Inducing Targeted Brain States Utilizing Merged Reality Systems

Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Moseley, Ralph ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-0665 (2015) Inducing targeted brain states utilizing merged reality systems. Proceedings of 2015 Science and Information Conference (SAI). In: Science and Information Conference 2015, 28-30 Jul 2015, London, United Kingdom. ISBN 9781479985470. [Conference or Workshop Item] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/17598/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. 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Science and Information Conference 2015 July 28-30, 2015 | London, UK Inducing Targeted Brain States Utilizing Merged Reality Systems Dr. Ralph Moseley School of Science & Technology Middlesex University London, UK [email protected] Abstract—As virtual reality becomes more accessible and the II. SOUND AND LIGHT MACHINES technology becomes greatly improved to immerse the individual in real time, there will be an impact upon the human brain and This effect was further investigated as both interest in its direct functioning over states of mind. For as long as humans observed mental states and accompanying technology have noted that the brain responds to lights and sounds to aid or developed. As EEG and other systems of allowing the states to alter moods and mind states, technology has been used in one be quantified and visualised became prevalent, it became easier way or another to induce some desirable mood. This paper to see what directly altered the brain‟s electrical activity and investigates how virtual technology could be used to forward this how these matched its various modes. Table 1 gives a basic idea. idea of the related predominant brainwave pattern and associated state. Much work has been done in this area with Keywords—Virtual Reality (VR); immersive; sound light imaging, as scanning technology has improved [4]. machines; entrainment; brain waves; auditory / visual stimuli The noted effect of brain entrainment, seen singularly in I. INTRODUCTION light and sound, when combined, deepens the overall impact of It has long been known that the human brain can be the immersive experience. Technology was developed from influenced deliberately to achieve specific states verifiable by experiments in consciousness and psychological research to observing EEG (Electroencephalography), MRI (magnetic become small handheld units from the 1970s onwards. These resonance imaging), MEG (magnetoencephalography) and units use the entrainment visually and auditory by NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) scanning devices. These synchronizing the flicker of light and the playing of sound at states manifest in everyday life as moods, sleep or arousal of known frequencies which cause the dominant frequency in the varying degrees. Ancient philosopher-scientists such as brain‟s EEG to become locked or induced to a specific target Apuleius (around 125 C.E. ) and Ptolemy (around 200 C.E.) for periods of time. both experimented and studied the phenomenon of the ability Further to this, another effect, now known as binaural tones of flickering lights to induce altered states in the watcher or beats, was found by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1839 [5]. [1][2]. It is obviously possible to go even further back than this When a tone is played in each ear but separated very slightly in to relate the use of sound as an instrument to achieve the same frequency, a tone is apparent to the listener depending on the end with shamanic practices involving rhythmic musical difference. For example, in the case of a 300Hz tone in one ear patterns. and a 310Hz in the other via headphones a beat frequency of In more modern times, scientists and visionaries have 10Hz is formed. This beating tone, known as the binaural beat, explored this phenomena as technology has developed. For will be perceived as if occurred naturally without the individual example, in the 17th Century the Belgian scientist, Plateau, tones to each ear. The dual tones must be below 1000Hz for used a strobe wheel to explore the diagnostic significance of this effect to be heard by the listener. Also, the separation flicker fusion. His experiments revealed that as the strobe should be no greater than 30Hz between them or the tones will increases in speed the light will become a single persistent un- be heard separately and distinctly. flickering light source to the observer. In healthy individuals It is this produced frequency, or beat, that enhances the the flickering was visible at much higher frequencies. More “frequency following response” or entrainment. At any given recently it has been found that long term meditators can time the human brain can produce a dominant electrical brain separate individual flickers at much higher frequencies than wave frequency. Other frequencies are also present but one non-meditators [3]. will largely be in place revealing something of the brain‟s Also, at the turn of the 20th Century the French overall state or mode. psychologist Pierre Janet observed that patients at Salpetriere Other methods have been noted which include using Hospital in Paris became more relaxed and had reductions in monaural beats and isochronic tones. Binaural beats are formed hysteria when exposed to flickering lights [3]. by the brain‟s own creation, monaural beats occur externally. 1 | P a g e www.conference.thesai.org Science and Information Conference 2015 July 28-30, 2015 | London, UK The binaural beat is formed in the brain by the neural output TABLE I. IDENTIFIED PREDOMINANT STATES AND ASSOCIATED MENTAL from the ears and created within the olivary body in an attempt CONTENT to find the location of the sound based on phase. In the case of the monaural beat this is formed by the adding or subtracting of Frequency Name Related attributes and states: the two waveforms as they interact, effecting their amplitude, range becoming louder and quieter in a cycle. Both binaural and monaural beats rarely occur in nature but frequently in the human and mechanical worlds. For example, where multiple Higher mental activity, perception, problem Gamma solving, fear, and consciousness. Appears in specific engines run at slightly different speeds in aircraft or suchlike, > 40 Hz the vibrations from both meet in the surrounding area or deck. waves meditative states, relating to Buddhist compassion meditations in the Tibetan tradition. The lower tone is known in this case as the carrier, whereas the upper is known as its offset. The most usual state for normal everyday Beta consciousness. Active, busy or even anxious thinking. 13–39 Hz When two different guitar strings at slightly different waves Also appears in active concentration, arousal, frequencies are plucked at the same time the resulting cognition, and or paranoia. waveforms hit the ear as monaural beats and excite the thalamus in the brain, which in itself is part of the entrainment Relaxed wakefulness, pre-sleep and pre-wake drowsiness, REM sleep, dreams and creative thought process. If a binaural beat is heard through speakers it becomes Alpha 7–13 Hz or free association.

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