Moved - Discussing Merits/Legitimacy of Mid-Brain Activation

[andreasro]

We watched the toddler 1 the first time today. It is very fast flashing. It is basically a 1/2 hour of rapid flashing.

You can lower the speed of video in your media player. But your question remains. I'm in the same boat. I also think we're making an experiment and there are a lot of questions still unanswered.

[lelask]

Have you read books from Pamela Hickein? She explains that the right brain is activated throught fast flashing . If you show pictures slowly you activate the left brain and in small children you speed up the bridging from right to left brain. Throught fast flashing we keep the right brain paths open therefore the learning becomes easier becouse it doesn ´t need the logical explanations.
Patty Hannan from PlayWisely has done lots of research with NASA before introducing the program and she also worked with Glenn Doman in the past.
I have met her last May and we talked a lot  The sparkabilities dvds are just one part of her program. The brain in her brogram is stimulating by fast flashing and physical activities.
I am sure you know all this anyway

[andreasro]

lelask, for me you were the first who mentioned about PlayWisely, and I did follow their website and whatever they got there, even got some of the books in the lists she recommends.
Also, read, but very fast, Pamela's book, still need to read it thoroughly this time.
Still, there's a lot to chew from different sources, the ones mentioned in this thread and much more, I'm sure, for me to say clearly "I believe this or that". For now, I see what it does in my children and pay attention to their reactions and feedback. For now, it's all right and kids are soaking up information and also love to 'read' books, put their fingers on text and 'read'.
I "play safe": use little fast flashing materials, read them books either on paper or online, sing songs together and more. Don't use just one method. And they are both too young or less prepared to use Shichida or other with them.

[nee1]

I just purchased the Sparkabilities DVD's. We watched the YouTube snippets and decided to go ahead after Tamsyn mentioned them - this forum can get expensive. Oh yeah, someone said that before.

We watched the toddler 1 the first time today. It is very fast flashing. It is basically a 1/2 hour of rapid flashing.

Here is my question, and I don't have an answer, but am wondering what the long term effects of all this flashing is. We really are running an experiment on our children. As far as I can tell it is going ok, but it really is too early to know. I had these same reservations about Little Reader before I purchased it as well, but the speed of the Shichida video and the Sparkabilities DVD is way faster than Brillkids.

In Neil Postman's book, Amusing Ourselves to Death (an excellent read by the way) he mentions how television rewires a child's brain and not for good. He links this to an inability to follow logical arguments and think in a linear fashion. Basically he is saying that our mental lives should be in words not images. The rapid flashing of images decreases a child's attention span. It would make sense to me that if you are doing this a lot with multiple programs, your brain is going to get used to the stimulation and books can't compete.

I don't have an answer for this and I haven't done research to determine if this is really true. We obviously use LR, and LM so I'm in the boat with everyone else. I guess the sparkabilites DVD's were a bit shocking and until I do more research I'm not sure I'm putting my child in front of them.

TMT, thanks for the links I am going to follow-up on those.

Edit: thought this was interesting.....still thinking this through...

http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org/what-does-tv-do-to-my-kids-brain/

Honestly, I worry about very rapid flashing a lot. Are we setting our kids up for Attention Deficit Disorder? If you think about the very rapid flashing thing very logically, you see that perhaps we are. I've read a lot about how overstimulation with interactive medium affects children adversely. And ever since I read Robinson's stuff and recommendations on no-tv, no computer, etc., I have very, very drastically reduced my kids’ screen time. I'll rather we read, read, read, read, and read. As a title of a controversial book says, Einstein never used flashcards, yet he turned out okay.

And as for Pamela saying very rapid flashing turns on the right brain, is this not pseudo-science? Where is the evidence? Did she go into a child's brain to see how that brain got turned on via very rapid flashing? Sorry, but I'm very sceptical about all this. I've read Doman's explanations of rapid flashing, and his rationale was that it keeps the child from being bored. That one I can understand. But rapid flashing has been elevated to the status of opening the right brain, and keeping the left brain closed; with that one I'm sceptical.

[sonya_post]

I don't want this to devolve into an argument. I posed my original question on this thread because I would really like an open discussion. I see the benefits of rapid flashing with the little girl I have with down syndrome. She learns quickly with it. So, I think it works.

I also think there may be a difference between the screen (computer/TV) there is in flashing cards. The noises and all the bells and whistles cannot be replicated when flashing physical cards so I don't see Doman's original work as comparable to Sparkabilities.

We don't have TV in our house and haven't for 20 years. For this reason. We watch things on the computer if we do watch them. Until now LR and LM is all the flashing they were doing. We don't watch TV. We had a brief stint where the kids watched Leapfrogs "The Letter Factory" and we watch YouTube videos of concerts/conductors.

I am after a good conversation about this and I think it does fall under this thread.

Nee can you post some links to any research you've done?

[nee1]

Sonya, there is no argument at all. 

I've seen Janet Doman show how to do flashcards, and though it was quite quick, it wasn't rapid-fire. Her rationale was that when it is slow, the child gets bored. That I agree with. And she also said that children learn at a faster speed than adults, hence the need to show the cards quickly.

My concern is when the flashing is very rapid-fire (very unlike the Doman type of flash), with no space for the brain to process the information. Rapid-fire flashing appears to do the same thing TV does. The images change very quickly as with TV, and may lead to short attention spans.

I've also read some books that got me concerned about an overdose of screen time and stimulating media. E.g.,
The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30) by Mark Bauerlein;
Endangered minds: Why children can't think and what we can do about it by Jane Healy;
Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina.

[lelask]

I remember that before I started with EL I had the same questions and I will be happy if someone finds any true evidence on this matter and share it with us.
I wasn't comfortable not only with flashing but the whole dvd watching idea. That is why we never did YBCR even thought we have them at home.
I spent about 3 months maybe more researching everything relating to brain before starting with LR or LM.
There was very little information in my country so I guess that what I know is the same info what you know from google and forum links.
I followed Doman, Tweedlewink ( my daughter didn't like to watch dvds so we did the activities presented in dvds) and Play Wisely which again in a class it isn't about rapid flashing. But I think I also thought they were too fast, I 'd need to look at them again .
I have never tried Schihida's rapid flashing .
As I said I have the same questions in back of my mind so I have adapted everything to my comfort.
There will be new evidences in regards of how brain works so we might never know  
I have seen what flashcards did with autistic children and I know that my daughter could subitize thanks to red dot cards
I am not sure if I believe that chidren need to see the information only once in six months to remember it , these things I need to live - after all I grew at the time when repetition was the mother of wisdom.

[Tamsyn]

I don't think rapid flashing is meant to close the left brain as much as to keep the right-brain open.  Our world focuses so much on left-brain learning techniques.  Right-brain kids has said that they really want a whole-brained approach.  I get that.

I think that the point behind the rapid flashing, photographic memory, memory linking, and such is to wire the brain to be able to process information quickly.  I hypothesize (because I don't know) that a child trained to read a book quickly will have MORE of a desire to read.  If you could read all of the Harry Potter books in one day like Alenka Titzer because you have speed reading abilities, would you read less?  If my kids only spend 15 minutes a day reading as adults, I would be fine with that if it meant they were reading a full book a day.

I'm reading an interesting book right now titled "Right brained kids in a left brained world" subtitled "unlocking the potential of your ADD child."  In some environments being ADD is a bad thing, such as when the teachers think the best solution is to drug the kids up.  ADD kids can be easily distracted, prone to daydreaming, can be hyper-sensitive, and the list goes on depending on where you look.  But ADD kids are also good at puzzles and mazes, have powerful visual memories, are creative thinkers, and a list of other positive traits that we ofter ignore.  I am trying to help my children develop those very skills.  Maybe by default I am training them to be ADD, but I don't think so.  We do plenty of left-brain activities as well.  It all goes back to "just read to them every day", "just let them play", and "No child left inside".  I think we can take these things to extremes (them and us), and that's where we run into trouble.

Having said that, we really are wiring our kids brains differently than we were, and our parents were.  The chapter "Is There Any Such Thing as ADD", the author discusses this.  "Coaches find that players can no longer follow a play explained by using a chalkboard with x's and o's; instead they show videotapes.  Our parents grew up listening to radio dramas, and most of us grew up with a couple of movie theaters and four or five television channels.  Our children are exposed to an overwhelming array of cable channels, computer programs, video games, and web sites.  It's no wonder they think differently."

Love it or hate it, our kid ARE a part of this generation.  I want them to be able to process and keep up with a technologically driven world, so I am proceeding with the rapid flashing.  But I don't want it to be passive.  I want them to be able to recall what they see.  Schikida and Right Brain kids, and some of these other methods we have mentioned do that.  They rapidly flash images, but then the kids use their left brain organizational skills to recreate what they saw, by either arranging tiles/pictures in order, drawing, or writing.

I think it's all about finding a good balance.  I'm not saying I've found it yet.    

[Jenene]

So this is rather off topic to right brain education but I have been thinking of this in regards to technology or no technology.   I like the simple idea of the Robinson stuff and the no technology appeals to me as I was brought up for most of my childhood with no tv or computer and I loved to read.  And it scares me how powerful tv/video/computer is.  But our children are coming into a very different world than I did.  When I got to universiversity I had to suddenly use a computer for word processing and that was it (this was 20 years ago!) and I remember how stressed I was.  By the time my children get to university level everything will be on the computer.  They will be using it for things that I can't even imagine.  And they will be using devices (not just computers) for things that I can't even dream of.  For me, technology didn't change that much to when I had to use it so it wasn't a huge gap for me to overcome.  Now technology is changing so fast that the gap/learning curve of someone not familiar with at least some of it will be huge.  Am I actually doing their education and their ability to integrate and use these technologies to learn a diservice if I restrict them in their learning now.  If there is an easier way to learn something by watching DVDs or using technology why not use it?  As Tamsyn suggests maybe it is rewiring their brain to learn differently (well, not maybe, we all know it is that is why it bothers us) but that differently is probably 'normal'.  Do we need to let them watch hours of cartoons and play random games to do that - no.  But I think maybe we should expose them to some things at least and encourage the use of technology in their education. 

Simple example, when I was a kid you were taught to pick up the phone and dial 000 (or 911) in an emergency.  Now, I have had to teach my child how to do that.  We only have mobile phones so it goes more like this
First, find the phone!
Then, press the sequence to unlock the keys.
Next, find the number keypad display by pressing the appropriate icon/button
Then press 000/911
Finally press call.
And in 6 - 12 months time when I have a new phone it will be different again (and of course everyone else's phone is slightly different so if he is with someone else or somewhere else he needs to know how to work their phone). 
So, maybe we are rewiring our children's brains to a more fast flashing, fluid, non linear, think outside the square type approach but maybe we need to for them to survive in this world. 

I found this ed talk that was part of another thread here very interesting. 
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/y3jYVe1RGaU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/y3jYVe1RGaU&rel=1</a>
Look at the results that he gets by putting a computer in a slum with children with almost no education.  Technology opens up a whole world of learning that wasn't even thought possibly a few years ago. 

As Tamsyn says will it be setting our kids up for ADD type behavious.  Possibly, but is that what is needed?  I honestly don't know.  I'm not really sure where I stand at this point.  The RC no technology appeals to me as I said - old fashioned 3R's - but then I see my son's excitement/interest and how much he learns from some science youtube videos that I could never teach him and he would never read in a book at this age. 

[seastar]

I too have worried about Sparkabilities - the rapid changes just seem so dramatic!   

As a matter of interest - have any of the parents on here worked on their own right brain skills? If so, I would love to hear your feedback. I have been working on this for the last few days and I have had some interesting results, e.g. after doing a photo eyeplay session, I had a strong urge to reconnect with an important person in my life with whom things had become quite strained. I acted on this feeling by sending a quick email which received a favourable response. What was interesting for me was that the photo eyeplay session led me to take a completely different course of action, but one that was right for me. I am both intruiged and sceptical as to where this right brain stuff will take me next   

[Kimba15]

While I was working for the Aus Gov before I resigned I noticed the greater need to be processing information rather quickly. The bosses expected you to read an email and retain amongst all the other emails you got. I was always really lucky as I have always been able to retain information rather quickly. I put this down to two things I am left handed so therfore a little more in my right brain and I loved to play memory as a little kid. In fact I still love to play memory now against a 7 year old and enjoy beating them. Which is mean but makes me feel my brain is still working and not ageing.

I also once read "The Brain that Changes Itself" When reading thos book I realised how flexible the brain actually is to learning and different learning environments. They showed a number of studies where the high flashing has helped a number of people with disabilities to lead relatively normal lives. How people who had suffered from strokes when taken back to the skills they learned as a baby and built upon them developed whole new parts of the brain. I think we are skeptical because we have been stuck in the same of thinking for a long time. I think the rapid flashing opens a whole side of the brain that we have shut down because at that point of time it no longer served us to have those skills such as rapid memory recall, ESP perfect pitch because we stopped living in tribes and the threats to our safety diminished. We went through a stage of history where we wanted proof for everything, I think that time is coming to an end and now we are going back to develop the side of our brain we have long forgotten because it is now needed again. We need to move quickly we need to recall information quickly we need to be able to communicate at warp speed, we need perfect pitch to aquire a better understanding of the people around us and we need to acquire languages like we never have before.

That is why I think we are seeing such a huge gravitation away from school based learning because like Sugata says School is obsolete. We understand that with technology school can be anywhere in the world and having worldly experiences makes you are better job candidate than someone who does not.

I think also people want more time with their children want their children to be nice people and since right brain education is based on love and peace much like Montessori. People don't want to send their kids out into the world like the last generation who have left much to be desired.

Montessori also said that education need to reflect the times the child is living in so it is necessary to be flexible in the world we are now living. She never copyrighted her work because she believed her research should always be continued and changed to fit the child and the generation they were living in.

Kimba

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Ultimately, after analyzing all the information available it just comes down to following your gut which is different for everyone.


Dr. Shichida's work was cutting edge and he was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about education. Have you seen his list of awards and recognition?  http://www.angelfire.com/ak3/superachievers/z_founder.html Definitely nothing to be sneezed at.  As far as experimenting on our kids, yes and no. There are 450 Shichida schools in Japan alone, plus schools in other countries and countless imitators. If inducing ADHD was a big issue to this method, there are many children who have gone before who would be dealing with this. I have only read about this anecdotally once or two and the children in question started RBE after age 5 IIRC and didn't stick with it long term. So who knows if they were even related. And there are children who literally are parked in front of Nick Jr. by negligent parents day in and day out....not for 5 or even 30 minutes at a time. I think that kind of situation is a far greater concern.


I am still doing my research on how to best maximize my children's potential through RBE, but I feel the potential benefits outweigh the potential risk for my own children. Also, there are lots of different hands on activities that they do in Shichida class, its not *just* straight flashing for 55 minutes. I do remember reading that Pamela Hickein says that the TW flashcards are paced to the beat of the heart and are more gentle than rapid fire fast flashing in order to avoid over stimulation which she did say she observed (most likely during her Shichida days). I'll try to remember where I read/heard her mention that.


After reading about how musician's brainwaves sync to each other and how easily brainwaves can be influences by music (frequency), I learned that the brain can be "entrained" many ways, including something as simple as during primitive drum ceremonies of indigenous people, sitting in a rocking chair, or patting a baby to sleep. At many American brain training centers, a staple of their curriculum is the use of a metronome to help increase the brain's processing speed. Now I understand that these activities are flexing the muscles of the memory by asking them to complete activities *while* entraining the brain through the beat of the metronome. It is stressed that all answers are given on beat and to do so is especially difficult yet highly beneficial for kids with attention issues.With the interactive metronome, they even flash the information  on screen and combine it with a motor response.


Here's an example of how they combine a right/left brain connecting activity with the audio input of a metronome:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/aykuFhQIob4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/aykuFhQIob4&rel=1</a>


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/1fSg97KOnUM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/1fSg97KOnUM&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/u1vSIBKudAg&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/u1vSIBKudAg&rel=1</a>

Anyway, these commercial type franchise establishments are using their own methods to connect the left and right brain, as shown above. They even have the kids memorize mnemonic images of the 50 presidents and then recite them fwds and backwards to the beat of the metronome as quickly as possible. Shichida has their kids reciting 1,000 memory linking images in under 7 minutes....same concept on a grander scale. At the commercial American brain training centers, there is no major importance placed on the need to be happy, in fact trainers are encouraged to push their students to the limit *just* before they give up in frustration in order to maximize results. For the trainers and students to have fun while doing so is ideal, but the student needs to be trained more than they need to have fun, which is in conflict with E.L. style RBE more commonly discussed on this forum. Being happy and joyful probably better keeps the brain in an ideal brainwave state for learning, but it is obvious (to me anyway) that external audio and visual stimulation can push the brain into various brainwave patterns, as well....hence the alpha music and rhythmic flashing of TW, the metronome sounds used during speed reading programs such as EyeQ, and so on. If

In addition, synchronization effects in the beta and gamma range may contribute to the reported influences of rhythmic entrainment on cognitive
functions involved in learning and memory tasks.

http://www.doctorspreferredprograms.com/research-articles/Brain%20Wave%20Synchronization.pdf


My point of all of this? If fast visual flashing is not your cup of tea, Shichida stresses the importance of the EARS. You can try to aim for a more audio approach if that is more acceptable (various brainwave stimulation music/metronome, random EK audio memorization songs, low and high  speed stories in your native language and otherwise.) It would still be fantastic brain stimulation but I'm doubtful is would impact photographic memory abilities, I could be wrong though! There more I read, the more I think there are probably several viable options to "activating the interbrain" to differing capacities, and some are just less mystical than others. Many of these centers offer a 3, 6, or 12 month programs. I would be curious to know if these kids *tried* to play guessing games or read blindfolded, etc, would they be able to do it immediately or after a very short amount of practice because of all of the long term stimulation they received and their brains would be very well connected at that point.Could it be that they are just not taught the "mystical" aspect of it, and if they were, they may notice gains in those areas as well? Just pondering.  It seems  like anything can be trained.Why not?!

[Korrale4kq]

I wanted to say I have been following this discussion with interest.... I honestly don't know where I stand. I am not starting an argument because I am not pro or anti RBE/mid brain activation or rapid flashing.

But these are my thoughts and experiences....
The fist snippets of screen time my son saw was at 18 months. And it was only for a month to see how he did with Baby Signing Time. He then got introduced to the ipad a few months before he was 2. Then at 2 he got to watched very limited TV. An episode of Mighty Machines several times a week. I had a very well mannered young man, who never whined or threw a temper tantrum. Extremely mellow temperament.

A little before he turned 3 he started watching TV more. The more tv, the worse his attitude became.  Of course it could be an age things.... but I am not sure.  i started to observe and take notes... yup i did little experiements on my son.
James is now 38 months and I have noticed that he is an angel on days he has no exposure to TV, and a little terror on days he watches a substansial amount of TV in the morning. Thereis strong correlation.

Now because I believe that he can learn so much from TV and the ipad, I have come up with a solution that saves me from dealing wit attitude all day.
James watches TV at night. And yes this may, include flashing programs like TW or Spark.

Have I seen any benefit from either or these programs? No. Not that I can tell. But I think it is early days for us.

Seastar asked about us doing RBE. I can't stand photo eyeplay. It makes my head hurt right around my temporal artery. And it makes me feel a little nauseas. I assume it is doing the same thing to James because him and I both adopt these identical grimaces.

Long term, I don't know what the effects will be, if any.... But so far other than the attitude issues from morning tv exposure I a, not seeing any detriment.

And because of my old school avid reader tendencies that I want James to adopt, he doesn't get TV until after he has done his reading each night.

[cokers4life]

To contribute to the discussion, I will relate my own experience.

For myself, I use mostly isochronic tones for well being and for study.   I just play youtube isochronic tones in the background of my studies or to affect my mood.  I have found great results with varying kinds of tones and note an immediate affect.  I will say that I do not always use alpha waves during study.  After reading TMT statement above about the coorelation of movement and certain tones, this makes sense to me.  I have always been a foot tapper, and I found that gamma tones work best for me during my studies verses alpha tones.  

I also put together photoeye play powerpoints for my kids.   When I put them together, it takes me a long time to get the timing right (I really never get them right enough), and usually I do this activity right before bed.   Every time, I will tell you that when I close my eyes I see with such incredible vividness that it is as if my eyes were open in a lit room when in fact I am in a dark room.  This affect  is certainly amazing and has made me a believer in the use of photoeye play.  I however don't recommend doing this right before bed as it can be very stimulating for the mind  unless of course you would like to experience lucid dreaming.  

For my children, I can relate this experience.   All of the children but the baby respond very well to gamma tones verses alpha tones especially my oldest boy, and this might be related to their very intense need of physical activity.   My oldest boy was walking at seven months and this was before Doman had entered my life.  He has always progressed with ease and ahead of others in physical development while other developments especially speech suffered (I swear he spoke Japanese until he was three).   The youngest boy of 18 months is the mellowest of all children (boy, am I glad for that break).  

As far as photoeye play, I can not determine any affect on my children at this time.  My personal results were from staring intensely at the screen.  To get my mover and shakers to stare at the screen for photo eye play has been incredible difficult.   I have tried all sorts of techniques from changing the songs to placing a dot in the middle, but for now I let a playlist of them play and hope for the best.  I guess ten seconds here and there  is probably better than nothing.   As long as its circles, my mellow 18 month old will stare for some amount of time.  

I have not seen negative affects from my 18 month old from watching specific early learning television shows like Sparkabilities, TW, YCCD and such.   On the contrary, I have seen amazing results.  He began at six months, and he has been going strong ever since.  He has an excellent disposition.  He is incredible curious and well advanced in almost all areas.   He is the calmest of all my children and he has been exposed to more television than all of them.  He has a very strong attention span.   I haven't seen anything like it in my other children when they were at that age.  

As far as the effects of early learning television shows on the rest of the children, I will say that I do not see any ill effect as long as I keep a routine.  If the routine is changed, of course I experience difficult behaviors.   I think this is natural with anything.  Its takes a while for a child to develop a habit.   Certainly a year ago we did not do as much reading as we do today.   It was certainly not an easy transition for anyone, but now we read a whole early chapter book, listen to audiobooks and several typical children books a day.   They love it now.  Its a habit.   I now have a three year old bring me a chapter book with few pictures that are all black and white requesting me to read it to her.   I never would of thought that possible with my children, but I learned that children's desires and behavior can be guided and changed through habits.  Their desire to read has not lessened from television exposure. 

I am trying to understand mid-brain activation more, and I have never really tested my children in any way on their intuition and telepathic abilities which might be manifestations of mid-brain activation.   On that note, here is an excellent lecture by well-known Dr. Rupert Sheldrake who has produce some amazing studies on such phenomenons .   <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/JnA8GUtXpXY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/JnA8GUtXpXY&rel=1</a>

Dr. Sheldrake makes some very good points about the taboos placed on the human mind.   These taboos seem to limit the progress being made in understanding all the capabilities of the human mind.   He makes a point about how western culture has a very hard time accepting telepathic and intuitive abilites but other cultures like India, tribal people, and such accept them as second nature.  I strongly believe that for western culture its certain religious taboos and not just academic taboos that make telepathic and intuitive abilities difficult to accept.  The idea that these could be skills that could be honed and cultivated would be the greatest to accept due to the nature of religious taboos of magic and witch craft found in western culture (my previous reservations derive from these very taboos).    

It is my greatest frustration to be so far away from Japan, and it seems cultural taboos will not allow me to see into Dr. Shichida's work without learning to speak a new language and move all the way to Japan.  The information available in English is incredibly limiting and considering the years of work Dr. Shichida has done you would think there would be some movement of his information to English sources especially considering the rapid and free movement of information through the Internet.  

So what is the point of Midbrain activation?   For me, its more about honing intuitive and creative abilities.   The greatest minds lived and created mostly in their minds.   My guess is that they had a strong and unique connection between the right and left brain that allow them to see and create in their minds in a very intense and 3D way.   How was this bond created before our current teaching methods and technologies?  My guess is that music might be the greatest tool of mankind to unlock its own mind.   It is the only easily accessible tool that has been apart of every culture for thousands of years or hundreds of thousands (depending on your own beliefs).  This discussion has been enjoyable to watch unfold, and I do hope more people will share their own personal experience with the use of midbrain activation and all related experiences of the right brain.  

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I have not had a chance to watch the above video yet, but here are some images I wanted to share. What's the deal with the blindfolding? Aside from promoting the use of other senses, closing the eyes increases the power of brainwaves.

The first example is from a PHD in neuroscience who develops interesting gadgets with a technology and research group.


http://produceconsumerobot.com/thinkingcap/content/EEG_alpha_eyes_closing_400_01.jpg

Tutorial: How to Measure Your Brainwaves (EEG)
The following materials were prepared for a studio (workshop) "Measuring Biological Signals: Concepts and Practice" presented at the Tangible and Embedded Embodied Interactions conference, MIT Media Lab, Boston, MA.
 
Background:
There are around 100 billion neurons in the brain, which is approximately the number of galaxies in the universe. To prevent total chaos, the brain uses rhythmic syncopation at several timescales so that local networks of neurons can synchronize with one another and with distant networks to orchestrate elaborate behaviors. Basically, the idea is that when neurons fire in synchrony with one another, they are better able to communicate than when they fire out of sync.

The rhythmic synchrony of electrical impulses in the brain can be recorded as microvolt oscillations on the scalp (white trace) and this is called the Electroencephalograph (EEG). Different behaviors lead specific brain areas to synchronize at different frequencies. For example relaxation or meditation with your eyes closed leads to increased alpha (8-12Hz) waves over the visual cortex (rear of the head). On the other hand beta (14-30Hz) oscillations are associated with active thinking and concentration, while gamma (30-50Hz) oscillations are believed to reflect local neural processing, commonly activated during focused attention.
 
It should be noted that these statements are wild simplifications of what's actually going on in the brain.

http://produceconsumerobot.com/thinkingcap/


And this second example is from a study published in Clinical Neurophysiology.

Fig. 3. Topographic effects of condition. Each row shows activity in one EEG band. The average power across conditions is shown in the left column. The middle columns show power distributions for the eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions; note the reduction in power in each band with opening of the eyes. The column on the right shows the change (eyes-open–eyes-closed) expressed in standard scores within each electrode site; note the focal changes apparent in delta, theta and beta bands.

So the reduction in power is shown in the second to the third columns labeled EC (Eyes Closed) and EO (Eyes Open).



http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388245707004002

document.getElementById('recent_loading').style.display = 'none';document.getElementById('recent_page_box').style.display = '';

Page: 1/4  

Loading...

Members

• Total Members: 214688
• Latest: Stepanc812

Stats

• Total Posts: 110526
• Total Topics: 19136
• Online Today: 342
• Online Ever: 826
• (January 22, 2020, 12:09:49 AM)

Users Online

• Users: 0
• Guests: 147
• Total: 147