79 replies to this topic

[stellar]

It works like Hemisync or Holisync, whatever the hell they're called. Essentially, it emits binaural beat frequencies which allow one to meditate quite easily. At night before bed, I take PhosphatidylSerine and Bacopa, then I put on some closed ear headphones and listen. It's awesome, I recommend you guys try it 15-20 minutes a day.


http://www.bwgen.com

[pinballwizard]

I got the XCELR8R II from mind gear. I think that is what you are talkin about. http://www.mind-gear...tail.aspx?ID=13

The thing just sits on the floor underneath my bed. I need some more to meditate and get to sleep. I am not sure which. Yoga, anti-cortisol stuff, GABA-tropics and calming agents, biofeedback, hmmmm....Anything else? Or just get my eyes off the PC monitor for a few hours before i go to bed <-- that has generally been working well.

[geigertube]

It works like Hemisync or Holisync, whatever the hell they're called. Essentially, it emits binaural beat frequencies which allow one to meditate quite easily.  At night before bed, I take PhosphatidylSerine and Bacopa, then I put on some closed ear headphones and listen. It's awesome, I recommend you guys try it 15-20 minutes a day.


http://www.bwgen.com

I've used that off and on for a while now.. I like the wide variety of presets you can download. The function that lets you use flashing goggles with it is pretty nice, and its possible to build your own circuit for that function, too.


Steven

[stellar]

Try the "Meditation 2 (Deep)" setting. I find I get much deeper sleep and need less of it.

[pinballwizard]

It works like Hemisync or Holisync, whatever the hell they're called. Essentially, it emits binaural beat frequencies which allow one to meditate quite easily.  At night before bed, I take PhosphatidylSerine and Bacopa, then I put on some closed ear headphones and listen. It's awesome, I recommend you guys try it 15-20 minutes a day.


http://www.bwgen.com

I've used that off and on for a while now.. I like the wide variety of presets you can download. The function that lets you use flashing goggles with it is pretty nice, and its possible to build your own circuit for that function, too.


Steven

Ok, so goggles is upping the ante from sound. Last I checked though (many years ago), there was not much meditative enhancement from getting goggles from the journals. I personally like it though.

I am considering upping the ante to biofeedback, It basically tells you, your brain waves and your stress, it depends there is a lot of different meters. "But what gets measured, gets managed." What would be even better is something that adjusts to your own brain waves.

I remember seeing at a child psychologist office webpage a biofeedback machine hooked up to a computer. The monitor would shoot hoop. If the kid could relax enough the ball would go in the basket. I would love something like that because then I could develop a regimen and experiment with it this would be darn cool.... what would be better?... they use this an alternative to ADD for kids.

while mind machines relax you more easily, you just never really know how relaxed you get. Relaxing is hard for me... I dont want to most of the time also.

Throw me a bone guys. Who uses biofeedback?

Here is a bio-feedback machine for fun.
http://www.moberg.co...s/brainball.htm I played brainball at the San Francisco Nextfest 2004 sponsored by WIRED magazine. 2 users put on biofeedback helmets. A ball was put on a foosball like table. You moved the ball forward if you could relax more than your opponent.

I was ruled the table. They should the brain waves above. Mine were so relaxed. I squared off with this guy that looked like yoda who sat indian style. Ok, I am embellishing, but people were laughing how good we were.

[pinballwizard]

http://cooltech.iafr...ures/397109.htm

[nootropi]

I don't know. I already use a binarial program.

[stellar]

I don't know.  I already use a binarial program.

You mean "binaural" [thumb] [tung]

[Athanasios]

It works like Hemisync or Holisync, whatever the hell they're called. Essentially, it emits binaural beat frequencies which allow one to meditate quite easily.  At night before bed, I take PhosphatidylSerine and Bacopa, then I put on some closed ear headphones and listen. It's awesome, I recommend you guys try it 15-20 minutes a day.


http://www.bwgen.com

Bringing this one from the dead, but yes, I do use it daily. I use the preset Deep Yoga Meditation for about 30 minutes at mid-day. I also do 15 minutes of meditation in the morning without it.

[Athanasios]

Oh yeah, one more thing. It works much better if you incorporate breathing exercises as well.

[John Doe]

I'm very interested in buying this. But my brain is the last thing I want to **** with.

The website looks kind of sketchy (and a fancy website wouldn't be sufficient to allay my concerns). Any double blind peer reviewed research on this stuff? Any recommended books?

I used to tutor some kids in math and one of the parents was learning biofeedback stuff. He said he knew of a person who got caught in one bad brain state and was having headaches. He could not get fixed until he found another biofeedback person to put him in the reverse state. Then everything was ok. This is absolutely terrifying.

[Athanasios]

First thing that came up when typing binaural beats into pubmed...i didnt do any more research

PubMed can now automatically show related articles. Try it! 

1: Anaesthesia. 2005 Sep;60(9):874-7.  Related Articles, Links
    Click here to read
    A prospective, randomised, controlled study examining binaural beat audio and pre-operative anxiety in patients undergoing general anaesthesia for day case surgery.

    Padmanabhan R, Hildreth AJ, Laws D.

    Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK.

    Pre-operative anxiety is common and often significant. Ambulatory surgery challenges our pre-operative goal of an anxiety-free patient by requiring people to be 'street ready' within a brief period of time after surgery. Recently, it has been demonstrated that music can be used successfully to relieve patient anxiety before operations, and that audio embedded with tones that create binaural beats within the brain of the listener decreases subjective levels of anxiety in patients with chronic anxiety states. We measured anxiety with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire and compared binaural beat audio (Binaural Group) with an identical soundtrack but without these added tones (Audio Group) and with a third group who received no specific intervention (No Intervention Group). Mean [95% confidence intervals] decreases in anxiety scores were 26.3%[19-33%] in the Binaural Group (p = 0.001 vs. Audio Group, p < 0.0001 vs. No Intervention Group), 11.1%[6-16%] in the Audio Group (p = 0.15 vs. No Intervention Group) and 3.8%[0-7%] in the No Intervention Group. Binaural beat audio has the potential to decrease acute pre-operative anxiety significantly.

    Publication Types:

        * Clinical Trial
        * Randomized Controlled Trial


    PMID: 16115248 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[tracer]

Well folks... I've tried it. In fact, I use it almost all the time when working at my PC in anti-ADD mode...

Combine that with a fairly rigorous nootropic regimen, and I feel like I can reach out and crush things with my mind (usually incredibly complex problems)

[explorer]

I've tried it before only the demo version definitely worked for me but I would prefer a light and sound machine over it.

[basho]

Bumping this thread and adding a qestion:

Has anyone here experienced improvement in short and longterm memory through the use of these visual/auditory devices (audiostrobes)? What's the general consensus; do they work? Is there any significant real effect, or are they just a placebo?

[Athanasios]

I have not experienced this effect, but other than relaxation, I have only used it to help maintain focus while studying. Other than while using it, the only thing I have gained is the ability to bring myself down to lower frequency brainwaves fairly quickly without the generator. I learned it is a combonation of relaxation of the body and a feeling I can only describe as a "flex" or absence of "flexing" of my brain/head.

[ajnast4r]

i tried it, but got nothing from it... but i wasnt using the right headphones.

most headphones are not capable of producing the frequencies that those brainwave generators make. so the software is telling the hardware to do something its simply not capable of.

they should have a list of approved headphones on the website somewhere i would imagine

[Centurion]

I don't mean to seem like a party pooper or general doubting thomas, but is there any proof this whole binaural beat stuff works?

[Athanasios]

Do a search on pubmed or google scholar to see what evidence is available.

[xanadu]

We know that sound has strong effects on mind and body. This has been researched and there is little doubt about it. You dont have to be a music lover to know that. I see no reason why this shouldn't work. When you add in strobe light effects, that is likely to have an effect also. I've noticed a giddy feeling before from a strobe light at certain frequencies with eyes closed. Whether this will do wonderful things for us or not, I'm not sure. It sounds like it could be very soothing and relaxing. That is certainly worth something.

I may get one of them myself and headphones too. If it doesn't work, I'll try a different tune (different program). Not everyone is going to like the same group of sounds and lights anymore than everyone likes rap. I may have to try a few before I find one I like. Is there good freeware or do you get what you pay for? Is Radioshack a good source for headphones or is Ebay better?

[Athanasios]

You do not need a good pair of headphones. Unless somebody programmed in a bad set of frequencies, any headphones will work. This is because it works by tricking your head to hear very low frequencies by using the difference of the frequency in your left and right ear, but it does not actually play very low frequencies. With this said, it may be better to have ear buds or cupping headphones to ensure equal volume in both ears.

I have only used the brainwave generator. It allows you to create your own, download others people have made, record and export, etc. I am sure there is a good freeware program somewhere with similar features.

[imoralityisnear]

So what presets do people use for nootropic effect? I hear that theta frequencies are best, is there a specific preset that is best for reaching this state in anyone's opinion?

[xanadu]

No one has any recommendations? I went to that link and saw no place to order it from. Is it software or a stand alone machine? Seems like you could use your monitor for the light part and headphones. I'd rather have a program for my pc.

[imoralityisnear]

To the above poster, it is software. You can add light goggles as well and link them up to your PC, but, as you say, you can set the monitor to flash. You should be able to buy the software from www.bwgen.com.

[basho]

I might try the goggles. Unfortunately I really don't know which ones are good. I found this Proteus Light & Sound Mind Machine on Amazon for $159. It includes an expansion option for biofeedback which could be interesting. I guess $159 isn't too much to lose if it doesn't work for me. My only concern is that I may be too cynical and wont even get a placebo effect.

[Centurion]

Im using BWG right now. The sleep one appears to be working. Anyone any idea what volume youre supposed to use this at?

[Centurion]

I wonder if its possible to use this to enhance exam revision for material which needs to be learned verbatim (ie getting a base of knowledge). Could a wav file of repeated vocalisation of the material be worked into one of the theta wave programs? Or would all this be a monumental waste of time.

[cmorera]

i hear NP2 is a great program ... the pro version costs about $60 .... if a few people wanna go in on this board to split to cost, i would be willing to contribute ...


besides that., i often use Holosync as well, if anyone wants levels of that just PM me.

[Athanasios]

Im using BWG right now. The sleep one appears to be working. Anyone any idea what volume youre supposed to use this at?

Sometimes I start at normal music listening volume, but then I lessen it fairly quickly. The lower the volume at which it still has effect generally has the most affect (at least with the relaxation and meditative ones).