Isochronic tones

reduction of anxiety, and improved sleep after delta

wave stimulation.[2] These temporary benets may be
sustained over the long term by incorporating routine
practice of audio-visual entrainment technologies and
mindfulness meditation.
Audio-visual entrainment
(AVE) refers to the use of ashes of lights and pulses
of tones to purposefully guide the brain into various
states of brain wave activity. By stimulating the brain
with ashing LED lights built into special eye glasses
and pulsing auditory tones (isochronic tones) transmitted
through headphones within a frequency range of about
0.5 to 25 Hertz, it is possible to shift the frequency of
the dominant brain waves either higher or lower and
thereby change brain function.[3] A 2001 study by Le
Scouarnec RP, et al., found 'monaural beats can produce
brainwave entrainment inasmuch as they are in beat
form before striking the ear drum, which impacts the
thalamus, and therefore the cortex. EEG studies of
monaural beats have conclusively shown that monaural
beats produce a frequency following response in the
contralateral hemisphere of the brain, and are therefore
quite useful for entrainment.'[4]

Isochronic tones

Isochronic tones are regular beats of a single tone that

are used alongside monaural beats and binaural beats in
the process called brainwave entrainment. At its simplest
level, an isochronic tone is a tone that is being turned on
and o rapidly. They create sharp, distinctive pulses of
sound.

Duration of eects

Brainwave entrainment does not have a long-term eect

on the patterns of neural impulses. That is, very soon
after the external stimulus stops, the brainwaves return to
Although the AVE mechanism is not fully understood,
their normal state.
it is thought that the auditory and visual elements of the
stimulation modulate endogenous brain activity by activating retinal cells in the eyes and pressure sensitive cilia
2 Studies
within the cochlea of the ears. The evoked electrical potential is then transmitted via neural pathways (audio sigIn 2008, clinical neurologist Steven Novella published an nals via the medial geniculate; visual signals via the lateral
article on brainwave entrainment, claiming 'A number of geniculate) to the thalamus where audio and visual sencompanies and individuals have then extrapolated from sory information is processed. From the thalamus, the
the phenomenon of entrainment to claim that altering the entrained electrical activity is propagated through the corbrain waves changes the actual functioning of the brain. tical thalamic loop to the rest of the limbic system and
There is no theoretical or empirical basis for this.'[1] How- cerebral cortex.[5][6]
ever, Novella is a renowned skeptic who founded The
Skeptics Guide to the Universe in 2005, along with nu- The use of isochronic tones as the audio component of
merous other professional ventures to promote scientic AVE has been found to assist with relaxation, meditation, stress relief, the management of anxiety, and imskepticism.
proved cognition and focus in individuals who have been
In direct contradiction to Novellas claim, more than diagnosed with attention decit hyperactivity disorder
twenty-one independent peer-reviewed, placebo- (ADHD), panic attacks, post traumatic stress disorder
controlled studies have been conducted between 1979 (PTSD), bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.[7][8][9][10]
and 2012 which show a range of cognitive-behavioral
benets achieved through the practice of temporarily
altering brain waves, including: cognitive enhancement
3 See also
after 6 weeks of gamma wave stimulation; improvement in academic achievement after beta brain wave
Audiovisual entrainment
stimulation; increase in alpha wave strength measured
by EEG during meditation; substantial reduction in
Binaural beats
anxiety and corresponding increase in relaxation after
theta wave stimulation; and reduction of headache pain,
Brainwave synchronization
1

4
Brainwave entrainment
Hemi-Sync
Trance

References

[1] Brainwave Entrainment and Marketing Pseudoscience

[2] Huang, T. and Charyton, C. A Comprehensive Review
of the Psychological Eects of Brainwave Entrainment
(2008) Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine,
VOL. 14, NO. 5
[3] Use of binaural beat tapes for treatment of anxiety:
a pilot study of tape preference and outcomes by Le
Scouarnec RP, et al. Published 2001 by National Institutes of Health.
[4] Entraining Tones and Binaural Beats
[5] Budzynski, T., Jordy, J., Budzynski, H., Tang, H. and
Claypoole, K., 1999. Academic Performance Enhancement with Photic Stimulation and EDR Feedback. Journal of Neurotherapy. 3, 11-21]
[6] ["Collura, T. & Siever, D., Chapter 8 Audio-visual entrainment in relation to mental health and EEG. Quantitative EEG and Neurofeedback-2nd Edition (2009), 195220"]
[7] [The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the
Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk (2014) Viking
Penguin]
[8] A proposal for a dimensional classication system based
on the shared features of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood
disorders: Implications for assessment and treatment
Brown, T. and Barlow, D. (2009) American Psychological Association]
[9] [Anxiety Disorders: Psychological Approaches to Theory and Treatment (Westview Press, 1999) by Michelle
Genevieve Craske]
[10] [Anxiety and Its Disorders: The Nature and Treatment of
Anxiety and Panic (The Guilford Press, 2001) by David
H. Barlow]

REFERENCES

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5.1

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5.3

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