Grad Project 09 research

Jan. 8, 2009--Rachel Champagne--Study of Binaural Beats

Alpha State

Initially, I found information about binaural beats on the internet (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subconscious) while I was researching the subconscious mind.

Subconscious
Subconscious is defined as an awareness that exists in the mind that is not conscious. An awareness that humans aren’t aware of.

The subconscious could be considered slightly different from the preconscious mind, which is information that can be recalled as soon as you bring attention to it, like memories. The subconscious mind seems to be information that you are not aware of possessing--information that effects your behaviour and attitude.

Although wikipedia didn’t mention this, I would predict that body language and other non-verbal things that you notice about other humans are incorporated into the information that you percieve and store, yet don’t consciously understand. When you first meet someone, you learn things from them but you don’t realize you do it. Also, sometimes when you are feeling stress, you don’t understand, on a conscious level, why. I think that it is linked to emotions. I haven’t done the research yet, but I predict that emotions are usually subconscious. Emotions can’t be controlled and neither can the brain be controlled when it works on a subconscious level.

What I wonder is if you can become more aware of the subconscious information that your brain is storing--like emotions, thoughts, assumptions and perceptions--and find a better way of controlling the negative effects of stress and fear?

Wikipedia lists a few methods of affecting the subconscious mind: Affirmations, Binaural Beats, Hypnosis, and Subliminal messages.

Affirmation
Affirmation is a “declaration that something is true,” (Wikipedia). What I understand about this is that the effect of positively thinking that something is true will make you believe it’s true, therefore it is true. Either the individual will make it true or else truth is anything that you percieve to be true--a concept linked to the idea that reality is perception. How a person percieves reality is their reality. It’s not my reality, but it’s their reality.

I can see how this could effect a person’s subconscious mind by challenging old assumptions--how a person sees themselves, whether beautiful or ugly, for example. As long as the ‘truth’ is subjective, like beauty, the perception can be altered. If a person says to themselves, “The sky is yellow,” then I can’t see how that could effect the subconscious mind because the subconscious specifically stores emotions and perceptions.

So, what if I used this project to handle stress. If so, I have to prove the idea that stress is caused by emotions and perceptions, rather than by scientific facts like ‘the sky is blue.’

Stress
Stress is defined as the failure of the human body to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether real or percieved. Biologically, it makes you anxious and produces adrenaline. Stress can commonly cause exhaustion, irritability, headaches and an inability to concentrate. There are many things that lead to stress, but any type of conflict or fear can be stressful.

How to deal with stress? I propose that if the opposite of a stressful situation is a relaxing situation, then relaxation techniques are a solution to stress. If stress is caused by emotions, like fear, then a tool that can change emotions and perceptions hidden deep in your subconscious would be another excellent solution.

I’m confidant that I can relieve people’s stress levels using a tool that taps into the subconscious mind. Now, I need to understand what those tools might look like.

Binaural Beats
Binaural beats are two sounds, both under 1,000-1,500 Hz, and the difference between the two sounds must be small--less than 30 Hz. While wearing headphones, each ear listens to one of the sounds. The interesting thing is that the brain will produce a beating tone, very much like someone meditating to the incantation ‘ohmmm,’ that will relax and slow down the thinking process.

I listened to the binaural beats from Wikipedia and found that it relaxed me enough to eliminate a pounding headache in thirty minutes. I am now a believer in this phenomenon.

To understand how binaural beats work, I had to learn a bit about brainwaves and sound frequency. First I learned that the brain produces tiny electrical signals generated by individual synaptic connections that can be measured using an Electroencephalography (eeg). The frequency of the brainwaves differ depending on the brain’s state of awareness: above 40 Hz is Gamma waves, associated with higher mental activity like problem-solving and fear. 13-40 Hz is Beta waves, associated with active, busy, anxious thinking, or active concentration. 7-13 Hz is Alpha waves, associated with relaxation while awake and pre-sleep or pre-wake drowziness. 4-7 Hz is Theta waves, associated with dreaming or deep meditation. Under 4 Hz is Delta waves, associated with deep dreamless sleep.

Binaural beats may effect brainwave frequency due to a concept called ‘frequency following response’. If the brain recieves a stimulus--like a sound--that is in the same frequency range as brain waves, the brain waves will become closer to the frequency of the stimulus. Our brains are susceptible to stimulus like light, sound, pain, and temperature. It seems that by changing our environment, we can lessen the effects of stress, including pain and tension. Not only changing our environment, but using any stimulus--whether visual, audio, oral or verbal--we can effect our level of stress.
Emotions
I believe that stress is connected to emotions. From wikipedia, I found a list of emotions: Euphoria, Fear, Frustration, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Happiness, Hatred, Hope, Horror, Hostility, Hysteria, Interest, Jealousy, Loathing, Love, Pity, Pride, Rage, Regret, Remorse, Sadness, Shame, Suffering, Surprise, Wonder, Worry.

To effect the subconscious mind, I think that these words could be helpful. Word association games--one person says a word and another person immediately says a word that comes to mind without thinking--bring out connections that may not be obvious. The brain is making connections without consciousness. If a person heard or read the word ‘fear,’ would they respond with the real reason they feel stressed? Would consciously acknowledging a fear, problem or stressful situation effect someone’s level of anxiety? If affirmation and positive thinking theories are correct, then it would.