Brain Rhythms

The brain has four rhythms. These wave patterns can be recorded on electroencephalograph (EEG). Many thousands of EEGs taken over long durations for each patient have to be analyzed for a second by second study of the wave patterns. This is done by an electronic machine, called the Frequency Analyzer. Dr. Robert Galambos, in his book ‘ Nerves and Muscles’, has observed that the EEG first appear about three months before birth; with a very low voltage waves at 1 to 3 cycles per second, being generated by the incompletely developed brain. A month or so later, the EEG closely resembles that of new born babies in having large 2 to 5 cycles per second waves. In a graph he has shown that the dominant EEG frequency rises in an orderly manner as children grow and develop. About the brain waves of the animals he says… “To an astonishing degree the brain waves of all animals look alike. Asleep or awake, the EEG of guinea pig, cat and, man show such close resemblances that they almost literally cannot be told apart. Indeed approximately the same frequencies at the same amplitudes are generated by all the higher vertebrates and most of the EEG variations occurring with emotions and actions in man show up also in comparable situations in cats, dogs and monkeys. As far as one can judge from the EEG, therefore, the brain works similarly everywhere.”

ALPHA, BETA, THETA, DELTA Rhythms

ALPHA - This rhythm has waves of 8 to 12 cycles per second for person who is relaxed. Mostly the frequency appears to be at 10 cps Alpha rhythm also occurs during meditation and in dreams. When the subject is awake, he has a feeling of well being, relaxation and increased awareness. After meditation, an average person has several Alpha bursts per minute. I suppose one could generate Alpha rhythm by meditation and generally by keeping the emotional upsurge under conscious control. Could tranquilizers or drugs induce Alpha rhythms? A child between the age of 3 and 12 years is mostly in the Alpha and Theta rhythm. During this period of growing the child is most creative, sensitive and learns readily. The child displays considerable psychic ability also. Parents should not suppress it. Normally while asleep, a person’s brain voltage fluctuates twice or thrice per second. And when awake, the fluctuation is about 10 times per second.

BETA - It has 13 to 25 cycles per second. It occurs in the frontal lobe of the brain. It is evident during complex mental processes. This rhythm is seen in man, cats and monkeys when the subject is in a state of attention or there is tension and anxiety. Most heavy smokers stay at Beta most of the time they are awake. They show tension and irritation. During a spell of moderately sound sleep, a normal person is in the ‘sleep spindle’ of 13 cps.

THETA - It has a range of 4 to 7 cps. It occurs in the Thalamus and is responsible for moods such as anger, childishness, aggressiveness, loss of self-control, leading to violence and homicidal tendencies. Short bursts of theta occur during the moods of creativity and problem solving.

DELTA - It has 1 to 3 cps and occurs during deep sleep. An infant fast asleep is in Delta. Does this rhythm occur when either the subject is under coma or under deep general anesthesia? Which rhythm occurs during the hypo-thermia anesthesia or general anesthesia?

Management Problems & Theta Rhythm

The Theta rhythm has an application in the important areas of behavior and man-management in the home, office or factory, If you dangle a child’s favorite toy in front of him and keep it out of his reach, he will grow irritable and throw tantrums. You have pushed him into Theta. Some foolish people, perhaps out of ignorance and plain stupidity, take delight in teasing a child ever so often in this way, Such a child may grow up with a warped mind or a complex.

This situation translated into an adult area of management of grown-ups has far both the victim and other around him. This is particularly so if he is a person from the lower-income group with job insecurity and has been denied the basic needs in childhood; has suffered want and privation he may not be educated or may have a low basic IQ rating; or he may not quite healthy. If any such person is promised something and you ‘dangle’ that hope in front of him, keeping it out of his reach or eventually deny it, he may cause a lot of trouble, may throw things around, smash or damage them; he may go insane momentarily and become blind to the consequences; he may hurt himself or others; he may go into oscillations of extremes of moods from homicide to suicide.

Crowds and Theta

I think a crowd as an organism can easily get into Theta. It is well known that individuals who can think quite rationally forfeit that capability to the crowd. The crowd psychology is quite different from the reactions and responses to certain stimuli or attitudes of an individual. Just because a crowd is composed of individuals, it does not mean that it is a simple arithmetical addition of moods and average intelligence. Crowd moods are particularly evident if it forms at one point or place where all members of the crowd are in close physical proximity. We form crowds in many ways, temporarily or for longer durations, in cinema houses; reading the same newspaper; going to the same place of work, school, college or club; as patients in the same hospital; belonging to the same profession, to the same regiment on the same political party. One can be a member of many crowds simultaneously. There are some clever crowd leaders, crowd compellers, who can get almost anything done by crowd: murder, arson, crucifixion.

Dr. Gavraud’s Experiment

DR. Lyall Watson has given DR. Gavraud’s experiment in his book, ‘Super nature’. A rhythm of 7 cps in the room made the professor uneasy and sick. Upon investigation he found that this particular rhythm was caused by an air-conditioner motor. “The professor got interested in the phenomenon and built an enlarged model of a police whistle 6 feet long, powered with compressed air. The technician who gave the giant whistle its first trial blast fell down dead on the spot, with all his internal organs mashed in an amorphous jelly. Next time when the whistle was blown, the air was turned on slowly; the windows of every building within half a mile were broken. If two low frequency sound generators were focused to coverage at a point five miles away, a resonance will be produced there which will knock a building down as if subjected to an artillery barrage…. These sound generators were called Frequency 7 generators.”

“A rhythm stimuli produces hypnosis. The dominant sound and sensation throughout an embryo’s life is the continuous rhythmic beat of the mother’s heart, and after birth, the child is most easily tranquillized either by being held close to the mother’s breast where it can hear the heart-beat or by a metronome or a cradle that moves 72 cycles per minute, the same as pulse rate”.

Inducing, Controlling the Brain Rhythms

Could the brain rhythms be induced, controlled, changed or neutralized by an act of will, exposure to certain environment or by administration of drugs? Does food have any bearing on the frequency of occurrence of brain rhythms? The Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda, answers all these questions in the affirmative. Food and change of environment will after the Theta threshold as far as moods are concerned. The rhythms can be manipulated to our best advantage. Pranayams and meditation will greatly help.

Sijo. Dr. Udayan Acharya &
YYCMARDA