Electroencephalogram(EEG)ImagesShowingtheImpactofSoundontheBrain

(ImagestakenfromresearchbyAlexandreTannous)Electroencephalography(EEG)isthemethodusedformeasuringandrecordingthebrain’sspontaneouselectricalactivity.Toappreciatethisitisfirstrelevanttounderstandthevariousactivitywavestatesofthebrain.Itmaybehelpfultodescribetheseasthefivegearsofthebrain.Eachgearisrepresentedbyadifferentwavepatterninthegraphbelow.Throughoutthedayourbrainscirculatebetweeneachofthesebrainwavestatesorgearsdependingontheactivitiesthebodyand/ormindisinvolvedin.

AcollectionofEEGscanstakenaspartofresearchbyAlexandreTannousintotheaffectsofharmonicproducinginstrumentsonthebrainwavefrequency.ItshouldbenotedthattheEEGscannermonitorstheelectricalactivityonthesurfaceofthebrain,soisonlyindicativeofthebrainwaveaffectsofhearingsounds.Therearesizedistinctlevelstothebrainthatarelikelytorespondindifferentways.

TheBaselinescanshownbelowwastakenwhenthesubjectwaslyingdownwithablindfoldon,inarelaxedstatepriortoanyexposuretosound.Theelectricalactivityheresimplerepresentsthepassivebrainstateandillustratesthevolumeofactivitygoingoninthe‘MonkeyMind’.TheEEGimagespresentthescansfromtheLeftandRighthemispheresotheycanbedirectlycomparedinrealtime.Theimagerepresentsatimespanofaboutsixsecondsofbrainactivity.ThefivebrainwavestatesaremeasuredinHzalongthebottomofthegraphs.BrainwaveactivityisshownintheverticalplainandismeasuredinMicro-Volts,whichisapproximatelyonemillionthofavolt.ColoursrepresentdifferentintensitiesofbrainwaveactivityfromBlue,Green,Red,Orange,YellowandfinallyWhite.

Fromaneuroscienceperspectivetheaboveimageisindicativeofthesleepingstateofthebrain,butthispersonisnotsleeping.Thisisanalmostinstantaneousresponsethatoccursafteralargegongisplayed.Thesoundofthegongappearstoaffectthesubjectsawarenessinawaythatallthoughtprocessaredisruptedandbrainwaveactivityalmoststops.

Note:imagestakenasscreenshotsfromtheyoutubepresentationbyAlexandreTannousavailablehere:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFMa7PGEq0A

ThebrainactivityinthesecondEEGischaracteristicofemotionalresponses,withthelargeroundedpeaksratherthanthemanysharppointsthatcharacterisethe‘MonkeyMind’

Thesoundsignatureofthedrumisquitedifferentfromharmonicinstruments,butitcanstillproduceacomplexcombinationofovertones.ThesignificanceoftheEEGaboveisthesynchronicitybetweenthetwohemispheresofthebrain.Thebrainwaveactivityisreduced,butstillactiveandappearscontained.

ThechacapaisaleafrattleusedduringAyahuascaceremonies,whichisusedincloseproximitytothebodytoinduceatactile(touch)response,whilealsoproducingasent.Thismeansthatthebrainisrespondingtoacomplexcombinedstimulationfromatleastthreesenses.Meanwhile,theEEGscanfromtheincensePaloSantoalsousedinAyahuascaceremoniesandasasmudgingincensepriortootherceremonialactivities,canclearlybeseentostimulateadramaticbrainactivityresponse.Notewherethisactivityisinthelowerbrainwavestates(thelimbicsystem)representingadramaticinfluenceontheemotionalstateofthesubjectsinvolved.