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  FOUNDER, DIRECTOR | BREUKELEN THERAPEUTIC

RESEARCH SCIENTIST | NEW YORK UNIVERSITY  

research

The specific techniques that Synaesthetic Surround Therapy integrates and extends were researched amongst many techniques and chosen for the empirical validity of their effects. | Research has shown these techniques to be effective in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression as well as enhancing attention and intelligence, reducing Attention Deficit (ADHD/ADD) and Hyperactivity Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), insomnia, chronic pain and hypertension. | Research also indicates that these techniques increase the ability to enter effective mind states even without the techniques, thus providing lasting tools for change. |

Below are studies completed on light and sound or audio-visual stimulation/entrainment: |

Tina L. Huang, PhD; Christine Charyton, PhD, “Alternative Therapies,” Vol. 14, No. 5, Sep/Oct 2008.
Conclusions suggest that even a single session of brainwave entrainment is effective in several cognitive domains and can relieve acute and long-term stress, reduce pain, headaches, migraines, and PMS and improve behavior. Evidence also suggests that repeated exposure to brainwave entrainment allows clients to enter the desired brain states unassisted by the light and sound stimulation.
David Cantor, Ph.D., EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society conference, 2007.
Cantor reported that after 4 weeks of using 14 Hz brainwave entrainment, testing revealed a significant reduction in self-reported depression scores on the Beck Depression Index. Positive treatment effects were also measured in follow-up testing one month after treatment had ceased.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/172316583.html
Resting EEG theta activity predicts cognitive performance in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Hermens DF, Soei EX, Clarke SD, Kohn MR, Gordon E, Williams LM., 2005
Joyce. “Audio-Visual Entrainment (AVE) Program as a Treatment for Behaviour Disorders in a School Setting,” Journal of Neurotherapy, Vol 4, No. 2, February 2001.
Joyce provided AVE stimulation to 30 Attention Deficit Disorder and eight reading challenged, primary school children. He used a specially designed AVE session that stimulated a beta frequency into the left hemisphere of the brain and stimulated 12 Hz into the right side of the brain. He observed substantial improvements in attention and reaction time and a reduction in impulsivity and variability. In the reading group, he observed an 18-month improvement in instructional reading level and a half year advancement in grade level.
Berg & Siever, 1999. “Audio-Visual Entrainment as a Treatment Modality for Seasonal Affective Disorder.”
74 person study on SAD. Depression as measured on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was reduced in 100% of the participants, falling from an average pre-test score of 20.5 to a non-depressed 7.3. Depression was completely eliminated in 84% of those in the AVE group while the control group depression increased. 84% of females and 100% of the males also had no clinical anxiety by the end of treatment. There also were improvements in mood, leading to improved family, work and social life. AVE could be an excellent way to prevent winter-time weight gain. Over-eating and carbohydrate cravings were reduced, energy increased and the participants lost an average of 9.5 lbs.
A pilot study of the effect of 18 Hz audio visual stimulation (AVS) on attention and concentration symptoms and on quantitative EEG (QEEG) in long-term chronic fatigue (CFS).Trudeau, D. L., Moore, J., Stockley, H., & Rubin, Y. (1999). Journal of Neurotherapy 3~4), 76
The Physiological Response to "Beta Sweep" Entrainment, Gontgovsky, S., Montgomery, D., Proceedings AAPB Thirteenth Anniversary Annual Meeting (1999).
Attention deficit disorder. Othmer, S. (1998). EEG Spectrum Training Syllabus. Volume 3. Encino, CA: EEC Spectrum.
Michael Joyce & Dave Siever, 1997, “Audio-Visual Entrainment (AVE) Program as a Treatment for Behavior Disorders in a School Setting.”
Results show a reduction in impulsiveness, inattention, reaction times and variability. Furthered studied reading challenged children to evaluate AVE for improving their reading ability. Students were selected with the poorest marks in the SPALDING reading class for his study. The children were tested on the STAR (Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading). The reading challenged group showed substantial academic benefits from using AVE. Parents noted general social improvements as well.
Intellectual, auditory and photic stimulation and changes in functioning in children and adults. Russell, H. L. (1997). Biofeedback, 25(1), 16-17, 23, 24.
Differences in EEG Alpha Activity Related to Giftedness. Jausovec, N. (1996)., Intelligence, 23, 159-173.
Exceptional Results with 'Exceptional Children', Lynda Thompson, Ph.D. and Michael Thompson, M.D., 1995 International Society for Neuronal Regulation
Conference.
A pilot investigation of auditory and visual entrainment of brain wave activity in learning disabled boys. Carter, J. L., & Russell, H. L. (1993). Texas Researcher, Journal of the Texas Center for Educational Research, 4, 65-73. Neurophysiology. 4, 289-296.
Quantitative analysis of EEG in boys with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder: Controlled study with clinical implications. Mann, C. A., Lubar, J. E, Zimmerman, A. W., Miller, C. A., & Muenchen, R. A. (1992). Pediatric Neurology, 8,30-36.
Alan Richardson and Fiona McAndrew, Department of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia, "The Effects of Photic Stimulation and Private Self-consciousness on the Complexity of Visual Imagination Imagery," in British Journal of Psychology, 1990, 81 pp. 381-394:
Three levels of photic stimulation (6, 10, 18 hz) were employed to induce visual imagination imagery in 40 female undergraduates, half of them with habitual interest in their own internal states and half without such interest. More complex images would be reported (1) under the averaged 6 to 10 hz condition, (2) under the 6 vs. the 10 hz condition, and (3) under the high PSC (Personal Self-Conscious scale) than under the low PSC condition.
Dr. Olivier Carreau, Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris, on "Efficiency of the MindsEye Plus audio-visual stimulator in treatment of the psoriasis during puvatherapy," study completed in January 1991.
Dr. Carreau analyzed 20 patients over a period of five months. Patients were treated one per week alternately via UVA and audio-visual stimulation (30-minute sessions) for psychosomatic skin disorders. All patients experienced deep relaxation during the sessions and had a feeling of well-being during the entire day. Five patients claimed that this feeling lasted for the following 2-3 days. Patients with combined therapy did better than with puvatherapy alone.
Dr. Norman Shealy, Dr. Richard Cox In `Pain Reduction and Relaxation with Brain Wave Synchronization (Photo-Stimulation). Study performed by the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology, Springfield, Missouri, 1990, 9pp.
Cerebral synchronization was obtained with photic stimulation devices and tested on more than 5,000 patients suffering from chronic pain and stress-symptoms during the `80s. A detailed study on 92 patients indicated that 88 obtained relaxation results higher than 60% after 30- minute sessions at 10 hz. Thirty patients had sessions in Theta (5 hz) and experienced relaxation states of 50-100% after five minutes as well as improved pain relief. Eight patients had blood tests before and after the sessions and showed improved beta-endorphin levels of 10-50%. All of these relaxation results are improved when combining the photic stimulation with relaxation audio tapes.
Dr. William Harris, Director of the Penwell Foundation, USA in 1990:
Preliminary studies with audio-visual brain stimulators used by patients with AIDS indicate that "the devices are extremely efficient in terms of providing mental clarity, improved sleeping patterns (for sleep preparation and sleep duration) allowing for better physical disintoxication by the liver. The apparatus also stimulates immunology functions through states of deep relaxation."

Dr. Roger K. Cady, Dr. Norman Shealy in "Neurochemical Responses to Cranial Electrical Stimulation and Photo-Stimulation via Brain Wave Synchronization."Study performed by the Shealy Institute of Comprehensive Health Care, Springfield, Missouri, 1990, 11 pp.:
Eleven patients had peridural and blood analysis performed before and after the relaxation sessions using flash emitting goggles. An average increase of beta-endorphin levels of 25% and serotonin levels of 21% were registered. The beta-endorphin levels are comparative to those obtained by cranial electrical stimulation (CES). This indicates a potential decrease of depression related symptoms when using photic stimulation.
Bruce Harrah-Confort, Ph.D., Indiana University, "Alpha and Theta Response to the MindsEye Plus," 1990:
The study included 15 persons between the ages of 24 and 38 years old who were asked to relax via auto-suggestion with headphones dispensing a synthetic sound (100 cycles at 60 hz) and then to use an audio-visual stimulator. EEG graphic analysis showed that the first relaxation method did not alter the EEG-trace significantly vs. normal. MindsEye Plus users had, however, strongly improved Alpha and Theta tracings and experienced profound relaxation. There were also signs that would validate hemispheric synchronization during the experience.
Dr. Norman Thomas and David Siever, University of Alberta, Florida. Several publications, notably: The Effect of Repetitive Audio/Visual Stimulation in Skeletomotor and Vasomotor Activity, 1989:
"We stimulated one of two groups of 30 people with a brain- stimulation device to test relaxation levels, using 10 hz frequency while observing their muscular tension with an EMG and their index skin temperature. The second group had to relax without machines via traditional means of autosuggestion. Most of the people in the second group said they felt relaxed while demonstrating greater tension (EMG) and lower skin temperatures, both of which are stress and nervous tension indicators. The group using the machine obtained deep relaxation state going beyond the programmed 15 minutes. EMG curves confirmed relaxation of the cortex due to the frequency adoption response."
D.J. Anderson, B.Sc., M.B., "The Treatment of Migraine with Variable Frequency Photo-Stimulation," in Headache, March 1989, pp 154-155:
The study included seven patients who suffered a total of more than 50 migraines during the observation period. Forty-nine of these migraines were relieved (either by reducing the average duration or by increasing the frequency interval in between migraine crisis).
Robert Cosgrove, Jr., Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, 1988.
"We are very optimistic about the possibilities of calming our patients before and after surgery. By the way, we already treat chronic stress affected patients. Thus, our EEG analysis shows that optimal cerebral functioning can be obtained with regular use of such audio-visual apparatus. The machines could eventually slow the decreasing cerebral performance with the elderly. This type of machine could 'revolutionize neurology and medicine.'"
Elisabeth Philipos, Pepperdine University, California, and James McGaugh, University of California, Irvine.
During their study a group of 20 students learned 1,800 words of Bulgarian in 120 hours while using Theta stimulation programs. In about 1/3 of normal time they spoke and wrote the new language.
Dale S. Foster of Memphis State University, "EEG and Subjective Correlates of Alpha Frequency Binaural Beats Stimulation Combined with Alpha Biofeedback," 1988.
Mr. Foster's conclusions indicate that the combination of binaural sounds with audio-visual stimulation machines allow access into Alpha states of consciousness much faster than with biofeedback techniques.
Joseph Glickson, Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, "Photic Driving and Altered States of Consciousness: An Exploratory Study," in Imagination, Cognition and Personality, vol. 6(2), 1986-87, pp 167-182:
Four persons were exposed to photic stimulation in the 18, 10 and 6 hz ranges. A frequency response was established by two subjects during the initial session according to EEG measurements. These persons had an altered state of consciousness, and reported their visual and auditive experiences. The two other subjects had similar experiences during follow-on sessions. The study concludes that photic entrainment provokes altered states of consciousness according to the applied frequencies.
Ronald Lesser, Hans Luders, G. Klem and Dudley Dinner, Department of Neurology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, "Visual Potentials Evoked by Light- Emitting Diodes Mounted in Goggles," in Cleveland Clinic Quarterly, vol. 52, No. 2, Summer 1985, pp. 223-228:
A comparison of stimulation by strobiscopic lights and LED diodes shows that both methods have similar effects. LED stimulation may be preferable in intensive care units or during surgery because the type of stimulus is less disturbing.
Dr. Gene W. Brockopp, Review of Research on Multi-Modal Sensory Stimulation with Clinical Implications and Research Proposals (non-published,1984):
Dr. Brockopp analyzed audio-visual Brain stimulation and in particular hemispheric synchronization during EEG monitoring. "By inducing hemispheric coherence the machine can contribute to improved intellectual functioning of the brain. Like children spending most of their time in Theta, the machine allows a reduction in learning time. With adults a return into Theta allows them to rediscover childhood experiences. The machine is like a `lost and found office' for the subconscious." Conclusion: dissipative structures allow the mind-via audio-visual stimulation-to abandon certain present neurological structures in order to maintain a higher, more coherent and flexible state of consciousness.
Electroencephalographic Biofeedback of SMR and Beta for Treatment of Attention Deficit Disorders in a Clinical Setting, Lubar, J. O., and J.F. Lubar. Biofeedback and Self Regulation 9, no. 1 (1984) 1-23
EEG and behavioral changes in a hyperactive child concurrent training of the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR). A preliminary report. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, 1, 293-306. Lubar, J.F., Shabsin, H.S., Natelson, S.E., Holder, G.S., Whitsett, S.F., Pamplin, W.E., and Krulikowski, D.I. (1981).
Paul Williams and Michael West, Department of Psychological Medicine, University Hospital of Wales and University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, Cardiff, Wales, "EEG Responses to Photic Stimulation in Persons Experienced in Meditation," in Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1975, 39, pp 519-522:
Williams and West tested photic entrainment on two test groups of 10 people. The test group produced significantly more Alpha waves and has smaller Alpha blocking compared to the control group familiar with traditional meditation techniques. Alpha induction was realized faster and more frequently within the test vs. the control group.

LIGHT | SOUND | BRAINWAVE

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SENSORY | EMOTION | SOMATIC