The Myth of Alpha Consciousness

The Myth of Alpha Consciousness Alpha brain-waves are marketed as a way to produce relaxation, healing, and meditative or occult states. In fact, they are related to activity in the visual system and have no proven curative or paranormal powers. Barry Beyerstein SYCHOPHYSIOLOGY SEEKS to understand how mechanisms in the nervous system mediate consciousness and behavior. Over Pthe years this hybrid field has seen many newly discovered brain processes reportedly linked with unique psychological states only to have further research reveal that the relationship is far more complex than suspected. Correcting these misinterpretations takes time, even in the pro fessional literature. Beyond the lab, it is even more difficult to retire obsolete notions about brain-behavior relationships when the popular press, profit motives, and a host of quasitheological beliefs conspire to perpetuate them. Alpha brain-waves and biofeedback are two areas in which such misapprehensions are legion: In the late 1960s a reawakened interest in altered states of conscious ness was buoyed by claims that patterns in the electroencephalogram (EEG) called "alpha waves" were indicators of meditative or psychic states. This, plus the understandable attraction of anything offering quick relief from anxiety and stress, spawned a multimillion-dollar industry aimed at teach ing people to maximize EEG alpha through a technique called biofeedback. This occurred despite a growing realization among psychophysiologists that the alleged benefits were based upon unsupported assumptions about alpha and despite growing reservations about the efficacy of biofeedback in general. Barry Beyerstein is in the Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia. 42 THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 10 BETA (2-30 hz.) awake, attentive i ALPHA (8-12 hz.) awake, eyes closed, lowered attention THETA (4-7 hz.) WA-*M,^H/' ^xy^f--^^.^ -\f ••?••• T drowsy, reduced vigilance subject asleep DELTA (0.5-4 hz.) deep sleep comatose patient brain death 50 microvolts ' ' (amplitude) 1 second FIGURE 1. Typical electroencephalographs at different levels of arousal, in coma, and at death. Alpha waves (Figure 1) are rhythmic pulsations in an EEG record produced under certain conditions by electrochemical activity in cells of the brain. They range in frequency from 8 to 12 Hz (hertz = cycles per second). The precise meaning of the alpha rhythm continues to be debated among brain researchers, though one would scarcely know it from most popular articles or the advertisements of the alpha-conditioning industry. Purveyors of biofeedback devices assert that enhancing alpha production brings about a special state of the nervous system that is both subjectively pleasant and psychologically, medically, and, some say, psychically bene ficial. This putative state is known as "alpha consciousness," or simply "the alpha state." Biofeedback employs electronic sensors to inform people of variations in physiological processes whose activities are not normally accessible to consciousness (e.g., brain or muscle electrical activity, blood pressure, etc.). Pioneers in biofeedback hoped that, by receiving immediate feedback about these unfelt bodily changes, people could bring them under voluntary con trol. This was touted by some as a shortcut to higher states of awareness and by others as an antidote to stress. Early positive reports achieved wide currency, but later disconfirmation from better-controlled studies have tended to remain buried in technical journals. 1 shall concentrate on claims Fall 1985 43 surrounding EEG biofeedback. Those interested in a critical assessment of other forms of biofeedback will find informative a recent review by Simkins (1982). Early History of the Alpha Wave The wave-forms we now call "alpha" were, among others, apparent when Richard Caton discovered in 1875 that weak pulsating electrical currents could be recorded from the exposed surface of animals' brains. A decade later, Adolph Beck noticed that the large rhythmic oscillations in the brains of awake but resting animals disappeared when they attended to stimuli—a phenomenon we now know as "blocking" of the alpha rhythm. (See Figure 2.) The slow alpha waves were supplanted by smaller, higher frequency activity now known as beta waves (13 to 30 Hz). Beta waves predominate in the EEG during activities requiring attention or mental effort. In 1925, a German psychiatrist, Hans Berger, discovered that the electrical activity of the human brain could be recorded from electrodes placed in the scalp (Berger 1929). The prominence of alpha over the visual areas of the brain and the fact that alpha tends to be blocked by opening the eyes led Berger to suggest that it was inversely related to attention paid to visual information, a notion that has continued to receive support (e.g., Adrian and Mathews 1934; Morrell 1967; Mulholland 1968; Plotkin 1976; Beyerstein 1977; Ray and Cole 1985). Given this background, one can see why many brain researchers were astonished to see alpha suddenly identified with transcendent or psychic states and offered as evidence for a unique and beneficial state of con sciousness. Instructions "Open eyes" "Close eyes" Subject sitting quietly Alpha blocked Alpha returns —eyes closed —replaced by BETA Alpha *!<W^ "V -1 I I I I I I I—I—I—I—I—I I I I I I I I I I I I TIME FIGURE 2. Alpha blocking 44 THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 10 Origins of the Alpha-Meditation Link The first suggestions that alpha is special and desirable arose from observa tions in Japan and India that experienced Zen and Yoga meditators showed much alpha in their EEGs while meditating (Bagchi and Wenger 1957; Anand et al. 1961; Kasamatsu and Hirai 1966). They also produced more than usual amounts of alpha with their eyes open and were less likely than untrained persons to show alpha-blocking in response to distracting stimuli. As far as they go, these findings are reliable and I have confirmed them in my own lab. Writers of the early reports were careful not to make the logical mistake of assuming that, because two things are correlated, one must necessarily cause the other. Later interpreters were not so cautious. It became axiomatic within the consciousness-expansion fraternity that alpha and meditation were necessarily linked. The error in assuming this without the appropriate experimental controls is apparent in the following. Suppose we noticed that finger movements decrease during meditation. Can we conclude that quieting of the hands is an index of meditation, or that by immobilizing our hands we can propel ourselves into the same state as the person whose hands became still when he began to meditate? Just as there are many reasons for reduced finger mobility, there are many states of consciousness in which alpha might appear. Meditation is one of several states in which people tend not to process much visual information, hence the preponderance of alpha in their EEGs. Trained meditators have developed the ability to ignore stimuli that usually block alpha, but alpha by itself does not guarantee someone is meditating. There are other problems in equating alpha with meditation. One is that, although the procedures and the subjective states associated with different meditative disciplines vary considerably, all seem about equally related to alpha production, even some to which adepts refuse to grant the status~~of meditation at all. Another problem is hat, as Richard Caton knew more than 100 years ago, lower animals produce alpha, but most people are reluctant to conclude that their pets meditate. Finally, most (but not all) people produce alpha when they simply close their eyes and refrain from active thinking or remembering. Is that all meditation is? Despite these shortcomings, it came to be widely believed that because highly trained individuals in a self-reported pleasant state of consciousness produce a lot of alpha, alpha must be responsible. By extension, it was argued, if nonmeditators could be taught to lengthen their alpha periods they could achieve the same benefits with great savings in time and effort. A major new growth industry was born. In 1969, Joe Kamiya reported that ordinary people could learn to enhance alpha output with feedback. Kamiya presented subjects with a signal whenever an electronic filter detected alpha in their EEGs (Figure 3). They were simply told to do whatever they wanted in order to keep the alpha feedback tone on as much as possible. His subjects found the exercise Fall 1985 45 Speaker signals presence of alpha in EEG to sub|ecl EEG electrodes Filler delects alpha in EEG and sounds lone EEG FIGURE 3. Alpha biofeedback enjoyable, strengthening the presumptive link between increased alpha and transcendent states. We shall return to the question of whether learned control of EEG alpha has in fact been demonstrated or whether the pleasurable reports might not have been the result of subjects' prior expectations. First, a few speculations as to why the intitial claims failed to receive the critical scrutiny they deserved. Alpha and the "New Age" The enthusiastic reception accorded the notion of alpha consciousness seems to be yet another manifestation of the change in Zeitgeist or world- view that overtook many Western societies during the 1960s and 1970s. On the heels of social, political, and economic upheavals came increasing disillusionment with many conventional beliefs and goals and their philo sophical underpinnings (Singer and Benassi 1981). Rising popular interest in alternatives offered by Eastern religions and altered states of conscious ness coincided with a loosening of the behaviorist hold on academic psy chology, making the exploration of conscious contents once again a legiti mate field of research. Meanwhile, many people who had sought enlighten- 46 THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 10 ment through consciousness-affecting drugs began to realize that this path is not without its costs as well. Nonchemical means to similar ends rose in value accordingly. Suggestions that alpha feedback was an electronic short cut to benefits that cost others much time and effort added to its market ability.

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