The chart at the right shows the brainwaves of each of the four levels of brain activity, with a short description. With a device such as the one pictured below, you can put yourself in any one of these states at will. [Image from www.altered-states.net]

The gizmo pictured left is the same kind of light/ sound device I own. It is made by Theta Technologies, but there are several brands on the market. [Image
from www.thetavoyager.com]

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THE NEW MIND MACHINES

    Whoever said there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch was wrong. I am getting a “free ride,” according to Byron Mandel of Tools For Exploration, a leading vendor of gizmos that stimulate your brain. A few months ago I bought an LS device, a light/sound machine that bombards your eyes and ears with stimuli at computer-controlled frequencies designed to put you in the pilot’s chair, driving your own brainwaves. The free ride is the permanent state of euphoria I have enjoyed since I started using my device. It is like being under the influence of a high quality tranquilizer -- without the downside or detrimental side effects -- soothing out a lot of psychic rough edges in my Type A personality, 24 hours a day. I am sleeping, thinking, listening, creating better and enjoying life more.

    Not everyone gets a free ride and not everyone should use one of these machines. Epileptics and others sensitive to flashing lights must avoid them and anyone with any doubts should consult a physician. This is pioneering technology and the government does not regulate these devices. Caveat emptor.
    Some researchers claim that LS machines can theoretically increase the size of your brain, as well as induce profound relaxation and meditative states. How can a device the size of a Walkman™ do this? By exploiting a phenomenon known as brain wave entrainment.

    Did you ever stare into a fire or a flickering candle and find yourself feeling euphoric and mentally floating? I don’t want to take the romance out of it with science, but the flame flickers at a frequency that will induce your brain into alpha, a relaxed and creative state of mind.

    Knowing that the brain tends to entrain to, or synchronize with, light frequencies that impinge on it, researchers experimented with even deeper states of relaxation at the lower frequencies and found that the brain would also entrain to theta frequencies, which is the twilight sleep stage, and to delta, deep sleep. Although these two states can be purposely attained when fully awake by only the most experienced meditators, for most of us the voluntary control of our consciousness at these deeper levels has been beyond our abilities.

    If you have ever solved a problem or imagined something wonderful just as you are falling asleep or waking up, only to find that state elusive as the creative spark rapidly faded, then you will understand Thomas Edison’s rather bizarre method of jogging his brain into more inventiveness. Thomas Budzynski, a pioneer in biofeedback research, says that Edison trained himself to sleep standing up holding a metal ball in one hand. Just as he would fall asleep, he would drop the metal ball, thus awakening himself. He would then write down what had been in his mind in that twilight stage of  consciousness, brainwaves in theta rhythm, when his mind was in a super-creative and super-learning mode. This, according to Budzynski, accounts for Edison’s prolific career as an inventor.

    In fact, according to researchers, children spend a great deal of their waking hours in theta, absorbing the world around them at a rate we adults, until now, could only envy. Listening to lectures on tape while wearing goggles with the device on the learn setting, I found that I can focus my attention on what is being said to a much greater degree. This ability to increase creative concentration makes listening to music a more intense pleasure as well.

    One recent night, with machine at the sleep setting, I listened to a tape of Gregorian chant from Hungary and was able to distinguish the voices and harmonies to a much greater extent than when I first listened to it  without the device. My aesthetic appreciation was greatly enhanced, my enjoyment nearly rapturous. What a delightful way to fall into slumber.

    Why does music have such power over us? Because the brain will also entrain to sound frequencies. Utilizing this, you can give your brain a double whammy by wearing goggles that flash light and earphones that emit sound at frequencies in sync with the light. My LS device gives me several different sounds, or no sound, to choose from. With another option I can play music through the machine and program the lights to flash in response to the music for a personal light and sound show.

    Some of  the devices have  a microchip controlled programming that ramps you gradually down into deep states and then gently ramps you back to wakefulness. If you need elán more than you need to relax, you can use the energize setting on your device, which will put you into a mildly relaxed state and then bring you into a super-alert beta state in just 10 to 15 minutes. The mid-afternoon is a physiological slump period for most of us and I find that using my machine when I feel myself head into torpor boosts me back up, feeling awake and refreshed.
    Frank Zane, three times Mr. Olympia and personal trainer-for-hire, advises exercisers to use a light/sound device to beat the boredom of stationary bikes.

    Near-psychedelic states can be evoked by an LS device. Michael Hutchison, in his book Megabrain, describes his first experience, “I know the tiny flashing lights were plain white, and yet the visions that appeared to me were vivid, spectacular, of bright primary colors -- jagged alien landscapes, narrowing tunnels of swooping looping light, swirling multicolored checkerboards, a realistic view across the gray surface of a pond being stippled into fragmented light patterns by a gentle rainfall, sleek fish moving below the surface.

    “I felt my attention drawn irresistibly inward, my tension melting away. I was aware there were people in the room, but it was of no interest -- they were in another world, far away. I experimented with different frequencies and patterns of stimulation, and with each twist of the dials the visions would change. I noticed that some visions would call up vivid memories. I dialed back to the pond and suddenly I was a kid again, stalking frogs, feeling the sun hot on the back of my neck, smelling the green algae and mud of the pond.”

    Whew! And it’s all legal! Researchers have told us for years that we use only a small percentage of our brains. The fascinating computer between our ears sits mute and underutilized. The Tools For Exploration website (now also Tools For Wellness) is fascinating reading for people who want to use more of our greatest personal resource. Although there is no owner’s manual for the brain, with an intrepid spirit and a few bucks  spent on some tools, you can set out to write your own.
    Like my microwave oven, I don’t know how I ever lived without my LS device. It enhanced many aspects of my life. What theta waves did for music appreciation, they also did for my sexual enjoyment. But that’s another story.

This article was published in Elan magazine Sept/Oct 1993.