TMI Journal 2010-1&2 (Winter/Spring)

% total 86.69 59.38 79.53 77.29 45.71 63.37 34.11 (3-9-2008) Test score 27 6 20 6 35 195 4 82 153 4 % total 91.95 39.10 90.75 94.87 75.55 61.09 45.77 95.39 10.34 (6-3-2008) Test score 22 7 17 5 37 263 6 76 88 5 % total 62.7 65.47 76.81 59.29 83.38 84.64 60.29 80.64 53.70 (7-17-2008) Data Summary of University of Amsterdam Memory Test Test results were variable, with some indicating improvement, others showing a decline, some having constant results, and others showing strong improvement. Positive effects are reflected in better scores in the story test, words list test, pattern memory test, and visual span test on June 3 and July 17, 2008. Generally, the results were positive and encouraging, although further testing is needed before drawing any firm conclusions. Results of Self-Reporting The subject reported a definite impact on general well-being. She felt less tired, more relaxed, and more effective on her own. She asserted that the “relaxation effect is absolutely significant.” She felt a clear relation between listening to Hemi-Sync (especially Concentration) in the evening and getting up earlier and refreshed the next morning. The quality of her sleep improved and she required less sleep. She became more active and did not feel so tired later in the day. Problems with balance and vision were reduced a little. The subject felt more relaxed about planning and setting priorities for the day. While she could work more coherently at home, she was still distracted by outside sounds while in the company of others and found it difficult to quickly digest a lot of information. Although a small setback occurred when the subject had a car accident, she reported that listening to Hemi-Sync was a great help in coping with the event. Next Page 9 TMI JOURNAL Winter/Spring 2010 Listening to Concentration helped her feel more focused and experience more insights and creativity. The STROKE RECOVERY series was very effective, especially the guided visualizations in the Healing Energies and Motor Skills exercises. While listening to Motor Skills, she frequently received messages and had recollections. One message was that her left side “would be able to relax more … and would be able to move as precise[ly] as the right half, with more ability to maintain balance and posture, and move more freely and strongly.” Her experiences included strong feelings of euphoria, expansion of consciousness, and beautiful visualizations. There were also moments of grief that touched her heart. Sometimes she would suddenly have strong recollections of something in the past or even childhood while listening to Imprint and Motor Skills. She was quite surprised by that and felt the memories were a “gift.” While listening to Imprint she had many good ideas again, with strong, detailed recollection from a year and a half earlier. That seldom happens in such detail. Her creativity and insights increased and there was more quiet in her head while listening to the exercises. In one visualization a bird appeared in an aura of light and flew toward “another place” that seemed to be her “former self with well-functioning brain.” For the first time, she had an out-of-body experience (OBE). Many times when listening to Imprint she had the sensation of leaving her body and she was conscious of moving up and shifting her state of awareness. She reported on one occasion while listening to Imprint: “Strong sensation of going out of my body in phases higher and higher above my physical body but not completely. Nice and very strong experience.” She also had similar OBEs when listening to Motor Skills and Healing Energies from the STROKE RECOVERY series. She felt happier, satisfied, and more accepting, as well as being at ease and comfortable in her home. Self-doubt decreased and openness increased. Her cat often sat on her lap during Hemi-Sync sessions. That had never happened before. She liked that very much and felt the cat was also enjoying the sessions. Somatic Sensations The low tones in the exercises were very pleasant to the subject and sometimes caused physical sensations at the back/base of her head and brain below her ears. Listening to Imprint resulted in an “enjoyable sound at the right side of head in between temporal and eyebrow area and feeling more relaxed in my head. Strong effect of tone on the right: feel a difference in ‘state of mind’ straight away!” With Imprint she also reported “experiencing waves, streams and light, with sensations again on the left and middle of my forehead. Lots of energy above inside/middle of head.” Concentration seemed to produce a physical aftereffect on her eyes, and tension in her ears and jaws when the exercise ended. HUMAN PLUS The “here and now effect of Hemi-Sync is good,” she said, but it was hard to remember to use the reinforcing H- PLUS Function Commands such as Plus Focus, Plus Flow Better, and Plus Imprint in everyday life. “Applying the Plus Imprint code while learning Greek vocabulary did not seem to be really fruitful,” she reported. Hemi-Sync effects decreased when she was with companions or out of her home environment due to increased external stimulation. On a more positive note, after listening to Brain: Support and Maintenance, she had a passing feeling that she described as being “as if I am once again working as pleasantly as before the accident.” Psychological /Emotional Results The subject described herself as being analytical and needing more confidence in the process because she was doubtful and skeptical about the effectiveness of the H-PLUS encodings (Function Commands). She felt it was important to try to let go of belief systems and to feel more trust in the process. She reported, “Every once in a while the little demon/devil appears, that tries to tackle the effects of working with Hemi-Sync, saying that it’s all only Next Page 10 TMI JOURNAL Winter/Spring 2010 imagination, ‘just’ some kind of Rational Emotive Therapy, etc., all in all undermining the … effect.” H-PLUS Let Go was introduced to assist in releasing doubts and opening to new possibilities, and she had some breakthroughs. She also became aware that she had had a negative stream of thought inside her head during depressive periods in the past. Imprint and Let Go allowed her to break through that resistance. Afterward she reported, “Lots of light coming into [my] head.” At such moments she had no more desire to analyze. “It’s as good as it goes,” she said. Sometimes the subject felt insecure and vulnerable in her environment. There were some intrusions in her life that she no longer welcomed. To help strengthen her energy, power, and intention, we reviewed a visualization technique from the EXCURSION course, the Resonant Energy Balloon (REBAL). The REBAL was quite effective for her, both while driving and while listening to Hemi-Sync, especially H-PLUS. With the REBAL, real “pressure/resistance/ protection appear to arise” around her head. While at home, her ability to ignore outside distractions was enhanced. She heard the CD sounds more clearly and sometimes she entered another “state of mind.” Discussion Although the subject still found it difficult to concentrate, to store instructions mentally, and to do more than one task at a time, she reported being able to accomplish more since her exposure to Hemi-Sync. Cognitively strenuous tasks were not sufficiently alleviated by the listening regimen but little things had improved. She had more self- confidence and was able to function more independently. The deep relaxation relieved stress and anxiety, an important consideration in improved quality of life and sense of well-being. The strong physical sensations in the subject’s head while listening to binaural beats are evidence of an effect. It would be worthwhile to pursue this aspect further with other TBI subjects. The psychological and emotional breakthroughs were significant. The subject was surprised by the sudden glimpses and recall of forgotten events. Her “peak” experiences in expanded states of awareness were frequent and seemed to result in beneficial insights and shifts in her perspectives about her life and her own process. She concluded that it was “definitely worth continuing to listen to Hemi-Sync” and remarked that “not every aspect of living is positively influenced but that may be asking too much. Rome wasn’t built in a day either.” The isolation of a Hemi-Sync response is possible, since it was a new variable introduced into a medically documented case with a long, stable history of old TBI symptoms resulting from a car accident in 1996. Considering the severity of the symptoms, the subject’s response was remarkable. The detailed subject self-reports and the University of Amsterdam National Memory Test––although not ideal––do provide some evidence of a positive effect. Future studies could incorporate more rigorous controls and testing, which would facilitate drawing additional conclusions. The subject particularly expressed the wish that this study could be helpful to other researchers, therapists, and TBI patients. It is our hope that this small project will inspire others to undertake much-needed formal, controlled, scientific research to further investigate the capability of binaural-beat exercises to improve the quality of life for TBI patients. Acknowledgments The author would like to thank the subject of this study, Pien Perre, who was patient, well motivated, meticulous, and conscientious in recording her results. Special thanks also to researcher Jop Perre of the Netherlands for support on project design, statistical analysis, and feedback. Notes 1. Signe Klepp, “Effects of Binaural-Beat Stimulation on Recovery Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Study,” Hemi-Sync Journal 23, nos. 3 & 4 (summer/fall 2005), http://www.monroeinstitute.org/journal/effects- of-binaural-beat-stimulation-on-recovery-following-traumatic-brain-injury-a-pilot-study-2/ (accessed July 11, 2010). 2. F. Holmes Atwater, “Inducing States of Consciousness with a Binaural Beat Technology,” in The Monroe Institute Encyclopedia of Consciousness, http://www.monroeinstitute.org/wiki/index.php/Inducing_States_of_ Consciousness_with_a_Binaural_Beat_Technology (accessed July 11, 2010). 3. University of Amsterdam, “National Memory Test,” http://memory.uva.nl/geheugentest/ (accessed July 11, 2010). Next Page 11 TMI JOURNAL Summer/Fall 2009 THE MONROE INSTITUTE BOARD Editors: Shirley Bliley, Ann Vaughan OF ADVISORS Layout & Design: Grafton Blankinship The TMI JOURNAL, a publication of The Monroe Institute®, an educational and research organization