Comments on: Left Hemisphere: 18 Hz Beta Brainwave Entrainment (Isochronic Tones) – Life Experiment

By: Brett

Brett — Mon, 30 May 2011 06:29:24 +0000

Hi Drew

Hi I have been reading your comments in this blog and I just was wondering if you could perhaps help me with this brainwave topic. I have been diagnosed with borderline perosnality disorder as well as having generalized anxiety disorder and i tend to ruminate on things and be very scared about being myself around people (basically I have a huge lack of confidence and self belief). i have been using different brainwave cds over the last 3-4 years but owing to lack of determination some bad experiences and plain fear i have mixed and matched the cds and currently I have been using isochronic tones which i don’t think go well with my medication (currently I take 40mg of buspirone each day as well as 20mg citalopram and 1200mcg of epilim for mood stabilization). I find it very hard to discipline my thinking as I am often worrying about whether i am centered or grounded in my physical body or what am I thinking or on guard for any depressive thoughts or anxious thoughts so that I stay in control, this unfortunately is often a huge effort to undertake and I find I don’t often have the willpower or inner strength to keep up with this mindfulness practice and so often the thoughts come back when I am very tired and scare me completely.

I was hoping if you or someone could please tell me how I can listen to isochronic tones in a safe way whilst still taking the medication that I am on.

P.s. This is because the isochronic tones I have found have generally caused me to have a ”frozen mind” so to speak which I think comes about from being a reflective type of state induced by listening to the isochronic tones.In this state I have foubnd it very hard to ”hear” or be aware of the content of my thoughts for some reason.

Once again any help will be appreciated and thank you very much for reading this.

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:27:44 +0000

Hi Drew. I wrote to you a little while ago. Not sure if you got the email. I am successfully dealing with Schizo Affective Disorder which is a “nice” combo of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. The beauty of my situation is that it is pretty close to the worst case scenario as brains disorders go.
Yet I’m doing well!
I’ve got this crippling condition under control by being consistant with my medications (Zoloft and Abilify) which helps tremendously but only takes you 70% of the way. In addition I also take many supplements and vitamins which I’ve researched and have found to each help in their own way.
But then a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon Brainwave Entrainment… again. See, I had tried it years ago in a basic relaxation cd to slight success, but after coming acrossed your blog, decided to do some of my own experimentation (with the full knowledge that it was at my own risk.)
Well… there has been tremendous gains in my personal mental health that I’d love to talk to you about. Each day, I tweak and perfect my regimine and I keep getting better as a result. As of today, I am playing 18 hz (Beta) into my right ear, to stimulate Beta in my left hemisphere. This wakes me up as Drew had stated above. It helps me to think faster and clearer and clears out the “fog” in my head.
But that’s not all. At other times (and I base this all on how I’m feeling in the moment. After 10 years of dealing with this rollercoaster disorder, I’ve found I’ve become quite sharp at determining exactly what I feel and think in any given situation), I play 7 hz in my left ear. This clears up confusing “disorganized” thinking which is a product of the condition. (look to the bottom of this entry for my thinking as to why.)
Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with the condition, it seems to affect emotional ups and downs, like bipolar, and cognitive ups and downs such as my ability to think clearly and accurately in a situation – like Schizophrenia. Schizo Affective Disorder can also create delusions and halucinations, though I have to admit in my 10 years of dealing with it, I’ve never seen or heard a hallucination. This could be due to the powerful drug I’m on now called Abilify. I was on Zyprexa previously and it was also very helpful with the positive symptoms. (That term “positive” symptoms does not mean that they were beneficial – it’s what scientists call the addition of symptoms like hallucinations. The “negative” symptoms are those that take away abilities like socialization and communication.)
Well, I deal with every kind of negative emotion imaginable like depression, anxiety, mania, paranoia, etc… Even with my pill popping with medications and supplements, this disorder is powerful and still seeps through in ways. Well, let’s just say since I’ve started my own experiments with brainwave entrainment, those remaining states have almost completely resided or at least are continuing to dissipate. They’re disappearing and are getting under control.
The other day I forgot to take my pills until almost 4:00 PM (I’m very dilligent about taking them and usually take them in the morning almost first thing) but I was fine! Now medications have a relatively long half life and stay in the blood for a day or two, but even still, I usually feel a difference when I go that long. I was Brainwave Entraining for quite awhile that day, and I felt great. I took my pills because I realize it’s all a delicate balance and I don’t want to prematurely rock the boat, but I have read where people have cut back on their medication successfully when dealing with depression symptoms after entraining. This gives me hope that maybe this is more than just another emotional “tylenol” like my pills, but might actually be a successful therapy that might actually teach my brain to work correctly.
Now I’ve heard that Schizophrenics (I know, scary word) have too much activity going on in general in their right hemisphere. This might explain why I felt almost instantly better as soon as I played the 7 hz in my left ear. It seems like it will calm down my overly excited right brain so my left can function properly. Just an idea, but one that I continue to experiment with.

Okay… I’m done. But I’d love to talk with you or someone else who is experiencing a similar story. This really may be something big that bipasses the chemical approach of pills for some of the really serious mental disorders.
If you or someone else is interested in communicating with me about this, feel free to contact me at:
jasonator32@yahoo.com
I’d love to just talk about it with someone who is interested.
Thanks!

By: Paul T

Paul T — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:33:49 +0000

Hi Drew,

Well it’s been some time now since you started the experiment. You should now have the benefit of hindsight.

Did you persist with the experiment? If so how long for?

Could you possible let us know what your verdict was on listening to it?

Any long term benefits?

Did you still feel the benefits you reported later on?

I’d love to hear an update a year and a half on.

Kind regards,

Paul
Sydney, Australia.

By: Drew

Drew — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:19:57 +0000

@ Dave, What you said makes perfect sense to me. Thank-you for stopping by and sharing your knowledge and insight w/ the blog commenters!

By: Dave Siever

Dave Siever — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:07:15 +0000

While 18 Hz is OK for seniors whose brainwaves have slowed some, the effect is better for non-seniors if slowly ramped from 19-21 Hz as we do in our DAVID Pal units. It also halps to put 10 Hz on the left side to calm the right frontal lobe (the fear side). Again, the 18 Hz stim isn’t producing its effect by increasing left brain beta. It’s having its effect primarily by inhibiting left brain alpha. The left dorso-lateral pre-frontal cortex is the “happy” region of the brain. The excess alpha in the left side means that the happy side is “snoozing.” When running a brain map, it’s important to note the asymmetry of alpha between the left and right sides. If there is less alpha activity on the right side, then the fear side is in control, leaving the person with anxiety, depression and insomnia (as serotonin will be suppressed). To see results of our Seniors’ depression study go to: http://www.mindalive.com/PDFarticles/htm and scroll down to the Seniors article.

By: we are now here

we are now here — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:40:22 +0000

if your playing 18hz are you in a sense also playing
9hz 4.5hz… 36hz 72hz 144hz… etc. ie octaves in music
and harmonics
i looking for the best way to incorporate this into music
with tempo and the notes and rhythm patterns chosen
to shift brainwave states
consciously
the “clashing” of “moods” shifting frequencies

maybe?

By: Drew

Drew — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:37:08 +0000

Hey Dave, thanks for sharing your expertise. I wasn’t aware of the inhibition effect @ 1/2 the frequency of stimulation… I’d be interested in seeing some references (mostly because I’d like to learn more about it). Does that go for any frequency of entrainment? (i.e. 10 Hz cutting 5 Hz strength / 40 Hz cutting 20 Hz??) I may have read something about the inhibition effect and just forgot, too… Anyways, I completely understand what you mean when you say less 9 Hz alpha activity will correlate with a more powerful 18 Hz effect.

About the sodium/potassium out of balance reference… I found it at this website (http://web-us.com/binaural.htm) somewhere deep within, but as I went back to look, all I could find was info. about resetting the sodium/potassium levels, nothing about 18 Hz beta throwing the levels out of balance… So does it? I am no longer 100%. They must’ve either took it down or I’m not digging deep enough into the studies…

Best wishes,

Drew

By: Dave Siever

Dave Siever — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:58:44 +0000

I have researched the brain for 20 years and have never seen anything alluding to 18 Hz throwing sodium and potassium out of balance. Please provide the study reference for this. Also, 18 Hz does not improve long-term memory. 18 Hz is associated with improved attention, which will affect a person’t attention to detail and therefore memory. However, it’s well documented that long-term memory occurs from magnesium ions being “cocked” into memory sites (mostly in the temporal lobes) at 200 msec intervals, which is 5 Hz. The other thing about 18 Hz is that, while it is possible to increase 18 Hz with entrainment, the lesser-known effect of entrainment is that it produces an inhibition effect at the half-frequency of stimulation. So, if there is an inhibition at 9 Hz, then the overall relative amount of 18Hz is increased, even if the actual 18 Hz brain wave has not in itself increased.