Hemi-Sync® Journal 1993-1 (Winter)

F R O M A D I S S O C I AT I V E T O A T R A N S C E N D E N T S TAT E : AN EEC DEFINITION OF THE HEMI-SYNC PROCESS Vol. XI Winter 1993 No. 1 A Publication of The Monroe institute Professional Division F. Holmes Atwater is a scientific investigator and human behavioral engineer specializing in techniques for cultivating propitious states of consciousness. He became administrator of TMI's ongoing computerized brain-wave research project in 1988. The following report on TMI laboratory activities was pre sented at the Professional Seminar in July. Abstract This paper discusses an EEC definition of the Hemi-Sync process from the dissociative state into transcendent states and their experiences. A Hemi-Sync index based on brain wave synchrony in response to multiplexed binaural beat frequencies is proposed. The role of alpha brain-wave sup pression in relation to the development of these states also is considered. A commentary, including protocols, data analy sis, and illustrations of initial results of ongoing research, is IN THIS ISSUE included. History For years researchers associated with and those indepen The editors and staff of the dent of the Institute have been in search of an objective HEMI-SYNC™ JOURNAL way to measure and appraise something known as the Hemi-Sync process. Most researchers have chosen the elec are pleased to begin our troencephalograph (EEC) as their instrument or device to conduct these objective observations. Conventional research eleventh year of publishing protocols called for these researchers to look for classic evoked-potential EEC responses to binaural beat stimuli. with this issue devoted Failing in their efforts to observe a so-called direct response to Hemi-Sync, these well-intentioned researchers were solely to a special report on forced by their own findings to conclude that the binaural investigations conducted at sound patterns of Hemi-Sync had no observable effect on brain waves. A 4 Hz binaural beat signal did not present a The Monroe Institute classic evoked-potential 4 Hz EEC response. In 1988 The Monroe Institute acquired a computerized research laboratory. EEC recording device, the LEXICOR Neurosearch-24 (NRS- 24). The NRS-24 provided EEC data acquisition, analysis, and display. The EEG research that we began at that time was not designed in form and protocol to ensure acceptance by orthodox segments of our culture. It was obvious that the Hemi-Sync sound patterns worked; there had been literally thousands of individuals who knew from their own experi- © 1993 The Monroe Institute Route 1. Fober, VA 22938-9749 804/361-1252 HEMI-SYNC™ JOURNAL ence that this was true. The Institute confirmed what other suppressed. The suppression of this alpha activity frees one researchers had found: Conventional EEC evoked-potential to perceive nonphysical energies outside the confines of protocols simply did not provide any information about how physical-law belief systems. Hemi-Sync was affecting the brain. The Institute was not The Transcendent State bound, however, by the often narrow confines of convention. The Institute chose to observe brain-wave activity openly Beyond dissociation is transcendence. The transcendent with the highly versatile NRS-24 and wait for patterns to state can be defined as outside the normal limits of one's ego emerge. Later, more traditional scientific protocols were and one's personal unconscious mind, into universal aware used to validate hypotheses developed. Through this process, ness. Experiences in this state are many times ineffable. objective evidence of the effect of Hemi-Sync sound patterns Experiences in this realm are more than passive diver- on the brain has emerged. Figure 2 The Dissociative State During what is termed normal waking consciousness, nonphysical phenomena generally remain at the uncon scious level. When perceptions of the nonphysical intrude into what is otherwise occupied with sensory data about the physical world, an opening is experienced. This, however, is not classified as a dissociative state. Only when nonphysical phenomena constitute the whole field of perception, when there is no impression of being "normally" in the physical body, when the physical body is asleep or fully entranced, then together these constitute a dissociative state. In terms of EEC, the shift from normal waking con sciousness into a dissociative state is evidenced by a change in amplitude, frequency, and locale of predominant brain waves. Looking at the bipolar electrode position C3-C4 (the median of the central cortex), the waking state is character ized by alpha and beta brain waves. The dissociative state is characterized by relatively high-amplitude slow-wave (delta and theta) activity. Sleep is a dissociative state. Deep meditative states and The Trariscendent State some trance states can also be classified as dissociative states (Figure 1). In the case of the latter, synchrony of brain-wave activity is increased. This brain-wave synchrony can be seen sions. Their creative power can change the very nature of at the bipolar C3-C4 electrode site. the participant's reality. The shift in consciousness from the waking state into the In terms of EEG, the shift from a dissociative state into dissociative state is accompanied by another EEG phenome transcendence is evidenced by further changes in amplitude, non called alpha suppression. Alpha brain-wave activity con frequency, and locale of predominant brain waves. The tran fined to the cortex behind the Sylvian sulcus, the back of the scendent state is characterized by relatively high-amplitude head, is known as "resting-state-alpha." As one moves slow-wave (delta and theta) brain waves, but this is accom toward a dissociative state, alpha activity in this region is panied by regional (usually temporal) gamma wave activity Figure 1 (Figure 2). There is evidence that brain-wave synchrony is increased during experiences in transcendent states. The shift in consciousness from the dissociative state into tran scendence is also evidenced by continued alpha suppression. The Hemi-Sync Index BioLex V200 software for the NRS-24 has enabled the development of a Hemi-Sync index, an objective measuring device which demonstrates the brain-wave response to Hemi-Sync sound patterns. This index is a complex combi nation of parameters heretofore unrealized in conventional EEG records. The first component of this index is frequency. Brain waves must first be of the same frequency to be con sidered potentially synchronous. The second element of this index is phase-angle symmetry. Brain-wave synchrony is defined as having brain waves of equal frequency and phase angle. Frequency and phase angle are easily derived with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) mathematics. Synchrony alone, however, is insufficient to define the Hemi-Sync index. Even though brain waves may approach 100% synchrony, they may be of so low an amplitude that The Dissociative State they have little or no significant relationship to the brain's ii Winter 1993 overall functions. Remembering too that a shift into a disso being used, which provides for a brain-wave frequency