artificially produced background sounds, e.g., pink sound, brown sound, etc.; and verbal guidance in the form of narrative inserts strategically placed to enhance the three-step induction process. The use of these additional components traditionally enhances the effectiveness of audio induction procedures. This process is particularly effective when combined with other sensory-information techniques (such as sitting in a darkened room), social-psychological conditioning tools (such as intra-group affirmation, affinity, and/or communion), and educational curriculum (in which new cognitive, “consciousness expansion” skills are learned, i.e., breath work, visualization, etc.) such as are provided within The Monroe Institute’s many educational programs. Binaural beats, monaural beats, and isochronic tones have been said to “entrain brainwaves,” yet there has been no physiological mechanism proposed that would explain such entrainment. This notion of entrainment is a post hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for “after this, therefore because of this,” offer of proof. It is a logical fallacy implying that since changes in brainwaves followed the introduction sound (e.g., binaural beats), the changes in brainwaves must Next Page 2 TMI JOURNAL 2012
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have been caused by the sound. This post hoc ergo propter hoc offer of proof is also sometimes referred to as false cause, coincidental correlation, or correlation not causation. Post hoc is a particularly tempting error because the intrinsic temporal sequence appears to be integral to causality. The fallacy lies in coming to a conclusion based solely on the order of events, rather than taking into account other factors that might rule out the connection. From a neuroscientific perspective, these audio stimuli are being neurologically routed to the reticular formation (Swann et al., 1982) and simultaneously volume conducted to the cortex, where they can be objectively measured as a series of EEG-evoked potentials (Oster, 1973; Smith, Marsh, & Brown, 1975; Marsh, Brown, & Smith, 1975; Smith et al., 1978; Hink et al., 1980), not brainwave arousal associated with states of consciousness. The traditional neuroscientific community says that changes seen in global brainwave arousal (differentiated from an EEG-evoked potential response discussed above) are functions of the extended reticular-thalamic activation system (ERTAS), which regulates brainwave activity (Newman, 1997). The reticular activating system interprets and reacts to information from internal stimuli, feelings, attitudes, and beliefs as well as external sensory stimuli (i.e., audio input) by regulating arousal states, attentional focus, and levels of awareness (Empson, 1986; Tice & Steinberg, 1989).
This well-understood ERTAS mechanism may explain the objective measureable changes in brainwave arousal noted with binaural beats, monaural beats, and isochronic tones, where “entrainment” fails to do so. But the first-person experience of consciousness is much more than just arousal states, attentional focus, and levels of awareness. The cognitive content of the experience gives it meaning to the individual and provides clues to understanding the underlying mechanisms behind such perceptions. Studying the qualitative aspects of altered-state experiences (the cognitive content) over the last three decades led The Monroe Institute to the understanding of further neurological mechanisms involved in those who have deep, meaningful experiences in extraordinary states of consciousness. Such experiences would appear to involve nonlocal (in the “quantum nonlocality” or “quantum coherence” sense) perceptions of reality and the universe. For such perceptions to emerge, consciousness must necessarily extend beyond the physical body. Presumably, the brain organ must be somehow quantum entangled with information beyond the simplex concept of arousal states, attentional focus, and levels of awareness. If mind-consciousness is not confined to the brain organ within the body, why then does science relate states of consciousness and mental functioning to brainwaves? The question can be answered in terms of an instrumentation