Self-Harmonizing Acoustic Feedback of the Brain? HIRREM Brain Optimization

It appears that the brain quickly recognizes that the tones reflect what is going on in the brain at the time. By giving the brain a chance to listen to itself via this acoustic stimulation, it will, on its own, tend to self-optimize, usually resulting in electrical shifts towards improved balance and quieting. There is no cognitive activity required by the recipient, no operant conditioning, no learner in the loop, no requirement to re-live a traumatic event, and no attempt to force the brain into a specific pattern.

https://www.wakehealth.edu/Research/Neurology/HIRREM/About/About-HIRREM.htm

So a medical school is working with an LLC, on brainwave optimization (youtube discussion)

It is a business with offices around the U.S. - so neurofeedback - based on an 8 millisecond sound harmonization.

There is an office in the Twin Cities - I would be interested in trying this out but I'm sure it's pricey since you would need to go in for several sessions, as first they have to read your brain to create certain parameters.

 People are asking - yes but what about the body? And the answer received is well the brain controls the body. Actually this is a very Western "mentality." Sure it's true to some extent but ignores the value of the "three tan t'iens."

The sympathetic responses are primarily managed by the right side of the brain, particularly the right anterior insular cortex, while parasympathetic is primarily managed on the left (Craig AD, Trends Cogn Sci, 2005). On surface recordings of brain frequencies and amplitudes, activation of the sympathetic nervous system manifests as higher electrical amplitudes in the right temporal region (location T4, as defined by the 10-20 International System for electroencephalography), with parasympathetic in the left temporal region (T3).

So what this ignores is the deeper reptilian right side vagus nerve that can then over-ride the sympathetic response - that is the secret power of qigong meditation!

So this is more like mindfulness meditation

As of August, 2016, over 400 participants have enrolled in one of five research projects. The first project completed was a randomized, wait-list controlled, crossover pilot study comparing HIRREM plus usual care to usual care alone for insomnia. The second project completed was a randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study comparing HIRREM to a sham placebo for episodic migraine.

A single site, open label feasibility trial is underway to evaluate the use of HIRREM as an adjunct for 10 military service members with a diagnosis of PTSD or symptoms of traumatic stress, with or without mild TBI, who meet protocol exclusion criteria for current medications.

The system sells for over $1200

So Lee Gerdes says you can even wear it at night and your brain will STILL self-harmonize!

The harmonization is based on left-right synchronization via literal harmonics.

So here they get into Polyvagal Theory

 The technology operates through rapidly updating the brain about its own oscillatory activity through the medium of sound and is intended to support brain activity to be flexibly adaptable around an individual’s unique oscillatory set points (Gerdes et al., 2013).

 Here is an example of it in use - with piano sounds. (youtube)

This is hilarious! It sounds like some avant-garde meandering music. You can hear the half notes. Like you can compose your own brain music - or I would like to try to!! I would just flex my pineal gland and see what the music is. haha.

 Gerdes, L., Gerdes, P., Lee, S. W., and Tegeler, C. H. (2013). HIRREM: a non-invasive, allostatic methodology for relaxation and auto-calibration of neural oscillations. Brain Behav. 3, 193–205. doi: 10.1002/brb3.116

That is the original definitive "study."

 HIRREM™ (high-resolution, relational, resonance-based electroencephalic mirroring), also known as Brainwave Optimization™,

 There was a trend for correlation between reduction of right temporal lobe dominance and magnitude of insomnia symptom reduction.

 So one thing said in the above "discussion" that was fascinating is that the abused person has stronger left-brain asymmetry while the abuser had strong right brain (sympathetic nervous system) asymmetry.

Whether there could be a physiologic disturbance common to these asymmetries has not been much considered, but the hemispheric lateralization of management of the autonomic nervous system functioning (Yoon et al. 1997; Avnon et al. 2004; Craig 2005) – sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions by the right and left hemispheres, respectively – seems to raise the possibility that hemispheric oscillatory asymmetry may be an indicator of dysregulation of autonomic nervous system functioning.

 Attention-deficit spectrum disorders (Barry et al. 2003), mild cognitive impairment (Babiloni et al., 2010), dementia (Dauwels et al. 2010), and traumatic brain injury (Moeller et al. 2011) have been associated with relative excess power in low frequencies (i.e., delta and/or theta) in comparison with high frequencies. Other forms of suboptimal proportionation of spectral EEG power have been reported with insomnia (Perlis et al. 2001; Wolynczyk-Gmaj and Szelenberger 2011), alcoholism (Campanella et al. 2009), and chronic fatigue syndrome (Decker et al. 2009).

 Wow that's fascinating.

 HIRREM software analytics then identify dominant frequencies in specific spectral brackets, in up to 48,000 bins of spectral data for any given bracket. Brackets are assigned by the software based on a proprietary algorithm. The software compares the two channels of data to ascertain the symmetry between channels of EEG information and proportionation of spectral power within the channels. From the bracket of frequencies assigned for the subject's exercise, the HIRREM software translates the dominant EEG frequency in a given instant of time to an audible musical tone, which is received by the subject through earphones. Depending on algorithm calculations, the delay between measurement and analysis of neural oscillatory activity and consequent presentation of corresponding musical tones can be as narrow as an estimated 12 msec. The process then iterates.

The HIRREM mathematical algorithms to define specifically how and when the dominant EEG frequencies are selected for resonance are informed by relationships among the parameters of the individual's own unique spectral EEG. The specific tone is produced from a proprietary mathematical algorithm principally informed by the dominant frequency within the observed spectral bracket. A sample sequence of tones produced during 1 min of a HIRREM exercise and the corresponding notes on the pentatonic scale are available as Internet resources, in the form of audio, and pdf files.

 Interesting - why a "pentatonic scale"?

Specifically, right insular cortex appears to drive sympathetic functioning, whereas left insular cortex drives parasympathetic functioning (Craig 2005).

O.K. I think this is in my right-hand side bar. I need to know the location of the brain so I can then just "flex" that location to control it directly. haha. No need for external feedback!

For example I know that the sneeze reflex is in the back of the brain - so to suppress a sneeze I just "flex" the back of the brain. Today I just read research that the "freeze" reaction of the unmyelinated vagus nerve is also in the back of the brain - the cerebellum.

 As of September 2012, HIRREM technology is being used by over 200 providers in North America, Europe, South Africa, Asia, and Australia.

 relief from sleep disorders, depressive symptoms and anxiety, reduced symptomatology related to trauma, improved cognitive functioning, relief from addictive urges, improvement in cardiovascular and gastrointestinal conditions, and others. A randomized, wait-list controlled pilot trial has shown efficacy of HIRREM for relieving symptoms of insomnia (Tegeler et al. 2012), and a placebo-controlled trial testing efficacy for migraine has been completed.

So this explains why they have to do an "assessment."

 Also, the precise spectral location of the peak frequency for the alpha (8–12 Hz) range is variable across individuals, and the location of this peak is a meaningful parameter that has been correlated with development (Cragg et al. 2011) and cognitive performance (Angelakis et al. 2004). Engagement with an individual's unique spectral EEG fingerprint is not possible with technologies that rely on standard broadband EEG frequency ranges.

 The core technical aim of HIRREM is to resonate with dynamically changing dominant frequencies in the spectral EEG. Variations of amplitudes in these frequencies are typically characterized in stochastic terms. That is, the energies of interest to HIRREM are in the category of apparently random fluctuations in the EEG, or noise.

 So here an "assessment" is detailed

 Comparative amplitudes and coherence of the two channels of data collected during various protocols can be evaluated in the following 10 broadband frequency ranges: 0–1, 1–3, 3–5.5, 5.5–7.5, 7.5–10, 10–12, 12–15, 15–23, 23–36, and 36–48 Hz.

 Most HIRREM protocols (defined as a combination of sensor montage and the specific software design) capture two channels of electroencephalic data between homologous regions of the hemispheres. Two-channel single-sided protocols may be used to focus attention on apparently recalcitrant oscillatory activity localizing in a particular region. One-channel protocols may also be used to focus attention, especially in “alpha” and “beta” frequency bands, on single regions without a particular interest in symmetry with the homologous region of the contralateral lobe.

So this implies that the musical tone is for each side of the brain (i.e. each "channel") and so the brain then self-harmonizes the two channels via a feedback! If true that is quite amazing.

But my question is - which ear bud is for which side of the brain? Obviously the left ear bud is "heard" by the right side of the brain - but is the left ear bud TONE created by the right side of the brain?  The academic analysis was not clear - so maybe the vids will explain in better detail.

Hypothesis of Lee Gerdes: "Brain energy is more like Sound energy."

oops - Lee Gerdes misrepresents the "shut down" by the vagus nerve - he says it's from the left side. No it's the unmyelinated vagus nerve of the right side that does the shut down.