Hemi-Sync® Journal 1990-4 (Fall)

Hemi-Sync, the same subject demon: a “wonderfully synchronous pattern” over a sustained period of time, representing a state of focused attention. Mr. Atwater concluded with an explanation and invitation to interested researchers: “The Brainmapping Project has not been designed to conduct studies in form and protocol that will ensure acceptance by orthodox segments of our culture and we do not any papers or other documentation suitable for this The Institute recognized long ago that such an effort may not be possible within the area of investigation covered in our work. The question of compatibility is too great. We do, however, encourage other organizations to conduct studies that may offer additional or extended verification of our work.” Figure 1. OVERALL AROUSAL AND ALERTNESS “High” Gamma & Beta Awake Alpha Li Fee ight Sleep Deep SI Delta seve “Low” Figure 2 ATTENTIONAL STATES Low-Amplitude - High-Frequency Desynchronized EEG “Narrow Focus” High-Amplitude - Low-Frequency More synchronous EEG “Open Focus” HEMI-SYNC AND THE BRAIN ENTRAINMENT PROCESS: MYTH OR REALITY? emi. Sync. and the Brain Entrainment Process” Myth or Reali’? Mohammad R. Sadigt The Gateway ‘nst by Mohammad R. Sadigh, Ph.D. Mohammad Sadigh is assistant director of psychology and psychophysiological services at the Gateway Institute, a center for pain and stress management. He practices psy- chotherapy and biofeedback and is in charge of the neuro- psychological laboratory. His primary research activity is in the area of computer-assisted dynamic brain mapping. Dr. Sadigh is also the composer and artist of “Inner Journey,” the newest release in TMI’s METAMUSIC ARTIST SERIES. He lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Dr. Sadigh began by describing his personal interest in ex- traordinary states of consciousness. This interest, and the current plethora of mind-brain devices and techniques available, led him to begin investigating some of them in his neuropsychological lab. Uti- lizing a 16-channel HZI Dynamic Brain Mapping Unit, he tested subjects’ responses to the devices to determine if brain-wave states were altered in accordance with the manufacturers’ claims. Results were consistently disappointing. The data obtained did not validate claims of hemispheric synchronization or demonstrate a pre- dominance of brain waves in the targeted ranges. While participating in a GATEWAY VOYAGE at The Monroe Institute, Dr. Sadigh experienced a personal Hemi-Sync session in the laboratory isolation booth. The subsequent burst of creative energy in: two projects: first, to write music; and second, to demonstrate hat is happening with Hemi-Sync.” Is_ the entrainment process, defined by Dr. Sadigh as influencing the brain to produce specific states, a reality or a myth? He set out to discover the answer, Using slides to illustrate the visual displays available on his brain-mapping system, Dr. Sadigh demonstrated the ease of pattern recognition with a color-coded topographic map _ versus conventional EEGs’ “squiggly lines.” Stressing the importance of the secondary and tertiary, as well as primary, brain-wave activity as an indicator of brain state, he displayed a topograph showing a predominance of Theta waves as the primary activity in comparison to a second topograph showing predominantly Alpha waves as the secondary activity. --- PAGE 4 (OCR) --- HEMI-SYNC JOURNAL Shortly after his visit to TMI, Dr. Sadigh spoke with a biologist who had meditated regularly for about 15 years. The biologist said that after five years of practice he began to “feel” his brain becoming synchronized during meditation. Dr. Sadigh suggested checking it out on the brain mapper. Using a single-subject research design the biologist was brain mapped before, during, and after entering his meditative state. To Dr. Sadigh’s great excitement, topographs revealed hemi- spheric synchrony both in primary and secondary activity during meditation but not during the pre- or posttest period. Furthermore, while primary activity was in the Alpha range, secondary activity was predominantly Theta. The Theta was of particular interest be- e, not only is it difficult to learn to produce a Theta state, but sustaining it over time is rare. Armed with documentation on the adept meditator, Dr. Sadigh began brain mapping subjects using Hemi-Syne. His first subject was a female volunteer who had attended a G. VAY AGE at TMI and worked with Hemi-Syne tapes about two months. Using the same single-subject research model, the pretest showed an asynchronous mixture of Alpha, Beta, and Theta. He then intro- duced the Introduction to Focus 10 Hemi-Syne tape. Results were astounding: the subject’s topograph showed primary Theta activity, and secondary Alpha activity—both synchronized hemispherically. The posttest showed a return to an chronous mixture of Alpha and Theta waves. The next subject, a male, had attended the two to three years ago, and had used a few H-PL since, although not regularly His pre- and posttest chronous Theta a (the Free Flow 12 tape) the subject arbtwed primary “Beta ai sec- ondary Alpha activity, again, synchronized hemispherically. Sub- sequently, Dr. Sadigh decided to replicate the Free Flow 2 with the same subject. Results ly duplicated those in the first test: asynchronous Theta and Alpha in the pretest and posttest, and synchronous Beta and Alpha during Hemi-Sync. Because the sub- VAY VOYAGE series tapes Dramatic changes in synchrony were present in all situations. ject had experienced H-PLUS tapes, Dr. Sadigh tried a brief experi- ment. During the posttest period, he made a verbal suggestion to the subject: “Eleven, Access Channel open,” which is an encoding or verbal cue present on all H-PLUS tapes. In response, the subject produced synchronous primary Beta and secondary Alpha waves. This response, to a verbal cue only, suggests another level of en- trainment: that Hemi-Syne, in addition to stimulating targeted brain states, fosters the ability of an individual to reproduce that state at will. These and other tests performed by Dr. Sadigh generate as many questions as answers. Dramatic changes in synchrony were present in all s te relationship between subjective experiences and brain-wave activity? What is the significance of patterns of amplitude within the frequency ranges during hemispheric synchronization? What happens when a subject ? Atter compiling more data with additional subject digh will offer it to other researchers. He also hopes publish some of his results. To conclude his formal presentation, Dr. Sadigh shared some philosophical thoughts on the implications of this research. While the presence of measurable brain-wave activity supports the con- cept that human beings transmit information, a compatible notion occurs: that we are, in fact, highly complex receivers; that our brains work to “tune in” to selected frequency transmissions as our brain states change. If this is so, what is the source of these trans- missions? It is this ultimate question which he intends to pursue. 7, @ ntually to WHAT CAN CHAOS THEORY TELL US ABOUT CONSCIOUSNESS AND BRAIN FUNCTION? by Glenn Pearce, Ph.D. Glenn Pearce, professor of philosophy, completed his undergraduate work at the College of William and Mary, and graduate studies at Duke University. He taught at the University of Wisconsin and William and Mary prior to join- ing the faculty of the University of Western Ontario, where he has remained for twenty-three years, and has served as chairman of its philosophy department. His main fellectual interests are cognitive science and metaphysic He says, “If there were only one question I could ask God, it would be: How is the universe put together?’ ” ‘The science of chaos, espoused by many of its proponents as the greatest evolutionary leap in scientific understanding since quantum mechanics, reveals a larger mathematical order underlying systems previously considered random. Our ability to apply chaos theory today is largely due to the recent advances in high-speed computer technology. Methods of dynamical analysis developed in the study of complex, chaotic systems may provide a powerful new way of comprehending the behavior of the nervous system under the influence of Hemi-Sync. In this presentation, Professor Pearce di; d the concepts of chaos theory and suggested lines of investigation which could complement research already under way in the TMI Brainmapping Project. “Apparently random processes often lead to unexpected order and/or regularity,” he said, citing the chaos game as a marvelously simple illustration, “and the same is true of natural processes.” The chaos game is played with a conventional die (or any random number generator) and a numbered grid. The game requires only one player—who has about twenty-four hours to devote to randomly casting the die and recording the result of each throw by drawing a dot at the appropriate point on the grid. As the hours tick by, the player sees a definite pattern slowly emerging on the paper. Fortunately for chaos researchers, who may not have the time or inclination for such tedious data gathering, high-speed computers crunch the numbers with ease and speed. “Conversely,” Professor Pearce continued, “apparently random behavior is often governed by very simple equations, subject to ‘iter- ative feedback’.” An illustration is provided by the equation +€ = N) which generates the Mandelbrot set, an extremely complex mathematical object, familiar to the public through its ex- traordinarily beautiful computer representations. |Z and C are com- plex numbers chosen at the start; the resulting number, N, is fed back into the equation as a new value for Z, producing N, ete., the --- PAGE 5 (OCR) --- Fall 1990 process being repeated (‘iterated’) indefinitely.] “To a remarkable extent, natural systems—especially biological systems—can be modeled by this technique, and, because of the feedback, they show self-similarity at different scales. “The traditional cont between ‘orderly’ and ‘chaotic’ behavior,” continued Professor Pearce, “is giving way to the idea of different dimensions of complexity... .” One important measure of this complexity is its fractal dimension. Examples of computer-generated fractal “landscapes” have captured public attention with their eerie resemblance to actual landscapes. Moviegoers have witnessed, if not recognized, fractals in the production of special effects in the film industry. The suc of this. application of fractal geometry helps to demonstrate chaos theory’s fundamental relationship to natural systems. To explore the application to dynamic systems, we must first draw a map of the system’s behavior in “phase space;” a multi- dimensional mathematical space in which each point represents a possible state ("phase") of the system. The actual behavior of the system is then described by a unique trajectory through this space, whose points represent the actual states of the system over time. For a simple example, consider a free-swinging pendulum which eventually comes to rest. The phase space of its behavior would be a trajectory which spirals in to a central zero point. Such spirals come in different sizes, depending on how far and fast the pen- dulum swings, but they all end at the same point, representing rest. This point is called an “attractor” for the system, since all tra- jectories lead there. If the pendulum is kept going—by a battery for example—then the phase space trajectory would not be a spiral, but a closed loop. This loop is called a limit cycle attractor, since any in- itial traiectory would quickly converge on it—so long as the battery ly. (Another useful image is a valley surrounded by the bottom, which thu cts” them, If you think of hills and valleys of energy, then we can say that the behavior of natural sys tems is “attracted” by energy valleys and “repelled” by energy hills.) “Apparently random processes often lead to