Bach To The Future - New Deep Meditation Tool!

There’s a magic rhythm, the theta rhythm." According to Lynch, this is the natural rhythm of the hippocampus, the part of the brain essential for the formation and storage of new memories and the recall of old memories (26).

Other studies have confirmed the incredible benefits of the theta state. In experiments conducted at the Monroe Institute of Applied Science, subjects who produced theta waves (as measured on an EEG) in response to binaural beats "invariably emerged from the experience reporting all the mental phenomena associated with the theta state, such as vivid hypnagogic imagery, creative thoughts, integrative experiences, and spontaneous memories" (27).

How do these amazing mental and emotional changes take place? Many researchers believe that different brain wave patterns are linked to the production in the brain of various neurochemicals associated with relaxation and stress release, increased learning and creativity, memory, and other desirable benefits. These neurochemicals include beta-endorphins, acetylcholine, vasopressin, and serotonin.

Dr. Margaret Patterson, in collaboration with biochemist Dr. Ifor Capel, at the Marie Curie Cancer Memorial Foundation Research Department, in Surrey, England, has shown that certain frequencies in the brain dramatically speed up production of a variety of neurotransmitters, different frequencies different brain chemicals. For instance, a 10 Hz (alpha) brain wave pattern boosts the production and turnover rate of serotonin, a chemical messenger that increases relaxation and eases pain, while catecholamines, vital for memory and learning, respond at around 4 Hz (theta).

According to Capel, "...as far as we can tell, each brain center generates impulses at a specific frequency based on the predominant neurotransmitter it secretes. In other words, the brain’s internal communication system—its language, if you like—is based on frequency... Presumably, when we send in waves of electrical energy at, say, 10 Hz, certain cells in the lower brain stem will respond because they normally fire within that frequency range." (28)

Dr. William Bauer, one of the foremost experts in the field of electromedicine, elaborates:

What I think is happening... is that by sending out the proper frequency, proper waveform and proper current... we tend to change the configuration of the cell membrane. Cells that are at sub-optimal levels are stimulated to ‘turn on’ and produce what they’re supposed to produce, probably through DNA, which is stimulated through the cell membrane... You’re charging the cells through a biochemical process that can possibly balance the acetylcholine or whatever neurotransmitter needs to be turned on . . . (29)


The increased production of these different neurochemicals can greatly enhance memory and learning. A research team at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto found that a group of normal human subjects, when given substances that increased acetylcholine production in the brain, showed great improvement in long-term memory, while at MIT, students taking acetylcholine enhancers experienced improved memory and increased ability to learn lists of words. (30) Researcher Lester A. Henry noted that acetylcholine "is essential to such higher mental processes as learning and memory." (31)

Recent studies show that insufficient acetylcholine causes memory loss and reduces learning and intelligence. Lack of acetylcholine been linked in part to confusion and memory loss in patients Alzheimer’s disease (32, 33). Other studies have shown that when individuals are given substances that increase the amount of acetylcholine, they show significant increases in scores on memory and intelligence tests (34, 35).

Acetylcholine has also been associated with a greater number of neurons in the cortex and also with greater brain size, with humans having the highest density of acetylcholine in the brain. UC Berkeley researcher Mark Rosenzweig has shown a direct connection between acetylcholine and intelligence. (36)

Other neurochemicals that are produced in the brain in response to binaural beats have been associated with increased memory, learning, and other benefits. Men in their fifties taking vasopressin, a neurochemical closely related to the endorphins, showed significant improvement in memory, leaning, and reaction time. In another study, sixteen normal, healthy subjects of average intelligence were given vasopressin several times, after which they showed dramatic improvement in their ability to learn and remember. (37) Dutch scientists further found that vasopressin had a long-term "cementing effect on consolidation of information." (38)

At the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), research has indicated that vasopressin boosts memory, enabling subjects to "chunk" and encode information better. (Chunking refers to the ability to group large amounts of information together into more easily remembered bits). NIMH found that decreasing vasopressin is associated with memory deficits. Vasopressin is also associated with and enhances production of theta waves that are associated with increased access to memories and increased creativity. Vasopressin also stimulates the release of endorphins and has restored memory in amnesia victims (39, 40).

The Endorphin Connection
Scientists have also found that the endorphins released when the brain is exposed to alpha and theta binaural beat patterns enhance many mental functions. Endorphins have a powerful strengthening effect on learning and memory, for instance, and have been known to reverse amnesia. Researcher David de Weid found that rats injected with endorphins remembered things longer. Dr. Andrew Schally, 1977 winner of the Nobel Prize for medicine, found that rats receiving injections of endorphins showed improved maze-running abilities. (41)

Why do endorphins increase learning and memory? Neuroscientists believe that in humans the places in the brain that produce the most endorphins, and contain the greatest concentration of endorphin receptors, are the same areas of the brain involved most intimately with learning and memory. Dr. Aryeh Routtenberg, of Northwestern University, located these pleasure centers in the brain and noted

[T]he evidence clearly shows that the brain reward pathways play an important role in learning and memory . . . I have speculated that the pathways of brain reward may function as the pathways of memory consolidation. By this I mean that when something is learned, activity in the brain reward pathways facilitates formation of memory... Evidence for the reward effects of localized electrical stimulation... and for the association of reward paths with memory formation indicates that the neural substrates of self-stimulation play a vital role in the guidance of behavior. (42)

Scientists now know of at least seven chemicals in the endorphin family that have effects on memory and learning. Endorphins, according to neuroscientists, "serve as the body’s ‘natural reward system,’ providing us with a rush of pleasure whenever we learn something or act in some way that is conducive to our survival as a species." (43) This means that new belief systems designed to effect desirable behavior changes, if presented to the mind when it is flooded with endorphins, may be perceived as beneficial and adopted as such—a powerful boost to any behavior modification protocol.

Dr. Candice Pert of NIMH, the discoverer of the opiate receptor, has also described this process, noting that "the endorphins, our natural opiates, are a filtering mechanism in the brain. The opiate system selectively filters incoming information from every sense—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—and blocks some of it from percolating up to higher levels of consciousness." (44)

Scientists now believe that the moment when learning takes place—the "aha" moment..

is that moment when a particular reality has been selected and filtered by our endorphins and is suddenly apprehended by our brain in such a way that we learn something new. This learning being rewarded by a flood of endorphins along our pleasure-learning pathways. (45)

The production in the brain of alpha and theta patterns is also correlated with the relaxation response —the mirror image of the more well known fight or flight response. The fight or flight response takes blood flow away from the brain and toward the periphery of the body, floods the bloodstream with sugar, and increases heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate in order to prepare one for defense or flight. In this state, learning ability, as well as other mental functions including problem solving and reasoning ability, are inhibited.

The relaxation response, on the other hand, mobilizes us for inward activity by reducing heart rate and blood pressure, relaxing muscles, and increasing the percentage of oxygen flowing to the brain. As one might expect, the fight or flight response is accompanied by low-amplitude, high-frequency beta brain wave patterns, while the relaxation response, so beneficial to learning and problem solving, is accompanied by high amplitude, low frequency alpha and theta rhythms. (46, 47) When we use sound technologies to induce these slower brain wave patterns, we also induce the relaxation response, another possible reason for the increases in learning ability noted by so many researchers.

The Effect on Hormones
A recent study performed by Dr. Vincent Giampapa, M.D., former president of the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine, revealed that placing a listener in the alpha, theta, and delta brain wave patterns using Holosync audio technology dramatically affects production of three important hormones related to both increased longevity and well-being: cortisol, DHEA, and melatonin.

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. According to Dr. Giampapa, cortisol is the major age-accelerating hormone within the brain. It also interferes with learning and memory and has, in general, negative effects on health and well being.

DHEA is also produced by the adrenal glands. It is a precursor, or source ingredient, to virtually every hormone the body needs. DHEA levels are a key determinant of physiological age and resistance to disease. When DHEA levels are low, we are more susceptible to aging and disease; when they are high, the body is at its peak—vibrant, healthy, and able to effectively combat disease. DHEA acts as a buffer against stress-related hormones (such as cortisol), which is why as you get older and make less DHEA you are more susceptible to stress and disease.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (December 11, 1986) found that a 100 microgram per deciliter increase in DHEA blood levels corresponded with a 48% reduction in mortality due to cardiovascular disease—and a 36% reduction in mortality for any reason.

Melatonin is a hormone associated with the creation of restful sleep. We make less of it as we age, and since during sleep many important rejuvenating substances are created in the brain, the inability to sleep soundly can dramatically decrease the quality of your life and greatly accelerate aging.

Dr. Giampapa found the following changes in levels of melatonin, DHEA, and cortisol in 19 users of Holosync audio technology listening four hours a day over a three-day period:

•Over 68% had increases in DHEA levels, with an average increase of 43.77%. Several participants had increases of 50, 60, even 90%.
•Cortisol was down an average of 46.47%, with positive changes in 68% of the people, and with several participants having decreases of 70 or 80%.
•Melatonin levels increased an average of 97.77%, with positive changes happening in over 73% of the participants. Many had improvements of 100, 200, even 300%.
Pushing the Brain to Change
In addition to the effects described above, there is an even more remarkable generalized effect when brainwave patterns are slowed into the alpha, theta, and delta ranges. Slowing of brain wave patterns increases electrical fluctuations in the brain, changing the neural structure and pushing the brain to reorganize itself at higher, more complex levels of functioning. This reorganization process is predicted by the work of scientist Ilya Prigogine, 1977 Nobel Prize-winner in chemistry.

Prigogine’s work has been applied to all changes in all kinds of open systems—everything from a seed germinating, to a corporation expanding, a highway system growing, a cell dividing, or a human being experiencing behavioral or emotional changes.

The human brain is the ultimate open system, constantly exchanging energy with its environment. Up to a point, the system can handle all kinds of fluctuations. But if the input becomes too much, the system is pushed past its limits and the system reorganizes itself at a higher order. A runner, for instance, gives more physical input to his body than it can handle, and it responds by reorganizing itself at a higher level that can handle this increased input—which we call "getting in shape."

Using binaural beat technology to change brain wave patterns causes a similar effect in the brain. The alpha, theta, and delta brain wave patterns are states of great fluctuation in the brain. A graphic representation of these brain wave patterns shows that the amplitude (the height of the waveform) increases as we move from alpha to theta to delta. In other words, the amount of fluctuation increases. These increased fluctuations are more than the nervous system can handle with its current structure, and the brain responds by reorganizing itself at a higher, more complex level of functioning. It does this by creating new neural pathways within itself, creating increased communication between parts of the brain that previously were not communicating. This is the balance, or synchrony, between the two hemispheres of the brain discussed at the beginning of this appendix. This synchrony brings with it many remarkable changes. As noted earlier, Lester Fehmi, of the Princeton Biofeedback Research Institute, has stated that "synchrony represents the maximum efficiency of information transport through the whole brain." (49)

As demonstrated earlier in this paper, there are two main effects of reorganization and increased synchrony in the brain. One is an increase in various mental capabilities: increased learning ability, creativity, mental clarity, intelligence, intuition, and so on. Second, each time the neural structure changes, positive changes in mental and emotional health occur. As the brain reorganizes at the next level of functioning, the subject’s model of the world changes with it. With the creation of new neural pathways, connections are perceived between bits of information that previously seemed unrelated, and more choices are available. Herein lies the theoretical explanation for the amazing personality changes that researchers have reported in subjects using sound technology similar to Holosync to change brain wave patterns.

Clearly we are on the frontier of a marvelous new field with untold possibilities. The ability to map and entrain brain waves, and the states they represent, gives us a powerful new tool to effect human change and growth. It has been shown that induced brain wave states can cause superlearning, increased creativity, induce sleep, control pain, modify behavior, focus attention, relieve stress, increase memory, and dramatically improve mental and emotional health. Centerpointe Research Institute is proud to be at the forefront of this new and exciting field. We invite you to join us as we leap into the 21st century.

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