Alex and David Bennet are co-founders of the Mountain Quest Institute (MQI), a research, retreat, and learning center nestled in the Allegheny Mountains. MQI is dedicated to helping individuals achieve personal and professional growth and organizations create and sustain high performance in a rapidly changing, uncertain, and increasingly complex world. (See www.mountainquestinstitute.com).

The Bennets are co-authors of the seminal work Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System (Elsevier, 2004), a new theory of the firm that turns the living system metaphor into a reality for organizations. More recently, they published Knowledge Mobilization in the Social Sciences and Humanities: Moving from Research to Action (MQI Press, 2007).

Alex was the first chief knowledge officer of the U.S. Department of the Navy. David’s experience spans the public and private sectors, most recently as CEO and chairman of the board of a professional services firm. Alex has her doctorate in human and organizational systems and holds degrees in management for organizational effectiveness, human development, English, and marketing. David has his doctorate in neuroscience and adult learning and holds degrees in mathematics, physics, nuclear physics, liberal arts, and human and organizational development. The Bennets have been TMI professional members since 2002.

Abstract

Purpose—This paper explores the relationship between music and learning in the mind/brain.

Design/methodology/approach—Taking a consilience approach, this paper briefly introduces how music affects the mind/brain, then moves through several historical highlights of our emergent understanding of the role of music in learning—for example, the much-misunderstood Mozart effect. Then the role of music in learning is explored from a neuroscience perspective, with specific focus on its potential to achieve brain coherence. Finally, using a specific example of sound technology focused on achieving hemispheric synchronization, research findings, anecdotes, and experiential interactions are integrated to touch on the potential offered by this new understanding.

Findings—Listening to music regularly (along with replaying tunes in our brains) clearly helps our neurons stay active and alive and our synapses intact. Listening to the right music does appear to facilitate learning, and participating more fully in music making appears to provide additional cerebral advantages. Further, some music supports hemispheric synchronization, offering the opportunity to achieve brain coherence and significantly improve learning.

Keywords—Music, Learning, Brain Coherence, Hemispheric Synchronization, the Mozart effect, Transfer Effects

Introduction

When Charles Darwin wrote his Autobiography in 1887, he was moved to say,

If I had to live my life again I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied could thus have been kept active through use (Amen 2005, 158).

Today there’s no doubt that the brain atrophies through disuse, that is, neurons die and synapses wither when they are not used (Zull 2002), but would listening to music once a week have kept more of those neurons and synapses active and alive? And if so, what if we participated more fully in music making? How could we maximize our learning?

In this paper we briefly introduce how music affects the mind/brain, then move through several historical highlights of our emergent understanding of the role of music in learning—for example, the much-misunderstood Mozart effect. Then we explore the role of music in learning from a neuroscience perspective, with specific focus on its potential to achieve brain coherence. Finally, using a specific example of sound technology focused on achieving hemispheric synchronization, we integrate research findings, anecdotes, and experiential interactions to touch on the potential offered by this new understanding.

The approach of this exploration through the literature—peppered with anecdotes and experience—is one of consilience; specifically, the integrating of knowledge from a variety of fields to discover a common groundwork of explanation (Wilson 1991). This paper considers the findings of, among others, psychologists, physicists, neuroscientists, musicians, educators, biologists, engineers, and medical doctors.

Brain coherence is considered the orderly and harmonious connectedness between the two hemispheres of the brain—in other words, when the two hemispheres of the brain are synchronized, thus the term hemispheric synchronization. Borrowing from physics, when the brain is in a coherent state, systems are performing optimally and virtually no energy is wasted.¹ This, then, would be considered an optimal state for learning.

While specialization and selection occur in various parts of the brain, they do not occur independently (Levy 1985). As will be demonstrated, one of the “jobs” of music in the process of evolution and growth is to increase the interconnections between the two hemispheres of the brain. We begin.

How music affects the mind/brain

Music and the human mind have a unique relationship that is not yet fully understood. As Hodges forwards,

By studying the effects of music, neuroscientists are able to discover things about the brain that they cannot know through other cognitive processes. Likewise, through music we are able to discover, share, express, and know about aspects of the human experience that we cannot know through other means. Musical insights into the human condition are uniquely powerful experiences that cannot be replaced by any other form of  experience (Hodges 2000, 21).

While the effect of music on the critical aspects of learning, attention, and memory may be a relatively new area of focused research, the human brain may very well be hardwired for music. As Weinberger, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine, says, “An increasing number of findings support the theory that the brain is specialized for the building blocks of music” (Weinberger 1995, 6). Wilson, a biologist, goes even farther as he states that “all of us have a biologic guarantee of musicianship, the capacity to respond to and participate in the music of our environment” (cited in Hodges 2000, 18).

Sousa (2006) forwards that there are four proofs that support the biological basis for music: (1) it is universal (past–present, all cultures) (Swain 1997); (2) it reveals itself early in life (infants three months old can learn and remember to move an overhead crib mobile when a song is played [Fagan et al. 1997], and within a few months can recognize melodies and tones [Weinberger 2004; Hannon and Johnson 2005]); (3) it should exist in other animals besides humans (monkeys can form musical abstractions) (Sousa 2006); and (4) we might expect the brain to have specialized areas for music.

Exactly where this hardwiring might be located would be difficult to say. For example, even though there is an area in adults identified as the auditory cortex, visual information goes into the auditory cortex, just as auditory information goes into the visual cortex. That is why certain types of music can stimulate memory recall and visual imagery (Nakamura et al. 1999). Further, the auditory cortex is not inherently different from the visual cortex. Thus, “Brain specialization is not a function of anatomy or dictated by genes. It is a result of experience” (Begley 2007, 108). This process of specialization through experience begins shortly after the time of conception—selecting and connecting. Many of the interconnections remain into adulthood, or perhaps throughout life. While these connections are not exercised in most adults—they are more like back-road connections—when the brain is deprived of one sense (for example, hearing or seeing), a radical reorganization occurs in the cortex, and connections that heretofore lay dormant are used to expand the remaining senses (Begley 2007).

In the early phases of neuronal growth (during the first few months of life), there is an explosion of synapses in preparation for learning (Edelman 1992). Yet beginning around the age of eight months through sixteen months, tens of billions of synapses in the auditory and visual cortices are lost (Zull 2002). Chugani (1998) says that this explosion is concurrent with synaptic death, with experiences determining which synapses live or die. As Zull explains, before eight months of age synapses are being formed faster than they are being lost. Then things shift, and we begin to lose more synapses than we create (Zull 2002). The brain is sculpting itself through interaction with its environment, with the reactions of the brain determining its own architecture.

This process of selection continues as the rest of life is played out. This is the process of learning, selecting, connecting, and changing our neuronal patterns (Edelman 1992; Zull 2002). Music plays a core role in this process. Jensen contends that “music can actually prime the brain’s neural pathways” (2000b, 246).

The brain has the capacity to structurally change throughout life. As Begley describes, “The actions we take can literally expand or contract different regions of the brain, pour more juice into quiet circuits and damp down activity in buzzing ones” (Begley 2007, 8). During this process of plasticity, the brain is expanding areas for functions used more frequently and shrinking areas devoted to activities that are rarely performed.

Further, in the late 1990s neuroscientific researchers discovered that the structure of the brain can change as a result of the thoughts we have. As Dobbs explains, the neurons that are scattered throughout key parts of the brain “fire not only as we perform a certain action, but also when we watch someone else perform that action” (Dobbs 2007, 22). These are mirror neurons, a form of mimicry that bypasses cognition, transferring actions, behaviors, and most likely other cultural norms quickly and efficiently. Thus when we see something being enacted, our mind creates the same patterns that we would use to enact that “something” ourselves. Because people have stored representations of songs and sounds in their long-term memory, music can be imagined. When a tune is moving through your mind it is activating the same cells as if you were hearing it from the outside world. Further, as we have noted, when you are internally imagining a tune, the visual cortex is also stimulated such that visual patterns are occurring as well (Sousa 2006).

Not all of these findings were known when music and acoustic pioneer Alfred Tomatis (1983) forwarded the analogy that sound provided an electrical charge to energize the brain. He described cells in the cortex of the brain as acting like small batteries, generating the electricity viewed in an EEG printout. What he discovered that was amazing was that these batteries were not charged by the metabolism, but rather through sound from an external source. With the discovery of mirror neurons, this would mean that imagining tunes is also providing a charge. These early Tomatis studies found that sound impacted posture, energy flow, attitude, and muscle tone, and that the greatest impact was in the 8000-hertz frequency range (Tomatis 1983; Jensen 2000b). Other research took this further, suggesting that low-frequency tones caused a discharge of mental and physical energy and certain higher tones powered up the brain (Clynes 1982; Zatorre 1997).

Researcher Frances Rauscher (1997) contends that music appreciation and abstract reasoning have the same neural firing patterns; however, this was observed in research that occurred several years after her earlier studies introducing the controversial Mozart effect and setting in motion a growing interest in the relationship of music and learning.

The Mozart effect

The Mozart effect emerged in 1993 with a brief paper published in Nature by Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw, and Katherine Ky. To discover whether a brief exposure to certain music increased cognitive ability, the researchers divided thirty-six college students into three groups and used standard intelligence subtests to measure spatial/temporal reasoning.

Spatial/temporal reasoning is considered “the ability to form mental images from physical objects, or to see patterns in time and space” (Sousa 2006, 224). During the subtests one group worked in silence, one group listened to a tape of relaxation instructions, and the third group listened to a Mozart piano sonata (specifically, Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major). There were significantly higher results in the Mozart group, although the effect was brief, lasting only ten to fifteen minutes (Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky 1993).

The Mozart effect quickly became a meme, taking on a life of its own completely out of the context of the findings. Perhaps this was because it was the first study relating music and spatial reasoning, suggesting that listening to music actually increased brain performance. There ensued high media coverage with the emphasis placed on the most sensational findings. The details of the study, however—specifically, that these findings were limited to spatial reasoning, not general intelligence, and that the effect was short-lived (ten to fifteen minutes)—were not part of the meme.

In 1994, Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky performed a follow-on study that was more extensive than the first. This five-day study involved seventy-nine college students who were pretested for their level of spatial/temporal reasoning prior to three listening experiences and then posttested. While it was found that all students benefited (again, for a short period of time), the greatest benefits accrued to those students who had tested the lowest on spatial/temporal reasoning at the beginning of the experiment (Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky 1995).

By now, other groups were exploring the Mozart effect. The results were similar to the earlier results, again, for a short period of time (Rideout and Laubach 1996; Rideout and Taylor 1997; Rideout, Dougherty, and Wernert 1998; Wilson and Brown 1997). A series of similar studies with slightly different approaches, however, demonstrated no relevant differences between the group listening to Mozart and the control group (Steele, Brown, and Stoecker 1999a, 1999b; Chabris 1999). Still another study began with the premise that the complex melodic variations in Mozart’s sonata provided greater stimulation to the prefrontal cortex than simpler music. When this theory was tested it was discovered that the Mozart sonata activated the auditory as well as the prefrontal cortex in all of the subjects, thus suggesting a neurological basis for the Mozart effect (Muftuler et al. 1999). Other specific case results were emerging. For example, Johnson et al. (1998) reported improvement in spatial-temporal reasoning in an Alzheimer’s patient; and Hughes, Fino, and Melyn (1999) reported that a Mozart sonata reduced brain seizures.

As the exaggerated sensation of the initial finding began to sink into disillusionment, other researchers were building more understanding of the effect. For example, it was determined that while listening to Mozart before testing might improve spatial/temporal reasoning, listening to Mozart during testing could cause neural competition through interference with the brain’s neural firing patterns (Felix 1993). Studies expanded to include other musical pieces. Researchers at the University of Texas Imaging Center in San Antonio discovered that “other subsets of music actually helped the experimental subjects do far better than did listening to Mozart” (Jensen 2000b, 247). Thus it was determined that the effect was not caused by the specific music of Mozart as much as the rhythms, tones, or patterns of Mozart’s music that enhanced learning (Jensen 2000b). This is consistent with earlier work by researcher King (1991), who suggested that there is no statistically significant difference between New Age music and baroque music in the effectiveness of inducing alpha states for learning (approximately 8–13 Hz), that is, they both enhance learning. Georgi Lozanov, a pioneer of accelerated learning, however, had said that classical and romantic music (circa 1750–1825 and 1820–1900, respectively) provided a better background for introducing new information (Lozanov 1991), and Clynes (1982) had recognized a greater consistency in body pulse response to classical music than rock music, which means that the response to classical music was more predictable.

Considering the exaggerated early claims, publicized without context and based on highly situation-dependent and context-sensitive studies, and the differences in findings among various research groups, it is easy to understand why the Mozart effect has proved so controversial. Note that the Mozart Effect emerged from studies involving adults (not children) and that it involved short periods of listening to specific music and doing specific subtasks to measure spatial/temporal reasoning. In these studies, effects from long-term listening were not studied or assessed, nor was the richer long-term involvement of learning and playing music. This brings us to a discussion of transfer effects.

Transfer effects

The question of if and how music improves the mind is often couched as a question of transfer effects. This refers to the transfer of learning that occurs when improvement of one cognitive ability or motor skill is facilitated by prior  learning or practice in another area (Weinberger 1999). For example, riding a bike, often used to represent embodied tacit knowledge (Bennet and Bennet 2008), is a motor skill (in descriptive terms, learning to maintain balance while moving forward) that can facilitate learning to skate or ski.

In cognitive and brain sciences the transfer of learning is a fundamental issue. While it has been argued that simply using a brain region for one activity does not necessarily increase competence in other skills or activities based in the same region (Coch, Fischer, and Dawson 2007), with our recent understanding of the power of thought patterns, one discipline is not completely independent of another (Hetland 2000). For example, a melody can act as a vehicle for a powerful communication transfer at both the conscious and nonconscious levels (Jensen 2000b). Thus, “Music acts as a premium signal carrier, whose rhythms, patterns, contrasts, and varying tonalities encode any new information” (Webb and Webb 1990). By “encode” is meant to facilitate remembering. An example is the “Alphabet Song” sung to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

There are different spectral types of real sounds coming from a myriad of sources. Periodic sounds that give a strong sense of pitch are harmonic (sung vowels, trumpets, flutes); those that have a weak or ambiguous sense of pitch are inharmonic (bells, gongs, some drums); and sound that has a sense of high or low but no clear sense of pitch is noise (consonants, some percussion instruments, and initial attacks of both harmonic and inharmonic sounds) (Soundlab 2005). Specific sounds we hear may include different spectral types; music often includes all three. For example, when hearing a church soloist, the noise of a strong consonant is followed by a sung vowel (harmonic). It is also noteworthy that the same part of the brain that hears pitch (the temporal lobe) is also involved in understanding speech (Amen 2005). Thus, specific combinations of sound may carry specific meaning by triggering memories or feelings whether or not they have words connected to them.

Research findings indicate that music actually increases certain brain functions that improve other cognitive tasks. Perhaps one of the most stunning results in the literature was achieved by a professional musician in North Carolina who was music director of the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony Orchestra. The music director arranged for a woodwind quintet to play two or three half-hour programs per week at a local elementary school for three years: the first year playing for all first graders; the second year playing for all first and second graders; and the third year playing for all first, second, and third graders. Note that 70 percent of the students at the elementary school received free or reduced-price lunches. Prior to the study, first through fifth graders had an average composite IQ score of 92, and more than 60 percent of third graders tested below their grade level. Three years into the program, testing of the third graders exposed to the quintet music for three years showed remarkable differences, with 85 percent of this group testing above grade level for reading and 89 percent testing above grade level for math (Campbell 2000).

The limbic system and subcortical region of the brain—the part of the brain involved in long-term memory—are engaged in musical and emotional responses. When information is tied to music, therefore, it has a better chance of being encoded in long-term memory (Jensen 2000b). Context-dependent memory connected to music is not a new idea. In a study at Texas A&M University examining the role of background instrumental music in memory, music turned out to be an important contextual element. Subjects had the best recall when music was played during learning and that same music was played during recall (Godden and Baddeley 1975). This was confirmed in a 1993 study monitoring cortical and verbal responses to harmonic and melodic intervals in adults knowledgeable in music. The results showed consistent brain responses to intervals, whether isolated harmonic intervals, pairs of melodic intervals, or pairs of harmonic intervals. These results indicated that intervals may be viewed as meaningful words (Cohen et al. 1993).

It has also been found that background music enhances the efficiency of individuals who work with their hands. For example, in a study of surgeons it was found that background music increased their alertness and concentration (Restak 2003). The music that surgeons said worked best was not “easy-listening”; rather, that music was (in order of preference): Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op. 61, Bach’s Brandenburg concertos, and Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” The use of background music during surgery did not cause interference and competition, since music and skilled manual activities activate different parts of the brain (Restak 2003). This, of course, is similar to the use of background music in the classroom or in places of work.

Dowling, a music researcher, believes that music learning affects other learning for different reasons. Building on the concepts of declarative memory and procedural memory, he says that music combines mind and body processes into one experience. For example, by integrating mental activities and sensory-motor experiences (like moving, singing, or participating rhythmically in the acquisition of new information, and for our doctors in the example above, their hand movements) learning occurs “on a much more sophisticated and profound level” (Campbell 2000, 173). Conversely, it has also been found that stimulating music can serve as a distraction and interfere with cognitive performance (Hallam 2002). Thus, much as determined in the early Mozart studies, different types of music produce different effects in different people in regard to learning.

The right and left hemispheres of the brain

The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, simply referred to as the right and left hemispheres. It was previously believed that the right hemisphere was the seat of music, but today we know that both sides of the brain are used to listen to music (Amen 2005). Music engages the whole brain (Jensen 2000b). For example, as sound enters the ears it goes to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobes. The temporal lobe in the nondominant hemisphere (generally the right hemisphere) hears pitch, melody, harmony, and beat and (recognizing long-term patterns) puts this together as a whole piece. The temporal lobe in the dominant hemisphere (generally the left hemisphere) is better at analyzing the incoming sound and hearing the short-term signatures of music, that is, lyrics and changes in rhythm (pacing), frequency, intensity, and harmonies (Amen 2005; Jensen 2000b; Weinberger 1995). The frontal lobe associates the sound with thought and stimulates emotions (in the limbic system) and past experiences (from memory scattered all over the brain) (Sousa 2006), and the cerebellum becomes involved in measuring the beats (spatial aspects) (Jensen 2000b). For example, while a non-musician would process music primarily in the right hemisphere (with potential strong contributions from the limbic system stimulated by the frontal lobe), a musician who was analyzing the content of a musical form would tend to hear music with his left hemisphere (Amen 2005) with a heavy dose of the cerebellum thrown in (Jensen 2000b).

Using PET scans, Eric Jensen, an educator known for his translation of neuroscience, has identified the various brain regions activated by different aspects of music. For example, rhythm activates Broca’s area as well as the cerebellum; melody activates both hemispheres (with a specific recognized melody activating the right hemisphere); harmony activates the left hemisphere more than the right as well as the inferior temporal cortex; pitch activates the left back of the brain and may also activate the right auditory cortex; and timbre activates the right hemisphere (Jensen 2000b).

Further, activation of various parts of the brain is highly dependent on which senses are involved: aural (hearing music), sight (reading music), or touch (playing music). Other events, such as hearing a story about the Mozart effect, recalling a Rolling Stones concert, or having an emotional response to certain music, are processed differently in the brain (Jensen 2002). In other words, the experience and thought related to music is spatially diffused throughout the brain. While there are many studies on the connections between music and emotion and between emotion and learning, these are outside the focus of this paper.

As Robert Zatorre, a neuropsychologist at the Montreal Neurological Institute forwards, there is little doubt that music engages the entire brain. Further, as music has shifted over the last hundred years from baroque or classical (stimulating our nondominant hemisphere) to more avant-garde styles (stimulating our dominant hemisphere), it has engaged the brain even more fully (Zatorre 1997).

Impact of musical instruction

Substantiating the long-held “knowing” that music is beneficial to human beings Hodges outlines five basic premises that establish a link between the human brain and the ability to learn. The first two confirm our earlier discussion of the brain as being hardwired for—or at least having a proclivity for—music. The latter three are pertinent to our forthcoming discussion of the impact of musical instruction on the learning mind/brain. As Hodges forwards (with some paraphrasing): (1) the human brain has the ability to respond to and participate in music; (2) the musical brain operates at birth and persists throughout life; (3) early and ongoing musical training affects the organization of the musical brain; (4) the musical brain consists of extensive neural systems involving widely distributed, but locally specialized, regions of the brain; and (5) the musical brain is highly resilient (Hodges 2000, 18).

There are hundreds of studies that confirm that creating music and playing music, especially when started at an early age, provide many more cerebral advantages than listening to music. In a study involving ninety boys between the ages of six and fifteen, it was discovered that musically trained students had better verbal memory (but showed no differences in visual memory). Thus musical training appeared to improve the ability of the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas to handle verbal learning. Further, the memory benefits appeared long lasting. When students who dropped out of music training were tested a year later, it was found that they had retained the verbal memory advantage gained while in music training (Ho, Cheung, and Chan 2003).

Music and mathematics are closely related in brain activity (Abeles and Sanders 2005; Catterall, Chapleau, and Iwanga 1999; Graziano, Peterson, and Shaw 1999; Kay 2000; Schmithhorst and Holland 2004; Vaughn 2000). Mathematical concepts basic to music include patterns, counting, geometry, rations and proportions, equivalent fractions, and sequences (Sousa 2006). For example, musicians learn to recognize patterns of chords, notes, and key changes to create and vary melodies, and by inverting those patterns they create counterpoint, forming different kinds of harmonies. As further examples, musical beats and rests are counted, instrument finger positions form geometrical shapes, reading music requires an understanding of ratios and proportions (duration and relativity of notes), and a musical interval (sequence) is the difference between two frequencies (known as the beat frequency) (Sousa 2006).

In the brain, music is stored in a pitch-invariant form, that is, the important relationships (patterns) in the song are stored, not the actual notes. This can be demonstrated by an individual’s ability to recognize a melody regardless of the key in which it is played (with different notes being played than those stored in memory). As Hawkins and Blakeslee detail,

This means that each rendition of the “same” melody in a new key is actually an entirely different sequence of notes! Each rendition stimulates an entirely different set of locations on your cochlea, causing an entirely different set of spatial-temporal patterns to stream up into your auditory cortex … and yet you perceive the same melody in each case (Hawkins and Blakeslee 2004, 80–81).

Unless you have perfect pitch, it is difficult to differentiate the two different keys. This means that—similar to other thought patterns—the natural approach to music storage, recall, and recognition occurs at the level of invariant forms. Invariant form refers to the brain’s internal representation of an external form. This representation does not change even though the stimuli informing you it’s there are in a constant state of flux (Hawkins and Blakeslee 2004).

A 1993 study at the University of Vienna revealed the extent to which different regions of the human brain cooperate when composing music (this also occurred in some listeners). Professor Hellmuth Petsche and his associates determined that brain-wave coherence occurred at many sites throughout the cerebral cortex (Petsche 1993). For some forms of music, the correlation between the left and right frontal lobes increases, that is, brain waves become more similar between the frontal lobes of the two hemispheres (Tatsuya, Mitsuo, and Tadao 1997). For example, in a study involving exposure of four-year-old children to one hour of music per day over a six-month period, brain bioelectric activity data indicated an enhancement of the coherence function (Flohr, Miller, and DeBeus 2000).

In a study of the relationship of coherence and degree of musical training, subjects with music training exhibited significantly more EEG coherence within and between hemispheres than those without such training in a control group (Johnson et al. 1996). ² In other words, it appeared musical training increased the number of functional interconnections in the brain. Specifically, the researchers suggested that greater coherence in musicians “may reflect a specialized organization of brain activity in subjects with music training for enabling the experiences of ordered acoustic patterns” (Johnson et al. 1996, 582).

Further, in a study of thirty professional classical musicians and thirty non-musician controls matched for age, sex, and handedness, MRI scans revealed that there was a positive relationship between corpus callosum size and the number of fibers crossing through it, indicating a difference in interhemispheric communication between musicians and controls (Schlaug et al. 1995; Springer and Deutsch 1997). In other words, the two hemispheres of the brains of the musicians had a larger number of connections than those of the control group. Thus, as Jensen confirms, “Music … may be a valuable tool for the integration of thinking across both brain hemispheres” (Jensen 2000b, 246). And as summed up by Thompson, brain function is enhanced through increased cross-callosal communication between the two hemispheres of the brain (Thompson 2007).

Musicians have structural changes that are “profound and seemingly permanent” (Sousa 2006, 224). As Sousa describes, “the auditory cortex, the motor cortex, the cerebellum, and the corpus callosum are larger in musicians than in non-musicians” (2006, 224). This, of course, moves beyond being able to discern different tonal and visual patterns to acquiring new motor skills. Since the brains of musicians and non-musicians are structurally different—yet studies of five- to seven-year-olds beginning music lessons show no preexisting differences (Restak 2003; Sousa 2006; Norton et al. 2005)—it appears that most musicians are made, not born. An example is perfect pitch, the ability to name individual tones. Perfect pitch is not an inherited phenomenon. Restak (2003) discovered that perfect pitch can be acquired by average children between three and five years of age when given appropriate training. Structural brain changes occur along with the development of perfect pitch and continue as musical talent matures (Restak 2003).

We have now answered two of our introductory questions: listening to music regularly (along with replaying tunes in our brains) helps keep our neurons and synapses active and alive; listening to the right music does appear to facilitate learning; further, participating more fully in music making appears to provide additional cerebral advantages. But, as we will discover, some music offers an even greater opportunity to heighten our conscious awareness in terms of sensory inputs, expand our awareness of, and access to, that which we have gathered and stored in our unconscious, and grow and expand our mental capacity and capabilities.

Since music has its own frequencies, it can either resonate or be in conflict with the body’s rhythms. The pulse (heartbeat) of the listener tends to synchronize with the beat of the music being heard (the faster the music, the faster the heartbeat). When this resonance occurs, the individual learns better. As Jensen confirms, “When both are resonating on the same frequency, we fall ‘in sync,’ we learn better, and we’re more aware and alert” (Jensen 2000b). This is a starting point for further exploring brain coherence.

Hemispheric synchronization

Hemispheric synchronization is the use of sound coupled with a binaural beat to bring both hemispheres of the brain into unison (Bennet and Bennet 2007). Binaural beats were identified in 1839 by H. W. Dove, a German experimenter. In the human mind, binaural beats are detected with carrier tones (audio tones of slightly different frequencies, one to each ear) below approximately 1500 Hz (Oster 1973). The mind perceives the frequency differences of the sound coming into each ear, mixing the two sounds to produce a fluctuating rhythm and thereby creating a beat or difference frequency. Because each side of the body sends signals to the opposite hemisphere of the brain, both hemispheres must work together to “hear” the difference frequency.

This perceived rhythm originates in the brain stem (Oster 1973) and is neurologically routed to the reticular formation (Swann et al. 1982), then moves to the cortex where it can be measured as a frequency-following response (Hink et al. 1980; Marsh, Brown, and Smith 1975; Smith et al. 1978). This interhemispheric communication is the setting for brain-wave coherence, which facilitates whole-brain cognition (Ritchey 2003), that is, an integration of left- and right-brain functioning (Carroll 1986).

What can occur during hemispheric synchronization is a physiologically reduced state of arousal while maintaining conscious awareness (Atwater 2004; Fischer 1971; Delmonte 1984; Goleman 1988; Jevning, Wallace, and Beidenbach 1992; Mavromatis 1991; West 1980) and the capacity to reach the unconscious creative state described above through the window of consciousness. In an exploration of tacit knowledge published in VINE at the beginning of 2008, the authors introduced the use of sound as an approach to accessing tacit knowledge. For example, listening to a special song in your life can draw out deep feelings and memories buried in your unconscious. Further, interhemispheric communication was introduced as a setting for achieving brain-wave coherence (a doorway into the unconscious), providing greater access to knowledge (informing) and knowledge (proceeding), thereby facilitating learning (Bennet and Bennet 2008). By reference the ideas forwarded in that work are included here.

In 1971 Robert Monroe—an engineer, founder of The Monroe Institute® and arguably the leading pioneer of achieving learning through expanded forms of consciousness—developed audiotapes with specific beat frequencies that support synchronized, rhythmic patterns of consciousness called Hemi-Sync®. Repeated experiments occurred with individual brain activity observed. The following correlations between brain waves and consciousness were used: beta waves (approximately 13–26 Hz) and focused alertness and increased analytical capabilities; alpha waves (approximately 8–13 Hz) and unfocused alertness; theta waves (approximately 4–8 Hz) and a deep relaxation; and delta waves (approximately 0.5–4 Hz) and deep sleep. While it was discovered that theta waves provided the best learning state and beta waves the best problem-solving state, this posed a problem. Theta is the state of short duration right before and right after sleep (Monroe Institute 1985). This problem was solved by superimposing a beta signal on the theta, which produced a relaxed alertness (Bullard 2003).

This is consistent with the findings from neurobiological research that efficient learning is related to a decrease in brain activation often accompanied by a shift of activation from the prefrontal regions to those regions relevant to the processing of particular tasks (the phenomenon known as the anterior-posterior shift).

The first METAMUSIC® to combine theta and beta waves (Remembrance by J. S. Epperson) was released in 1994 (Bullard 2003). A second METAMUSIC piece combining theta and beta waves, released that same year (Einstein’s Dream, also by Epperson), was based on a modification of Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, the same piece used in the initial study which produced the controversial Mozart effect. This version, however, had embedded combinations of sounds to encourage whole-brain coherence.

Thus Robert Monroe was developing and releasing audiotapes (and then CDs) specifically designed to help the left and right hemispheres of the brain work together, resulting in increased concentration, learning, and memory (Jensen 2000b). While the range and number of similar music products has expanded over the past years, the many years of both scientific and anecdotal evidence available about the use of Hemi-Sync provides a plethora of material from which to explore the benefits of brain coherence as it relates to learning. Thus we will briefly explore the context around this technology.

The Hemi-Sync³ experience

There are dozens of recorded studies dated during the 1980s that looked at the relationship of Hemi-Sync and learning, some specifically focused on educational applications. In 1982, for example, students in the basic broadcasters’ course (BBC) of the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, “displayed a number of positive differences in stress reactions and performance responses” over the control groups (Waldkoetter 1991). In a general psychology class, Edrington (1983) discovered that students who listened to verbal information (definitions and terms peculiar to the field of psychology) with a Hemi-Sync background signal (4 ± .2 Hz) scored significantly higher than the control group on five of six tests.

In 1986, Dr. Gregory Carroll presented the results of a study on the effectiveness of hemispheric synchronization of the brain as a learning tool in the identification of musical intervals. While the results of the experimental group were 5.54 percent higher than the control group, this was not considered significant. A surprise finding, however, was that individuals in the experimental group had a tendency to achieve higher scores on their posttests than on their pretests. The effect was in both the number of individuals and the amount of individual change. Only 28 percent of the individual responses in the control group posttests were higher than their pretests, while 54 percent of the experimental group did much better (Carroll, 1986). This suggests that Hemi-Sync signals sustained their levels of concentration during the course of the forty-minute tape sessions considerably longer than what occurred (when it occurred) in the Mozart effect studies.

Hemi-Sync has consistently proven effective in improving enriched learning environments through sensory integration (Morris 1990), enhanced memory (Kennerly 1996), and improved creativity (Hiew 1995) as well as increasing concentration and focus (Atwater 2004; Bullard 2003). There is also a large body of observational research. For example, after fourteen years of using music as part of his practice, medical doctor Brian Dailey found that the use of sound (specifically, Hemi-Sync) not only had a therapeutic effect for his patients with a variety of illnesses, but could be extremely effective in assisting healthy individuals with concentration, insight, intuition, creativity, and meditation (Mason 2004). This short review has not included the many studies specifically addressing the impact of music, and in particular Hemi-Sync, on patients with brain damage or learning disorders, which is outside the focus of this paper.

In a recent study on the benefits of long-term participation in The Monroe Institute programs ⁴ involving more than seven hundred self-selected participants, ⁵ it was shown that greater experience with Hemi-Sync increased self-efficacy and life satisfaction (Danielson 2008) at a state of development similar to that of self-transforming (Kegan 1982). As described in the research results,

Individuals at this stage of development recognize the limitations in any perspective and more willingly engage others for the challenge it poses to their worldview as the means for growing more expansive in their experiences—to consciously grow beyond where they are rather than merely having it happen to them as a function of circumstances (Danielson 2008, 25).

The seven hundred study participants (all adults) were evenly divided between single-program participation (SPP) and multiple-program participation (MPP) (indicating increased usage over a longer period of time). SPP means one week of continuous emersion using Hemi-Sync technology; MPP means multiple weeks of continuous emersion, separated by time periods ranging from weeks to years. Following their Hemi-Sync experiences, participants reported remarkable results. For example, the following percentages of participants strongly agreed (on a five-point Likert scale) to the following statements:

“I have a more expansive vision of how the parts of my life relate to a whole” (25.29% SPP, 61.3% MPP)

“I am actively involved in my own personal development” (30.65% SPP, 62.45% MPP)

“I take actions that are more true to my sense of self” (18.77% SPP, 45.21% MPP)

“I have been able to resolve an important issue or challenge in my life” (11.88% SPP, 32.57% MPP)

“I am more productive at work” (4.6% SPP, 14.18% MPP)

“I have a clear sense of further development I need to accomplish” (29.5% SPP, 40.23% MPP)

“I am more successful in my career” (6.56% SPP, 17.97% MPP)

Clearly, Hemi-Sync supports a long-term development program for “those interested in playing on the boundaries of human growth and development … who want to see positive change in their lives” (Danielson 2008, 25).

Final thoughts

At a dozen places on the Internet, neurologist Jerre Levy of the University of Chicago ⁶ is credited with saying (paraphrased) that great men and women of history do not merely have superior intellectual capacities within each hemisphere of the brain. They also have phenomenal levels of emotional commitment, motivation, and attentional capacity, all of which reflect the highly integrated brain in action.

As we have seen, for the past thirty years, and perhaps longer, there have been studies in the mainstream touting the connections between music and mind/brain activity (from the viewpoints of psychology, music, education, etc.), and another expanding set of studies not as mainstream (from the viewpoint of consciousness). As our thought and understanding as a species is expanding, these areas of focus are openly acknowledging each other and learning together. It is no longer necessary or desirable to limit our thoughts to one frame of reference, nor to place boundaries on our mental capacity and ability to expand or contract that capacity.

We have seen evidence that changes in brain organization and function occur with the acquisition of musical skills. From the external viewpoint, whether as a listener or participant, music clearly offers the potential to strengthen and increase the interconnections across the hemispheres of the brain. As an example, the sound technology of Hemi-Sync offers the potential to achieve brain coherence, thus facilitating whole-brain cognition.

This is not to say that sound—music, Mozart, or Hemi-Sync—offers a panacea for learning. Let’s not produce the disappointment of creating a meme without context. When asked what to expect from the Hemi-Sync experience, engineer and developer Robert Monroe responded,

As much or as little as you put into it. Some discover themselves and thus live more completely, more constructively. Others reach levels of awareness so profound that one such experience is enough for a lifetime. Still others become seekers-after-truth and add an on-going adventure to their daily activity (Monroe 2007).

We’ve come full circle. Learning is occurring in the mind/brain as long as there is life; this is part of the inheritance of Darwinian survival of the fittest. But the amount, quality, and direction of that learning, and the environments in which we live, are choices. Yes, Charles Darwin, regularly listening to music—and, even better, participating in music making—would have undoubtedly kept more neurons alive and active, and synapses intact.

Now our opportunity is to fully exploit this understanding in our organizations, in our communities, and in our everyday lives.

Notes

¹ The terms coherence and entrainment are often interchanged. Entrainment, however, is used to describe a form of coherence achieved when two or more body systems are synchronous and operating at the same frequency. For example, at HeartMath® the term entrainment is used to describe this relationship between the respiration and heart-rhythm patterns.

² It was also found that females had higher coherence than males, which is in accord with anatomical studies showing that females have a larger number of interhemispheric connections than males.

³ While used as a short term for hemispheric synchronization, Hemi-Sync is also the term patented by Robert Monroe to describe the Hemi-Sync auditory-guidance system, a binaural-beat sound technology that has demonstrated changes in focused states of consciousness in over thirty years of study.

⁴ “The Benefits of long-term participation in the Monroe Institute programs” was released in early 2008 by The Monroe Institute.

⁵ More than twenty thousand people worldwide have participated in formal Hemi-Sync programs at the Institute. An equivalent number of people have participated in OUTREACH programs, which are conducted in English, Spanish, French, German, and Japanese.

⁶ Levy is a strong debunker of the left brain/right brain myth (Levy 1985).

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© 2009 by The Monroe Institute

This is a pivotal issue [summer/fall 2009] in the history of the TMI Journal. In keeping with TMI’s re-visioned position as a hub and clearinghouse for matters of consciousness exploration, we are introducing items of interest from a variety of sources other than the Institute. They may appear as article reprints, short synopses with links to a complete article, links to Web sites or books, etc.

This extended content is meant to complement the work of our professional members and Institute staff, whose research remains the soul of the TMI Journal.

The TMI Journal (originally Breakthrough, then the Hemi-Sync®Journal) has been published by The Monroe Institute since the mid-1980s. Along with the TMI Focus, it was created to preserve and disseminate the rich legacy of material that had begun accumulating. As the work of The Monroe Institute penetrated larger populations—making its unique consciousness-exploration and development tools available to a growing community of users, reports on the results of those uses streamed in. Over the years an impressive library has accrued.

Now it is time to expand the focus of our publications to include the larger community of consciousness explorers. Executive Director Paul Rademacher, in his article “A Vision for the Future” (summer/fall 2007 Focus), said of the Institute’s technology, education, and research: “They are . . . vital pieces of an expanded vision comprised of interlocking and mutually reinforcing elements. This network of elements will work to enhance the TMI image as a hub for the exploration of consciousness—a place inspired by curiosity and creativity. . . . TMI is well situated to be a leader in the ever-expanding field of consciousness. . . . The time is right for a new energy to emerge that may be beyond anything we could imagine.”

It is our aim to continue offering timely, relevant, forward-thinking subject matter from a broader global perspective. The TMI Journal emerges from our collective vision. We welcome your links, feedback, and suggestions—your vision—in this process. Please submit recommendations by e-mail to ann.vaughan[@]monroeinstitute.org

© 2009 by The Monroe Institute

It was possible to pull together the quantity and quality of substantive documentation required to support our certification due, in large part, to TMI’s Professional Membership. They are the researchers, practitioners, and educators who have meticulously applied and tested the effects of binaural-beat technology and who publish their results independently, as well as through the Institute. As we celebrate this milestone in TMI’s evolution, we give special recognition to the men and women of the Professional Membership whose dedication and tenacity has only begun to pay off.

© 2009 by The Monroe Institute

Wikipedia introduces Rowlands as “a peripatetic professional philosopher who achieved widespread fame for his critically acclaimed autobiography, The Philosopher and the Wolf, published by Granta in 2008. This is the story of a decade of his life … spent living and travelling with a wolf and the philosophical reflections that resulted from [the experience]. As a professional philosopher, Rowlands is known as one of the principal architects of the view known as vehicle externalism or the extended mind, and also for his work on the moral status of animals.”

Among Rowlands’ many scholarly papers that speak to our collective investigation into the nature of consciousness—or in this case, phenomenal consciousness—is “Consciousness: The transcendentalist manifesto,” published in 2004 in the journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences by Springer Netherlands. From the abstract published on SpringerLink: “Consciousness, it will be argued, is not an empirical but a transcendental feature of the world. That is, what it is like to have an experience is not something of which we are aware in the having of that experience, but an item in virtue of which the genuine (non-phenomenal) objects of our consciousness are revealed as being the way they are.”

Our attention was also captured by Rowlands’ 2001 book, The Nature of Consciousness, published by Cambridge University Press. Reviewer Ion Georgiou on MentalHelp.net says of The Nature of Consciousness that it is “a book filled with scholarly argument, well-developed—but also well-defined—complex jargon, [an] excellent critique of all the previous important works of the field (thought experiments included) and written by a philosophy lecturer. This book is required reading not only for those wanting to get to grips with what is going on in consciousness studies, but for those who are dissatisfied with the current accounts which, as Rowlands points out, tend to base themselves on an objectualist thesis.”

A complete bibliography of Mark Rowlands’ published books and papers can be seen on his website.

“Scientists have long been interested in what role emotions play in recognizing objects …” As researchers look more deeply into the human capacity of visual perception they are finding it’s about more than what meets the eye. The components of affect, mood, and emotion appear to influence what people see and don’t see.

Science News writer Jenny Lauren Lee explains, “Studies show that the brain guesses the identity of objects before it has finished processing all the sensory information collected by the eyes. And now there is evidence that how you feel may play a part in this guessing game. A number of recent studies show that these two phenomena—the formation of an expectation about what one will see based on context and the visual precedence that emotions give to certain objects—may be related. In fact, they may be inseparable.”

Read more …

Thomas W. Campbell

We are delighted that Thomas W. Campbell has accepted our invitation to be the keynote speaker for Consciousness: The Endless Frontier, The Monroe Institute’s twenty-second Professional Seminar, which will be held March 20–24, 2010. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Science in physics and math from Bethany College and a Master of Science in physics from Purdue University, as well as having done doctoral-level work at the University of Virginia. He is the physicist described as “TC” in Bob Monroe’s Far Journeys. Campbell began researching altered states of consciousness with Bob in the early 1970s. He and a few others helped to design experiments and develop the technology for creating specific altered states, and they were also the main subjects of Bob’s investigations at that time. For the past thirty years, Campbell has been focused on scientifically exploring the properties, boundaries, and abilities of consciousness. During that same time period, he excelled as a working scientist—a professional physicist dedicated to pushing back the frontiers of cutting-edge technology.

Using his mastery of the out-of-body experience as a springboard, he dedicated his research to discovering the outer boundaries, inner workings, and causal dynamics of the larger reality system. In February of 2003, Campbell published the My Big TOE trilogy, which represents the results and conclusions of his scientific exploration of the nature of existence. This overarching model of reality, mind, and consciousness merges physics with metaphysics, explains the paranormal as well as the normal, places spirituality within a scientific context, and provides direction for those wishing to personally experience an expanded awareness of All That Is.

My Big TOE speaks to each individual reader about his or her innate capabilities. Readers will learn to appreciate that their human potential stretches far beyond the limitations of the physical universe. The acronym “TOE” is a standard term in the physics community that stands for “Theory Of Everything” and has been the Holy Grail of that community for fifty years. My Big TOE delivers the solution to that scientific quest at the layman’s level with precision and clarity. Please join us in March to hear Tom share the knowledge and wisdom he has acquired since following his personal inclination to “find out for himself.”

Visit Tom Campbell’s website HERE.

© 2009 by The Monroe Institute

Abstract

This paper describes two studies. A first study measured the neural accommodation (changes in ongoing or overall brain-wave activity) associated with complex binaural-beat stimuli. A second study, based on the same protocol, measured changes in ongoing brain-wave activity associated with placebo stimuli.

A weak EEG frequency-following response to binaural beating and other rhythmic stimuli manifests using time-domain averaging brainwave analysis techniques. Theoretically, this frequency-following response emerges as a low-amplitude linked series of evoked-potential responses. It is important to note that these studies examined ongoing brainwave activity (in this case, central delta and occipital alpha) and not the frequency-following response.

Results of the two studies showed that during the binaural-beat stimuli, reductions in the percentages of occipital alpha (bipolar O1–O2) were significant (individually, p < .05, and together, p < .001) during five of six free-running EEG recording periods compared to baselines. During these same recording periods, reductions in the percentages of central delta (bipolar C3–C4) were similarly significant during four of six periods compared to baselines. Alpha- and delta-brainwave changes were nonsignificant during the placebo stimuli.

The extended reticular-thalamic activating system (ERTAS) may be the neural mechanism behind the observed brainwave changes. The reticular formation of the brain stimulating the thalamus and cortex (referred to as the ERTAS) governs cortical brainwave patterns. Acetylcholine, provided via cortico-thalamic projections, either inhibits or excites areas of the cortex by neutralizing or enhancing the effects of noradrenaline and serotonin coming to the cortex via “fountains” from the locus coeruleus and the raphe nuclei.

Key Words: ERTAS, reticular, frequency-following response, sound, binaural beats, brainwaves

Background

A look at the auditory phenomenon known as binaural beating provides a unique opportunity to understand the power of rhythmic sound and music to influence arousal. The sensation of “hearing” binaural beats occurs when two coherent sounds of nearly similar frequencies are introduced by stereo presentation one to each ear. Phase differences between these sounds engender a perceived vibrato or wavering at the frequency of the difference between the two (stereo left and right) auditory inputs called the binaural beat.

Binaural beating originates in the brain stem’s two superior olivary nuclei (Oster 1973).  Beating-frequency information neurologically passes to the reticular formation (Swann et al. 1982). This information is said to be simultaneously “volume conducted” to the cortex and objectively measured by EEG as a frequency-following response (Oster 1973; Smith et al. 1975; Marsh et al. 1975; Smith et al. 1978; Hink et al. 1980). This cortical measurement was termed the “frequency-following response” because its period (frequency in cycles per second) corresponds to the frequency of the beat stimulus and the oscillation present in the olivary nuclei and subsequently the reticular formation (Smith et al. 1975).

The EEG frequency-following response, an objective, instrumented observation, strongly suggests that the perceived binaural beating is, in fact, the result of a low-level coherent oscillation within the central nervous system and the brain stem in particular.

Binaural beats can easily be heard at the low frequencies that are characteristic of the brain-wave spectrum (Oster 1973; Hink et al. 1980; Atwater 1997). The existence of an externally initiated, internally present low-level coherent oscillation (perceived as binaural beating) within the central nervous system, and specifically the reticular formation, suggests a condition that may facilitate alterations of levels of cortical arousal.

There have been numerous anecdotal reports and a growing number of research efforts reporting changes in consciousness associated with binaural beats. The audio phenomenon known as binaural beating has been associated with changes in arousal leading to sensory integration (Morris 1990), alpha biofeedback (Foster 1990), relaxation, meditation, stress reduction, pain management, improved sleep (Wilson 1990; Rhodes 1993), health care (Carter 1993), enriched learning environments (Akenhead 1993), enhanced memory (Kennerly 1994), creativity (Hiew 1995), treatment of children with developmental disabilities (Morris 1996), the facilitation of attention (Guilfoyle and Carbone 1996), peak and other exceptional experiences (Masluk 1998, 1999), enhancement of hypnotizability (Brady and Stevens 2000), treatment of alcoholic depression (Waldkoetter and Sanders 1997), and promotion of vigilance performance and mood (Lane et al. 1998).

Theoretically, sound waves exhibiting a frequency-following response may be effective in the regulation of arousal levels by way of inducing fluxes in cholinergic neurons or the “gatelets” of the nucleus reticularis. The concept here is that the binding of acetylcholine to cholinergic neurons (Scheibel 1980; Macchi and Bentivoglio 1986; Groenewengen and Berendse 1994 [all cited in Newman 1997a]) or the “gatelets” of the nucleus reticularis is affected by these sounds when the rhythmic patterns become neural oscillations within the brain stem.

These changes within the cholinergic neurons can be externally initiated using auditory drubbing found in rhythmic music, drumming, or the unique phenomenon known as binaural beating. Perceived binaural beating indicates the presence of a coherent oscillation within the brain stem’s two superior olivary nuclei as evidenced by the cortically measured frequency-following response (Oster 1973; Hink et al. 1980). As with other rhythmic sound patterns, the low-level coherent oscillation (within the superior olivary nuclei) that accompanies binaural beating appears to regulate arousal states by providing frequency information to the extended reticular-thalamic activating system (ERTAS) and thereby inducing fluxes in cholinergic neurons or the “gatelets” of the nucleus reticularis.

First Study

The first study examined the degree to which complex binaural beats influenced ongoing brainwave activity (in this case, central delta and occipital alpha). Ongoing or dominant brainwave activity can be referred to as cortical levels of arousal.

Hypothesis

Listening to binaural beats for several minutes will modify ongoing brainwave activity. Increasing the amplitude of delta-frequency binaural-beat stimuli while decreasing the amplitude of alpha-frequency binaural-beat stimuli will result in comparable changes in arousal as measured by free-running EEG.

Method

During this study 20 volunteer subjects remained supine in a darkened, sound-attenuating chamber. Subjects reported normal hearing with the exception of one subject who had a bilateral hearing loss and for whom the volume of the stimuli was raised to a comfortable level to compensate for said hearing loss. None of the subjects reported a history of mental, emotional, or nervous-system disorders.

The experimental binaural-beat stimuli consisted of mixed sinusoidal tones producing complex frequency patterns (waveforms) changing over a period of 45 minutes. The stimuli were presented with stereo earphones at 40 dB above subjective threshold. The volunteer subjects first experienced a no-stimulus baseline condition during which a 90-second EEG recording was taken. Next, each subject listened to the same 45-minute sequence of changing binaural beats (see Figure 1) during which six 90-second EEG recordings were taken at regular intervals. To reduce the influence of expectation, subjects were blind as to the character of the tones presented during the stimulus condition. Finally, during a no-stimulus post-baseline condition, a 90-second EEG recording was made (see Figure 2).

Figure 1. Changing delta and alpha binaural-beat stimuli

Figure 2. EEG recording periods

Subjects were connected to a 24-channel digitizing EEG computer (NRS-24, Lexicor Medical Technology Inc., Boulder, Colorado) using V151 software and the entire standard 10/20 International System montage of electrodes. The 19 active EEG channels and reference electrode placements were tested to ensure the lowest possible contact resistance and balanced impedance level. A sampling rate of 256 samples per second was used, which provided for an EEG frequency response of 1-64 Hz (less 60 Hz, due to a notch filter), a frequency resolution of 1 Hz, and a temporal resolution of one second.

The audio patterns cross-faded smoothly from one complex stimulus waveform to another during the 45-minute binaural-beat protocol. Detailed below are the audio stimuli experienced by the subjects during the designated EEG recording periods:

Results

The data on two subjects were rejected due to movement artifact. WINKS Professional Edition statistical software (TexaSoft, Cedar Hill, Texas) was used to provide a multiple comparison procedure following a one-way ANOVA (Dunnett’s test) comparing the combined baselines as a control mean with the binaural-beat stimulus periods for the remaining 18 subjects.  This analysis showed that the reductions in the percentages of occipital alpha (bipolar O1–O2) during stimuli conditions were significant (individually, p < .05) during five of six stimulus periods compared to baselines (see below).

Analysis Summary for Occipital Alpha – Stimulus Condition

Figure 3. Changes in occipital-alpha EEG

Statistical analysis of the data also showed that the increases in the percentages of central delta (bipolar C3–C4) during stimuli conditions were significant (individually, p < .05) during four of six stimulus periods compared to baselines (see below).

Analysis Summary for Central Delta – Stimulus Condition

Figure 4. Changes in central-delta EEG

The results of this first study significantly distinguished brainwave activity during the stimulus periods from the baseline recordings both with increased central-delta EEG levels and decreased occipital-alpha EEG levels. Decreases in alpha amplitudes coupled with increasing delta activity indicate reduced cortical arousal (Berger et al. 1968). The mounting changes over the course of the stimuli suggest a deepening trend of progressive relaxation and falling asleep.  Some so-called altered states of consciousness can also be associated with increased delta (Empson 1986) and a suppression of occipital alpha.

A basic question raised by this study was the role of binaural-beat stimulation in solely or directly causing the state changes observed. Several of the subjects had considerable previous experience with binaural-beat audio recordings. It may be that the subjects in this study were naturally adept at altering levels of arousal or that they had acquired this ability through repeated practice. Additionally, the deepening trend over time suggests the need to take naturally occurring, progressive state changes associated with falling asleep into consideration.

Second Study

To address these concerns a second study measured the changes in ongoing brainwave activity during a placebo stimulus (without binaural beats). This study examined the degree to which monotonous tones in the same environment as the first study influenced ongoing central-delta and occipital-alpha brainwave activity.

Hypothesis

Listening to monotonous tones for several minutes will result in habituation of the stimuli, a slowing of ongoing brain-wave activity (increased delta and decreased alpha), and a progressive state of relaxation.

Method

The second study also included 20 volunteer subjects. The subjects remained supine in a darkened, sound-attenuating chamber as in the first study. Subjects reported normal hearing.  None of the subjects reported a history of mental, emotional, or nervous-system disorders.

The placebo stimuli consisted of the same mixed sinusoidal tones changing over a period of 45 minutes used with the first study, with the exception that they did not produce binaural beating. The stimuli were presented with stereo earphones at 40 dB above subjective threshold.  The volunteer subjects first experienced a no-stimulus baseline condition during which a 90-second EEG recording was taken. Next, each subject listened to the same 45-minute sequence of changing tones during which six 90-second EEG recordings were taken at regular intervals. To reduce the influence of expectation, subjects were again blind as to the character of the tones.  Finally, during a no-stimulus post-baseline condition, a 90-second EEG recording was made.

Subjects were connected to a 24-channel digitizing EEG computer in the same manner as in the first study. As in the first study, a sampling rate of 256 samples per second was used, which provided for an EEG frequency response of 1-64 Hz, a frequency resolution of 1 Hz, and a temporal resolution of one second.

The placebo tones cross-faded smoothly from one to another during the 45-minute protocol. Detailed below are the audio stimuli experienced by the subjects during the designated EEG recording periods:

Results

The data on two subjects were rejected due to movement artifact, leaving 18 subjects as in the first study. A multiple comparison procedure following a one-way ANOVA (Dunnett’s test) comparing the combined baselines as a control mean with the placebo stimuli periods showed nonsignificant reductions in the percentages of occipital alpha (bipolar O1–O2) during stimuli conditions compared to baselines (see below).

Analysis Summary for Occipital Alpha – Placebo Condition

Figure 5. Occipital-alpha EEG

Statistical analysis of the data also showed the nonsignificant increases in the percentages of central delta (bipolar C3–C4) during stimuli conditions compared to baselines (see below).

Analysis Summary for Central Delta – Placebo Condition

Figure 6. Central-delta EEG

The results of this second study did not significantly distinguish occipital-alpha and central-delta brain-wave activity during the placebo stimulus periods from the baselines. As set forth in the hypothesis of this placebo study, the observed decreases in alpha amplitudes coupled with increasing delta activity were expected as a reaction to listening to monotonous tones.  These changes, however, were not statistically significant—meaning that they could be expected to have happened by chance alone.

Discussion

These studies appear to demonstrate that the binaural beat has a direct effect on brain-wave activity. Such a direct effect would involve the interaction of binaural-beat stimulation with the basic rest-activity cycle, with other sensory stimulation, and with “higher order” memory or attentional processes under the scrutiny of the reticular formation. All of these systems cooperate to maintain homeostasis and optimal performance. Natural state changing mechanisms (Steriade, McCormick, and Sejnowski 1993), ultradian rhythms, individual differences, prior experience, and beliefs may all contribute to the effects of and response to binaural-beat stimulation as they do with nearly all other behaviors.

Newman (1997a,b) and references therein describe the extended reticular-thalamic activating system and convincingly argue that this “conscious system” is responsible for modifying generalized levels of arousal as well as individual explicit patterns of arousal.  Newman (1997a) writes, “This extended reticular-thalamic activating system (ERTAS) has been increasingly implicated in a variety of functions associated with consciousness, including: orienting to salient events in the outer world; dream (REM) sleep; the polymodal integration of sensory processes in the cortex (binding); selective attention and volition.”  It may be that rhythmic sound patterns affect overall cortical levels of arousal by providing frequency information from the olivary nuclei, the first site of contralateral integration in the auditory system (Oster 1973), to the ERTAS (Swann et al. 1982). Perhaps the reticular sees the intervening rhythmic stimuli (including binaural beating) as phantom cortical activity and, in an attempt to maintain homeostasis, alters arousal levels accordingly.

Data on an assortment of subject variables were also studied. There were no significant performance differences in either the experimental or placebo groups based on sex, experience with binaural beats, or temperament type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). In the placebo group delta levels were significantly (p < .05) higher during afternoon sessions than during morning sessions. Interestingly, in the experimental group delta levels were significantly higher during the morning sessions.

Although this paper is concerned primarily with the voluntary regulation of arousal levels through the use of persistent rhythmic sound stimuli, the incidental regulation of brainwave states by means of prevailing sounds in the workplace or home environment cannot be overlooked. The rhythmic mechanical sounds of machinery or electronic devices may enhance or impair task vigilance or work performance (see Lane et al. 1998). Background sounds may affect mood and sense of wellness.

Conclusion

The two studies reported provide statistical observations in support of the notion that rhythmic sound patterns (binaural beats, in this case) appear to engender changes in cortical arousal, which can be objectively monitored with the free-running EEG. As the reticular is responsible for regulating cortical arousal (Swann et al. 1982; Empson 1986; Newman and Baars 1993; Newman 1997a,b; Petty 1998), it is possible that the reticular formation serves as the mechanism of change in arousal levels engendered by externally initiated (e.g., music, rhythmic drumming, or binaural beats) coherent oscillations within the superior olivary nuclei and the cholinergic neurons within the nucleus reticularis.

Additionally, four decades of investigation have shown that exposure to such stimuli under appropriate circumstances can provide access to expanded states of consciousness (Atwater 1997). Several free-running EEG studies (Foster 1990; Sadigh 1990; Hiew 1995, Brady and Stevens 2000, among others) suggest that binaural beats induce alterations in cortical arousal states. These cited studies also document measurable changes in the ERTAS during exposure to binaural beats because the reticular formation is responsible for the regulation of cortical arousal (see Swann et al. 1982; Empson 1986; Newman and Baars 1993; Newman (1997a,b); and Petty 1998).

It would appear that the rhythmic frequencies of an auditory stimulus (when objectively demonstrated by an EEG frequency-following response) affect cholinergic neurons within the nucleus reticularis. Such an intercourse modifies the membrane transport and production of acetylcholine and consequently results in changes in arousal states. These suppositions are compatible with current knowledge of the reticular formation and suggest a neural mechanism, an instrument for the voluntary regulation of cortical levels of arousal using audio stimuli.

The implications in the enhancement of human performance as it relates to the control of generalized arousal levels such as the basic rest/activity cycle, sleep cycles, mood and motivational states, orienting and vigilance, etc., are intriguing. This paper encourages further research and the responsible application of existing technologies providing access to propitious states of consciousness.

References

Akenhead, J.  1993.  Hemi-Sync in support of a conflict-management workshop.  Hemi-Sync Journal 11 (4): 2–4.

Atwater, F. H.  1997.  Accessing anomalous states of consciousness.  Journal of Scientific Exploration 11 (3): 263–74.

Berger, R. J., W. C. Dement, A. Jacobson, L. C. Johnson, M. Jouvet, L. J. Monroe, I. Oswald, H. P. Roffwarg, B. Roth, and R. D. Walter.  1968.  A manual of standardized terminology, techniques and scoring system for sleep stages of human subjects.  Washington, D.C.: Public Health Service, U.S. Government Printing Office.

Brady, D. B., and L. C. Stevens. 2000.  Binaural-beat induced theta EEG activity and hypnotic susceptibility. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 43 (1): 53–69.

Carter, G.  1993.  Healing myself.  Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Co.

Empson, J.  1986.  Human brainwaves: The psychological significance of the electroencephalogram.  London: Macmillan Press Ltd.

Foster, D. S.  1990.  EEG and subjective correlates of alpha frequency binaural beat stimulation combined with alpha biofeedback.  Hemi-Sync Journal 8 (2): 1–2.

Groenewengen, H. J., and H. W. Berendse.  1994.  The specificity of the “nonspecific” midline and intralaminar thalamic nuclei.  Trends in Neuroscience 4 (2): 52–58.

Guilfoyle, G., and D. Carbone.  1996.  The facilitation of attention utilizing therapeutic sounds.  Presented at the New York State Association of Day Service Providers Symposium, October 18, 1996, Albany, NY.  http://www.monroeinstitute.org/research/.

Hiew, C. C.  1995.  Hemi-Sync into creativity. Hemi-Sync Journal 13 (1): 3–5.  http://www.monroeinstitute.org/research/.

Hink, R. F., K. Kodera, O. Yamada, K. Kaga, and J. Suzuki.  1980.  Binaural interaction of a beating frequency following response.  Audiology 19:36–43.

Kennerly, R. C.  1994.  An empirical investigation into the effect of beta frequency binaural beat audio signals on four measures of human memory.  Carrolton, GA: Department of Psychology, West Georgia College. http://www.monroeinstitute.org/research/.

Lane, J. D., S. J. Kasian, J. E. Owens, and G. R. Marsh.  1998.  Binaural auditory beats affect vigilance performance and mood.  Physiology & Behavior 63 (2): 249–52.

Macchi, G., and M. Bentivoglio.  1986. The thalamic intralaminar nuclei and the cerebral cortex. Pp. 355–401 in Cerebral Cortex, vol. 5, Sensory-motor areas and aspects of cortical connectivity, ed. E. G. Jones and A. Peters.  New York: Plenum Press.

Marsh, J. T., W. S. Brown, and J. C. Smith.  1975.  Far-field recorded frequency-following responses: Correlates of low pitch auditory perception in humans.  Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 38:113–19.

Masluk, T. J.  1998.  Reports of peak- and other experiences during a neurotechnology-based training program, Part 1.  Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 92 (4): 313–401.

Masluk, T. J.  1999.  Reports of peak- and other experiences during a neurotechnology-based training program, Part 2.  Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 93 (1): 1–98.

Morris, S. E.  1990.  Hemi-Sync and the facilitation of sensory integration.  Hemi-Sync Journal 8 (4): 5-6.

Morris, S. E.  1996.  A study of twenty developmentally disabled children.  Open Ear 2:14–17.

Newman, J.  1997a.  Putting the puzzle together, part I: Toward a general theory of the neural correlates of consciousness.  Journal of Consciousness Studies 4 (1): 47–66.

Newman, J.  1997b.  Putting the puzzle together, part II: Toward a general theory of the neural correlates of consciousness.  Journal of Consciousness Studies 4 (2): 47–66.

Newman, J., and B. J. Baars.  1993.  A neural attentional model for access to consciousness: A Global Workspace perspective.  Concepts in Neuroscience 4 (2): 255–90.

Oster, G.  1973.  Auditory beats in the brain.  Scientific American 229:94–102.

Petty, P. G.  1998.  Consciousness: A neurosurgical perspective.  Journal of Consciousness Studies 5 (1): 86–96.

Rhodes, L.  1993.  Use of the Hemi-Sync super sleep tape with a preschool-aged child.  Hemi-Sync Journal 11 (4): 4–5.

Sadigh, M.  1990.  Effects of Hemi-Sync on electrocortical activity.  http://www.monroeinstitute.org/research/.

Scheibel, A. B.  1980.  Anatomical and physiological substrates of arousal: A view from the bridge.  In J. A. Hobson and M. A. B. Brazier, eds., The reticular formation revisited.  New York: Raven Press.

Smith, J. C., J. T. Marsh, and W. S. Brown.  1975.  Far-field recorded frequency-following responses: Evidence for the locus of brainstem sources.  Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 39:465–72.

Smith, J. C., J. T. Marsh, S. Greenberg, and W. S. Brown.  1978.  Human auditory frequency‑following responses to a missing fundamental.  Science 201:639–41.

Steriade, M., D. A. McCormick, and T. J. Sejnowski.  1993.  Thalamocortical oscillations in the sleeping and aroused brain. Science 262:679–85.

Swann, R., S. Bosanko, R. Cohen, R. Midgley, and K. M. Seed.  1982.  P. 92 in The brain—A user’s manual.  New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Waldkoetter, R. O., and G. O. Sanders.  1997.  Auditory brain wave stimulation in treating alcoholic depression.  Perceptual and Motor Skills 84:226.

Wilson, E. S.  1990.  Preliminary study of the Hemi-Sync sleep processor. Boulder, CO: Colorado Association for Psychophysiologic Research.

The Extended Reticular-Thalamic Activating System

The reticular formation of the brain stimulating the thalamus and cortex (the ERTAS) governs cortical brainwave patterns. In the ERTAS model, the reticular furnishes the neurotransmitter acetylcholine via the thalamus to the cortex. Lower portions of the reticular formation (the locus coeruleus and the raphe nuclei) provide the neurotransmitters noradrenaline and serotonin via “fountains” that largely bypass the thalamus on their way to the cortex (Newman 1997a). It is the balance of these neurotransmitters at the cortex that changes (or maintains) arousal levels, as measured by rhythmic EEG patterns, and the ERTAS plays an active role in regulating this balance.

The reticulothalamic core mediates cortical activity through the action of the cholinergic neurons, which propagate the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. The “gating” ability of the nucleus reticularis appears to be the arousal control mechanism of the ERTAS. This “gating” activity regulates cortical interplay of inhibition and excitation between noradrenaline and serotonin from extrathalamic activation systems and acetylcholine via corticothalamic projections.

© 2009 by The Monroe Institute

Peggy Paradise is the Office Coordinator for Complete Dentistry of Tacoma, Washington, Donald C. Paradise, DDS, PS

In January of 1987, The Monroe Institute provided our dental office with ten Hemi-Sync® METAMUSIC tapes for use in our dental practice—specifically, for patients who faced long appointments.  We were curious to see if the METAMUSIC would assist patients in relaxing during their dental appointments, and perhaps help with pain control.

We had METAMUSIC Random Access, Eddys, Back Room, Modem, Highland Ring, Midsummer Night, Tailing Edge, Outreach, East by West, and Sam & George reproduced onto a four channel tape player which is controlled by each patient at the chair.  The patient has a channel changer and earphones, similar to an airline music system.  The patient can control both volume and channel desired.

We first had METAMUSIC programmed onto one channel and regular music programmed onto the other three channels.  We found that patients preferred the music they were familiar with, and did not use the METAMUSIC tape, even when we mentioned that that channel had music which may help them to relax. We then had a tape made with METAMUSIC on all four channels, and told patients that we were trying a new type of tape with music that we hoped would help them to relax.  We asked for their comments and feedback.

It is interesting to note that the tape system also has an option to play whatever tape is in the player out loud, throughout the entire treatment area.  At the time we were first experimenting with the tape, we happened to have it on for everyone to hear just before a staff meeting.  A new associate, who was not familiar with our experiment, was in the back. She came to the front and asked what kind of music was playing.  She said that she felt very irritated by the music for about fifteen minutes and was about to find someone to turn it off, when all of a sudden, she felt completely relaxed.  We explained to her what we hoped to achieve by using the METAMUSIC, and she now uses it with certain patients.

Each channel was programmed with METAMUSIC in varied sequences. Patients could listen to the sequence on a channel, or switch to any of the three other channels if they preferred a different mood.

We have now used the system for a little over a year, and will continue to do so. We offer it to the majority of our patients who are having long appointments, and both Dr. Paradise and the technical assistants feel it helps to relax the patients.  Patient comments range from “I can’t believe I fell asleep in the dental chair,” (this from a physician and an interior designer) to “I feel more relaxed, but I can still hear the drill.”  Most patients comment on the “New Age” music format.  Since relaxation and pain control are difficult to measure, we can assess our results only by our “sense” of a patient’s response and by their subjective feedback.  In some cases, they feel more relaxed than we assess, and in others, we feel they are more relaxed than they feel.

We will continue to use Hemi-Sync in our dental office since it is our conclusion that both relaxation and pain control are benefited by the music.  We thank The Monroe Institute for sharing this system with our office.

© 1988 by The Monroe Institute

Jonathan Holt, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, State     University of New York at Buffalo
Alicia Recore, PhD, Project Director for Complementary Therapy Program, St. Peter’s Hospital, Albany, NY
Duncan Savage, MD, Radiation Oncologist, St. Peter’s Hospital,
Albany, NY
Ralf Kiehl, MD, Radiation Oncologist, St. Peter’s Hospital,
Albany, NY
Todd Doyle, MD, Radiation Oncologist, St. Peter’s Hospital,
Albany, NY
Summer/Fall 2008

Background

Hemi-Sync, a binaural-beat brain-wave entrainment technology and consciousness modulating tool developed by Robert Monroe and his associates, can be combined with guided meditation to produce a useful tool for behavioral medicine: the field of treating medical problems with behavioral modalities. The authors applied the technology to the problem of side effects of radiation treatment in cancer patients.

In 2000, Monroe Products released Chemotherapy Companion, an exercise in the MIND FOOD® series. It was designed to provide therapeutic images and suggestions combined with binaural beats to patients undergoing chemotherapy. The purpose of Chemotherapy Companion was to alleviate nausea and pain. Our group, based at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, an affiliate of Albany Medical College, wanted to initiate a pilot study to investigate the efficacy of Chemotherapy Companion. Medical oncology at St. Peter’s Hospital was done by various medical practices within the hospital. Radiation oncology, on the other hand, was organized into a cohesive department. Unfortunately, the major focus of Chemotherapy Companion is nausea, which is not a major complaint of radiation patients. Fatigue is a major complaint and to a lesser extent, pain and general discomfort. When the project was conceived there was no specific exercise for radiation therapy, although one was later released. After consultation with The Monroe Institute, we selected MIND FOOD® Energy Walk for our study. The exercise blends binaural-beat frequencies with nature imagery to encourage rest and rejuvenation.

Brain-wave entrainment technology such as Hemi-Sync is the modern expression of a long tradition of using sound and imagery for healing that antedates the Egyptian and Greek civilizations. There was even a mystical Jewish-Kabbalistic tradition of healing imagery (Kamenetz 2007). Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (2000), French psychologist Robert Desoille (1938), and Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli (2000) incorporated trance and imagery for psychological and general health. In the United States, Carl and Stephanie Simonton (1978) pioneered the use of relaxation exercises and imagery exercises for cancer patients. Slightly later, surgeon Bernie Siegel (1986) established Exceptional Cancer Patients (ECaP), a nonprofit organization to promote group support, as well as trance and imagery work, in the care of patients with cancer and other chronic illnesses. Psychiatrist David Spiegel conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study demonstrating that group therapy and group hypnosis exercises were correlated with significantly increased longevity in breast cancer patients (Spiegel et al. 1989). Robert Moss (1996) has written, lectured, and taught extensively in the United States on the related topic of conscious dreaming.

Several Hemi-Sync albums have demonstrated their usefulness for cancer patients. These include the SURGICAL SUPPORT® series, which has been used by various surgeons and patients. Two anesthesia studies using SURGICAL SUPPORT exercises were completed and published in peer-reviewed journals (Kliempt et al. 1999; Lewis et al. 2004). The POSITIVE IMMUNITY® series was designed with AIDS patients in mind but has also been used by cancer patients. GOING HOME®, a two album series designed for hospice patients and their families, has had a role to play in oncology care, and the first author has discussed several case studies (Holt 2000, 2004, 2006) of that application. Brian Dailey, MD, an attending emergency room physician at Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, New York, has lectured and written on combining Hemi-Sync with energy work and other complementary modalities in oncology treatment and uses such modalities with his patients. Dr. Dailey collaborated on the creation of Chemotherapy Companion.

More than two decades of observation and research document the effect of binaural beats on EEG patterns and states of consciousness. James Lane and colleagues completed a study demonstrating that Hemi-Sync beta signals can increase the amount of beta waves measured in EEG spectroscopy and increase performance on a vigilance test (Lane et al. 1998). Research at The Monroe Institute has demonstrated that Hemi-Sync tones promote a frequency-following response conducive to interhemispheric synchrony as measured on EEG brain maps (Atwater 1997). The first author completed several pilot studies (Holt 2004) demonstrating that binaural-beat exercises increase interhemispheric synchrony scores and dramatically increase EEG power in the alpha/theta range. They also enhance hypnotizability (Brady and Stevens 2000). Based on the above findings, the authors of this study concluded that Hemi-Sync could be useful for the relief of symptoms in the radiation oncology population.

Methods

Volunteer patients were recruited from the radiation oncology clinic at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, New York. An informational flyer was posted in the clinic. Alicia Recore, PhD, made herself available to discuss the study with patients who expressed an interest in the project and provided an informed consent form.

The patients who decided to participate were provided with an audiocassette of MIND FOOD Energy Walk. The exercise features Hemi-Sync frequencies primarily in the alpha/theta range and some in the delta range at its conclusion. The narration by Darlene R. Miller, PhD, first guides the listener to relax while counting from one to ten. The listener is then invited to lie on a beach and absorb the healing energy of the earth. From there he or she is directed into the water to absorb that energy and then up to a meadow to absorb the energy of grass, trees, and wind. The exercise concludes by guiding the listener into restful sleep. The patients were encouraged to use the tape on a daily basis. They were provided with the Brief Fatigue Inventory (Mendoza et al. 1999), a questionnaire to assess the impact of fatigue on general activity. Patients filled out the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) daily in the course of listening to MIND FOOD Energy Walk. At the end of the study, participants also completed a patient satisfaction questionnaire, which included questions about pain (if it was relevant). The patients were also interviewed by Dr. Recore and information was obtained regarding tape-listening patterns.

The tables below summarize the results for the sixteen patients who returned the BFI questionnaire between 2002 and 2006 and include data on listening frequency and listening times, as well as the results of the patient satisfaction questionnaire. One patient died before treatment was completed, and one patient dropped out for an unspecified reason. Four reported by phone that the tape was helpful for fatigue and pain but did not fill out the questionnaire. Only two of the sixteen found the tape ineffective for pain and fatigue. One of the two did, however, find it effective for relaxation. All sixteen patients who filled out the questionnaire said they would recommend the tape. More than half of the patients who participated found the tape effective for fatigue.

Notes: 1. All sixteen patients reported that they would recommend the tapes for other patients. 2. For birth date data not available: the two males were in their sixties; the three females in early to late fifties

Conclusions

The data strongly support the binaural-beat exercise’s effectiveness for relieving fatigue associated with radiation treatments. Though this was an open rather than a placebo-controlled study, the effect size (14 out of 15 or 18 out of 20) is far beyond what one would expect from a placebo effect. Questions that arise are:
1. If the study size were greater, what would the data look like?
2. If we could compare the guided meditation without Hemi-Sync and with Hemi-Sync, what would we see?
3. If EEG spectrographic information could be obtained, what would it tell us about effect size and other parameters?
4. If we could control usage/dosage, what effect would that have?
The pilot study by itself gives strong encouragement for utilization of the Hemi-Sync technology as an adjunct to radiation oncology. Further investigation with a larger patient population is recommended.

References

Assagioli, R. 2000. Psychosynthesis: A Collection of Basic Writings. Amherst, MA: Synthesis Center Inc.

Atwater, F. H. 1997. Accessing anomalous states of consciousness with a binaural beat technology. Journal of Scientific Exploration 11 (3): 263-74.

Brady, D. B., and L. C. Stevens. 2000. Binaural-beat induced theta EEG activity and hypnotic susceptibility. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 43 (1): 53-69.

Desoille, R. 1938. Exploration de l’affectivité subconsciente par la méthode du rêve-éveillé: Sublimation et acquisitions psychologiques [Exploration of subconscious affectivity using the waking dream method: Sublimation and psychological findings]. Paris: J. L. d’Artrey.

Foster, D. S. 1990. EEG and subjective correlates of alpha-frequency binaural-beat stimulation combined with alpha biofeedback. PhD dissertation, Memphis State University.

Holt, J. 2000. Hemi-Sync in my psychiatric practice. Hemi-Sync Journal 17 (3).

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by Cam Danielson, MA
Spring 2008

Cam is a partner at MESA Research Group. His work focuses on assisting leaders and management teams to revision future direction and opportunity amid the turbulence of personal, organizational, and societal change. His research has appeared in the Academy of Management Executive, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Business Horizons, and the American Benedictine Review. He has designed or conducted executive development programs for companies such as 3M, AT&T, BP, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Crédit Agricole, Dow Chemical, EDS, ExxonMobil, Ingersoll-Rand, Lucent Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Manitowoc, NASA, The Nature Conservancy, Philips Electronics, Prudential (London), Rolls-Royce, Saudi Aramco, Shell International (London), Sara Lee, SUEZ, Whirlpool, and Xerox.

Cam’s background includes twenty years of leading the office of executive education at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. He also was a speechwriter for the president of Indiana University and a member of the faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Cam received a BA in classical studies from the University of Kansas and a medieval studies certificate and an MA in English literature from Indiana University. He is an alumnus of The Monroe Institute’s GATEWAY VOYAGE®, GUIDELINES®, LIFELINE™, and EXPLORATION 27® programs (1994 through 2006). Cam attended both the VOYAGE and GUIDELINES twice. He also participated in the American Center for International Leadership U.S.-USSR Exchange Program (1985).

This Phase 1 study was originally published in The Journal as, “The Benefits of Long-Term Participation in TMI Programs.” Subsequently, Cam has completed Phase 2 of the study, which may be seen HERE.

The Monroe Institute (TMI), through its patented sound technology, has demonstrated changes in focused states of consciousness for thousands of individuals over the last thirty years. While ongoing research at the Institute on the nature of different states of consciousness is yielding rich insights into human development, a continuing challenge for the leadership of TMI is to understand how repeated exposure to Hemi-Sync® technology in controlled workshop environments affects the quality of individual lives. Does it have any bearing on the degree of self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and job and career satisfaction? In other words, does repeated exposure to TMI programs increase the capacity of the participants to deal with the demands of their lives in terms of doing meaningful work, developing and supporting mutually rewarding relationships, and acquiring skills and attitudes that provoke continual growth and development?

To address these questions, a study was undertaken to look at the long-term benefits of participation in TMI programs. The study looked at two groups of individuals:

• Those who have attended only the GATEWAY VOYAGE program
• Those who have attended three or more programs

The population for this study was taken from the TMI database, which was automated in 2000. Participants were all found in the automated version, which means they had taken at least one program since 2000. Those with attendance at three or more programs included 75 percent who had taken four or more programs (some dating back to the late 1970s).

An online survey was developed on the following dimensions:

• Demographics (6 items) – gender, age, employment, education, income, race, etc.
• Psychographics (19 items) – job status and transition, family status and transition, number of programs attended, personal objectives for attendance, support or resistance to attendance from family members and/or friends, continuing contact with TMI alumni and facilitators, memorable moments from the program(s), etc.
• Program Effects (37 items) – decision-making effectiveness, outlook on life, interaction with others, job and career satisfaction, stress management, alignment of actions with personal values, work-life balance, ongoing personal development, etc.
• Keirsey-Bates Temperament Sorter (optional – 70 items) – assessing personality characteristics

More than 350 participants from the GATEWAY Only group completed the 132-item questionnaire and more than 330 participants from the Multiple Program group completed the questionnaire.

Findings

Demographics & Psychographics Analysis

Demographic data noted some statistically significant differences between the two groups. A summary of the differences is noted in the graph below:

From a psychographic standpoint, a characteristic of the Multiple Program respondents is their higher degree of curiosity and desire for self-knowledge. This is evident in their reasons for attending TMI, illustrated in the table below. From among the list of choices, respondents were instructed to indicate all that applied to them. The two choices that clearly indicated a difference between the two groups were “curiosity” and “understanding myself better” (together with “learn new skills,” which was marginally higher in that group).

The combination of a higher curiosity and self-development mind-set is a theme I will return to in the conclusion.

Psychological Typology Analysis

The Keirsey-Bates Temperament Sorter (KBTS) is one of several instruments used to measure personality type preference. Modeled after the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the KBTS provides a framework for determining predispositions toward favored or natural tendencies in human behavior. Both instruments seek to determine how people consciously prefer to attend to the world, how they choose to perceive that to which they attend, and how judgments are made about those perceptions.

Overall, the two groups are similar in terms of personality on a per-dimension basis. The Multiple Program group is marginally higher on extroversion. Below is a table illustrating the distribution of Dominant Function within the KBTS results compared with global norms. Dominant Function describes the “favorite” process allocated by type. This indicates whether the favorite preference is a perception or judgment function (sensing/intuition vs. thinking/feeling). The Auxiliary Function is the secondary preference. In personality typology language, both are needed for dealing effectively with the world. One takes the lead—a perception function (sensing or intuiting) or a judgment function (thinking or feeling)—and the other balances this orientation.

Extroverts tend to direct their dominant function toward the external world and use their auxiliary function dealing with their internal world. Introverts tend to direct their dominant function toward their internal world and use their auxiliary function dealing with the external world.

Implications for this study are as follows:

TMI graduates as a group are primarily different from global norms in terms of how they like to acquire information. They strongly depend on intuition as the means of discovery and meaning-making, for both their favorite and auxiliary function. One consequence of this orientation is the value placed on imagination and inspiration, which means that TMI graduates tend to be more idealistic and less tolerant of “the way things are.” To reference Robert Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality, TMI graduates strongly gravitate toward Dynamic Quality, “the pre-intellectual cutting edge of reality, the source of all things, completely simple and always new.”

Further, given their higher extroversion as a group than the general population, this intolerance is more often directed to the outside world. The resulting friction is the impetus for what Carl Jung described as the transcendent function, “a tension charged with energy that creates a movement out of the suspension between opposites, a living birth that leads to a new level of being.” TMI graduates have a predilection for transformational growth—the radical, vertical leaps in being as opposed to the less risky, more pragmatic, horizontal extensions of being.

A challenge of this orientation is finding effective means for managing the tension between what is and what could be. To look too closely for too long at the limitations in “the way things are,” particularly when tolerance is low to begin with, can create bruised sensitivities, alienation, and despair (symptoms made famous by the Romantic poets). In effect, why would people with this orientation find much to be happy about? It is a question to be returned to in the conclusion.

Program Effects Analysis

Program effects were measured in terms of life satisfaction, job/career satisfaction, quality of life, and overall well-being. A factor analysis of the items in this section of the survey was undertaken to group questions together into subscales based on common response patterns. The analysis determined there were four factors that demonstrated better loading patterns than three-factor or five-factor solutions.

The four factors and their accompanying items are:

1. Personal efficacy

• I am a more effective decision maker.
• I have a more expansive vision of how the parts of my life relate to a whole.
• I am more able to surface issues that others are reluctant to talk about.
• I am more actively involved in my own personal development.
• I have a clear sense of further development I need to accomplish.
• I am more composed under pressure.
• I take actions that are more true to my sense of self.
• I have more balance among my work, my family, and my community.
• I am more able to listen nondefensively to criticism.
• I am able to handle stress more effectively.
• I act on my values more consistently.
• I have interest in new things.
• I have a more open communication with my family.
• I am more productive at work.
• I have developed new friends.
• I have been able to resolve an important issue or challenge in my life.
• I am more confident in my interaction with others.
• I have a clearer sense of purpose in my life.

2. Life satisfaction

• The conditions of my life are excellent.
• The conditions of my life are excellent.
• I am satisfied with my life.
• So far I have gotten the important things in my life.
• In most ways, my life is close to ideal.

3. Job satisfaction

• Most days I am enthusiastic about my work.
• I like my job better than the average worker does.
• I find real enjoyment in my work.
• I am fairly well satisfied with my present job.

4. Career performance

• At work I am viewed by my supervisor as an exceptional performer.
• Compared to other people my age and who are involved in the same occupation or types of work I do, I feel that I am very successful.
• The people I work with would say that I am very successful.
• I feel that my career is progressing very well compared with my peers.

Scale scores were generated averaging the responses that loaded highest on each factor. Each subscale demonstrated high internal reliability (note: alphas greater than 0.7 indicate reliable measures):

1. Personal efficacy – alpha = 0.95
2. Life satisfaction – alpha = 0.9
3. Job satisfaction – alpha = 0.91
4. Career performance – alpha = 0.83

Regression analysis determined the effect of participation in multiple TMI programs on the derived factors, controlling for demographic and personality typology variables. Since the four factors highly correlated with each other, multivariate regression (which controls for the factors’ common variance) was used. Two models were developed due to the fact that the KBTS was optional and there were significant differences between participants who completed these questions in the survey and those who did not. Model 1 (Table 1 in the appendix) excludes personality data and Model 2 (Table 2 in the appendix) includes it.

Overall, the results suggest that individuals who have attended multiple TMI programs experience statistically greater personal efficacy and life satisfaction than those who attended only the GATEWAY program. Although increased attendance at TMI programs appears to be also associated with greater job satisfaction and career performance (see Table 1 in the appendix), these relationships become nonsignificant and marginally significant when personality typology is included in the model (see Table 2 in the appendix). Since extroversion highly relates with all four factors (see Table 2 in the appendix) and multiple session participants tend to be higher in extroversion, the relationship between TMI attendance and job satisfaction and career performance is not clear.

It is interesting to note that on every one of the thirty-seven items loaded on one of the four factors, the percentage of those indicating “strongly agree” was higher for those who had attended three or more programs. To get into the details a bit more, I looked at those items loaded on personal efficacy and have listed those with the highest percentage difference between the two groups and those with the lowest percentage difference (see table below).

To offer an observation, the majority of items with the highest percentage difference are closely aligned with the objectives of TMI programs, whereas the items with the lowest percentage difference are not (to my knowledge) stated objectives of TMI’s educational mission. Therefore the areas with greatest evidence of long-term benefits are consistent with what would be expected.

The eight items with the highest difference are:

Qualitative Analysis and Conclusions

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to describe their most memorable experience at TMI. This open-ended question solicited quite a range of responses, for which I created four categories:

• Mystical Experience – reference to experiences of metanormal functioning
• Personal Learning and Development – reference to lessons learned, insights generated, personal growth/ healing
• Belonging – reference to the value of or connection to others in the program
• Gestalt – reference to the intangibles or indivisibility of the unique features of TMI

There were no restrictions in assignment of comments to categories, and therefore, individual responses could be represented in all four categories. The fact that a majority of comments were represented in more than one category is indicative of the length of responses.

Sample of Respondent Comments in the First Two Categories (in some cases these are merely excerpts)

1. Mystical Experience

GATEWAY Only:

• Finding there was a ghost in my room (seriously!)
• Meeting with a guide of mine
• Hearing the ground drink the rain that fell
• Being shown an image of my Higher Self by my deceased mother
• Seeing huge statues carved out of milk, with fine detail, floating in one area of far space and knowing they were The Dreamers.
• Contact with deceased parents and others
• Awakening a past life
• Having an implant removed by these beings I would never have imagined—and afterwards being pain-free for the first time in a long time
• The walk in the outdoors with trees, stones, animals, etc., “talking” to me
• Remembering how I went to/was the stars as I fell asleep as a child
• Connecting to other participants and facilitators through telepathy

Multiple Programs:

• A non-physical meeting with my family. Very healing.
• Meeting my grandmother for the first time and realizing that she is available to help me.
• In the closing circle we “fell” into a spontaneous silent meditation, an atmospheric Presence moved into the room that was sooooo powerful, tangible, and loving . . . no one said a word or stirred for over two hours.
• The sudden, acute awareness of off-planet entities communicating directly to me, which has caused an irreversible (I wouldn’t want it reversed) personal paradigm shift in my consciousness in how to approach life
• I had an interaction with my son who passed away at birth as a result of an auto accident. It was a beautiful, playful, and deeply emotional experience all at the same time.
• The most meaningful in an on-going way is my discovery of inner guides who regularly provide me with direction for both my inner and outer life.
• Being visited by Mother Mary, who presented me with a long-stemmed black rose and murmured, “I embrace my shadow, for it illuminates my light” (this was seminal, in that it taught me that I need not get rid of anything)
• When I found a piece of myself I didn’t even know was separate from me and desperately trying to get my attention and “come home”
• Being with Spirit/all that is/the divine oneness totally and in the state of bliss
• Having a vision of the woman I would eventually live with 8 years later

2. Personal Learning and Development

GATEWAY Only:

• I am no longer afraid of death and feel more connected to the universe and my fellow creatures and nature.
• I was able to accept my limitations and inner barriers and judgments, and forgive myself for it.
• Feeling myself being able to relax and quiet my mind
• A meeting having cried with oneself of the young time together
• Learning to trust myself and to know myself better
• Realizing how dumb I’ve been
• The first time I was actually aware of being OPEN to the messages that were there for me to hear
• The realization of another frontier of exploration
• The skills I learned to allow me to continue exploration within myself, which have made me a better person
• What I remember most about TMI is awaking to the concept that we, the human race, strongly affect each other with our energy, and that we are responsible for our own energy, as well as responsible for deflecting the energy of others when it is meant to harm.
• Discovering the clown chakra
• Realizing I am still alive

Multiple Programs:

• My increased awareness of the omens in everyday life
• The feeling, presence of knowing that I am loved and have much great support
• Mostly it was the healings and personal lessons learned about myself that were so unexpected, but were so profound. I am a very different person, much more whole than before.
• The day that I found out that my life is nothing more than what I say it is, whatever beliefs I adopt is how life appears to me. And that physicality as I had understood it is an illusion. I wasn’t what I thought I was. Absolutely mind blowing!! I loved it and I am grateful every day.
• TMI helped me heal when I was VERY bruised. I will always be grateful.
• Finding my inner child and having confidence in myself to dance with others
• One part of our purpose here on Earth, or one way to look at it, is to enable God to experience the physical. In my case, hear and enjoy music.
• The subtle changes in me that always follow later
• I became more fully aware of how fear-based I have lived my life. I realized that I often failed to follow my guidance if I was afraid of possible consequences.
• How I learned to love and trust my self
• Letting go of shame
• The release of many unconscious fears
• Rediscovering how love unites all of us

I’ve provided a lengthy sampling in order to demonstrate the rich variety of personalities evoked by the individual responses. While there are many shared and common themes between the two groups, in the end, a distinct qualitative difference exists between the GATEWAY Only and the Multiple Program respondents.

To understand this difference it is important to illustrate the notion of an evolutionary arrow within the dynamic forces of life itself. Growth is a process of adaptation to increasingly higher levels of complexity. The resulting change, however, is not limited merely to an assimilation of new information within an existing frame of reference or state of mental functioning (an adaptation strategy resulting in less radical change is the default position when the degree of complexity in the environment has not increased beyond the means of an existing frame of reference to make sense of it).

When a more radical approach to adaptation is required, i.e., the accommodation of new frames of reference, self-transcendence will be the result if a person is successful in making the adjustment. In essence, the sense of self must emerge from a state of embeddedness in one orientation to acquire a new orientation that includes a degree of objectivity on self and others that had previously been experienced subjectively. For example, the mental framework for becoming a trusting and trustworthy individual is based on recognizing and valuing the needs of others. Identity becomes closely linked to addressing or responding in some way to the needs of those individuals who are valued (loved, admired, respected, etc.) that demonstrates trustworthiness. While this is a necessary step in becoming a healthy, functioning, and contributing member of society, a consequence is the degree of subjectivity regarding one’s sense of self that still exists. For at this stage of development, individuals are defined by their relationships. To transcend this state of being requires a degree of self-awareness that finds direction and guidance from within and not merely from the response of others.

It is important to note that both groups of respondents in this survey have had monumental shifts in how they perceive themselves and the world around them. If I were to try to describe the difference I observed between the GATEWAY Only and Multiple Program respondents, however, I would use words like depth of self-awareness, greater personal disclosure, range of metaphors or references for sharing their experiences, degree of experience with inner exploration, and appreciation for the gifts they have received. In the Personal Learning and Development category, the Multiple Program respondents related to personal healing, overcoming fears, trust in a higher self, and the experience of being loved to a much higher degree. The point is the degree to which the words they used expressed something more integrated into a sense of themselves (more affective in nature rather than merely abstract).

What does this mean? Based on the statistical analysis, which clearly indicates that respondents who have attended multiple programs have a higher degree of self-efficacy and life satisfaction, the answer to the question of how they can be happy, those who have an orientation largely at odds with the way things are in the world, is to say they are at a stage of ego development beyond self-authoring or what may be referred to as self-transforming (to use Robert Kegan’s terminology). Individuals at this stage of development recognize the limitations in any perspective and more willingly engage others for the challenge it poses to their worldview as the means for growing more expansive in their experiences—to consciously grow beyond where they are rather than merely having growth happen to them as a function of circumstances.

This is why so many of these individuals choose to return to TMI. They are more highly motivated by curiosity and self discovery, which was part of their initial experience at TMI and which now fuels further exploration and transformation as a way of making meaning and finding joy in their lives.

The implications are profound for TMI and those interested in playing on the boundaries of human growth and development. For TMI this data can be used to support a long-term development program for individuals who want to see positive change in their lives. The educational mission can become more expansive in terms of linking programs and adding other services—such as assessment and coaching—to support individual development needs.

While further research is necessary for understanding the nature and contributing elements of various stages in human development, the foundation has been laid with this study to create a long-term research agenda on the benefits of TMI programs in the lives of graduates.

Appendix

Download a PDF of the full study HERE.