion of dominant frequencies - unlike a car which is either in top gear or it is not, the brain can only ever be 'mostly' in top gear - all other frequencies will always be present in varying degrees. There is also nothing intrinsically superior about any particular frequency or band - all are absolutely essential to wellbeing of a well-balanced individual.