TUNING THE MIND AND BODY - Part III

Recently, O Carl Simonton, M.D., a noted author and innovator in the medical profession, and I were doing some teaching work together at the Certification Training. Carl remarked that in his long-term work with visualization and imaging used with cancer patients, he had noticed the very powerful impact that music and laughter have on the nervous system in the form of stress reduction.

Both of us support the concept that when you help someone to relearn, to re-image that's it's ok to be healthy, that person has the power to heal him/herself, naturally in conjunction with his/her own licensed physician. We also observed that the effect of the patient's power on the healing process is numerically increased. If you have a non-responsive or a non-positive patient with a serious cancer who goes to his licensed physician, the result on a scale of 1-10 would be a 4. If that person can be moved into a positive thinking modality, you've gone up to a 6 or 7. If you can teach that person stress-reduction, positive visualization, etc., your probability factor goes up to 8, or, 9 or even 10. Any good physician really dedicated to the healing of the patient wants an interactive patient, a patient who totally believes in the doctor and his/her own ability to heal, to take charge of his/her life. Wouldn't the average physician then want an 8 or a 10 rather than a 4? I'm convinced that this is what Carl Simonton is doing and I certainly believe that this is what our work here at the John-David Learning Institute is doing.

For many years now the traditional medical professions have recognized that human beings, specifically the human mind/body, can create its own illnesses, even to the extent that the mind can kill the very body it lives within for survival.

Taking this idea a step further, we could say that if the brain/mind can create illnesses it can also cure the very same dis-eases it created. Then, we could also say that not only can the brain/mind cure the illnesses but absolutely and totally prevent the dis-eases from ever manifesting themselves in body. This is where the very exciting field of neuroscience, and in this particular case, psychoimmunology, enters the scene.

The study of how the body's immune system functions in fighting off invading bodies is not new; however, the study of how the mind influences our immune system is quite recent. The new science of psycho-immunology shows us astounding ways in which emotions and attitudes, both negative and positive, can affect our health. Perhaps most intriguing is the fact, as has been found recently, that the nervous system has come to play a major role in this new science, hence the word psycho-neuro-immunology.

A premise of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is that the immune system does not operate in a biological vacuum but in fact is sensitive to outside influences. Somehow, the organ of thought, the brain, must be connected to the immune system.

Much of the literature regarding early experiments of the many facets of the immune system mentions experiments by Robert Ader and Nicholas Cohen at the University of Rochester School of Dentistry & Medicine. Using classical Pavlovian conditioning, they were able to show that the immune system had been turned off in fear of a physiological reaction (nausea). (See Further Reading)

Ader's discovery had great impact, because scientists had long assumed that the immune system was autonomous. Now, Ader was suggesting not only that the body's disease fighting mechanism was connected to the brain but that the immune system could be controlled by the brain as well. 1

Steven Locke, M.D. a recent pioneer in the field of PNI, and Douglas Colligan, writer and editor, in their book "The Healer Within" state: "We already know from just a few years of research that the brain is a presence in the immune system. The tendrils of its nerve tissue run through almost all important sectors of the immune system: the thymus gland, bone marrow, lymph nodes, and spleen. The hormones and neurotransmitters the brain secretes and controls have an affinity for immune cells." 2 They also cite work done at Indiana University by David Felten, John Williams and others who used special fluorescent dyes to trace the pathways of nerves. Felten also found a network of nerves ending near blood vessels and other areas through which lymphocytes passed, suggesting that they might also influence the flow of blood cells. 3

Felten's team made another discovery finding whole groups of nerve fibers near mast cells located near the thymus and the spleen. These are immune cells filled with lumps of concentrated chemicals vital in the total immune response. There seemed to be some kind of neuromodulatory mechanism, as the group called it, which was involved in signaling the mast cells to release their chemicals. 4

The discovery of this mechanism and the fact that the immune system has direct connections to the brain will spark a lot more research looking for clues how all of this works together in the immune response of the body.

At this point, I would like to present the two bodies of evidence regarding the linkage of the brain and the immune system, adapted from "The Healer Within."

Some of the inferential evidence includes.

1. Robert Ader's conclusion that immune functions are susceptible to influence by the brain based on the experiments in which he was able to make changes in the immune system by conditioning behavior.

2. Work by the Soviets and others showing that selective damage to certain parts of' the brain can cause selective changes in the immune system.

3. Some speculative theories suggesting that certain structural difference in the brain involving communication affect he course of diseases (See Further Reading)

More direct evidence is provided by the following:

1. Mapping nerve paths into the bone marrow, the thymus, the spleen and the lymph nodes.

2. Evidence that the endorphins secreted by the brain have enhancing or suppressive effects on the immune system.

3. Findings showing communication between the brain and the immune system. 5

Researchers are uncovering evidence that the nervous system can communicate directly with the immune system. In fact, this mind-body communication is probably a two-way street, in which the cells of the immune system also send signals to the brain. The scientists have found that certain cells in both the brain and the immune system respond to the same chemical messengers, such as acetylcholine and beta-endorphin. Those substances, thought to be produced only by nerve cells, have now been found to be produced by the immune system's white blood cells. To study the surfaces of nerve cells and white blood cells, scientists at the University of California at San Diego used antibodies against very late activation antigens (VLAs). These VLAs appear on white blood cells after the cells become active in fighting infection. The antibodies found and attached themselves to three proteins on nerve cells identical to the three subunits of VLA. 6

Now that there is more evidence to support a holistic view of medicine, researchers will try to uncover which of the two systems, the nervous or the immune, dominates. I like the view of neuroscientist Novera Herbert Spector of the National Institutes for Health who says; "The answer is obvious, and future research will make it clear, they control each other." 7

For many years now it has been known that stress has an important influence on the functioning of the immune system in the presence of disease, from colds to AlDS. A lot of the work we do, including the various sound tapes, are designed to help relieve stress by directing your brain waves into an alpha state, where the body's immune responses can begin to heal the body.

Most PNI experts prefer to talk about psychosocial factors instead of stress, or stressors, covering everything from a person's life-style to cultural background. Locke and Golligan also point out that the term psychosomatic medIcine is redundant. "More than thirty years ago, Alexander, one of the guiding lights of psychosomatic medicine, concluded; `Theoretically every disease is psychosomatic, since emotional factors influence all body processes through nervous and humoral pathways." 8

Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, Ph.D., and Ronald (Glaser, Ph.D. discuss the psychological influences on immunity. They report on one study on bereavement, where it was shown that separated and divorced (major negative life event) women had significantly higher antibody titers. This is thought to reflect poorer cellular immune system control over the latent EBV (Epstein-Barr) virus. 9

It was also found, that "Within the group of married women, a poorer state of the marriage was associated with greater depression and a poorer response on three qualitative measures of immune function." The conclusion was that "clinically significant levels of depression are associated with poorer immunocompetence in psychiatric populations." 10

Kiecolt and Glaser also reported on the connection between commonplace stressful events, relaxation, and immune function; the relationship between distress and carcinogens; and, finally, morbidity and mortality levels in distressed populations. 11

In another study by Marvin Stein at the Mr. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, he noticed a sharp decline in the husbands' immune cell function within two months of the deaths of the wives. 12

In an interesting test performed by experimenters at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, human volunteers spent days in a highly controlled laboratory environment. The design of the experiment included the following stressors: the pressure to perform well, loud noise, and sleeplessness. Palmblad found that the immune cells of the sharpshooters lost some of their ability to kill bacteria. He also found high levels of stress hormones, such as epinephrine, present in the cells. 13

Thanks to new evidence from the fields of immunology, psychology, neurology, and others, the idea that a person's attitude has a great deal to do with his/her state of health has become more accepted " The new research makes it clear, "says Dr. Novera Herbert Spector, a neurophysiologist at the National Institutes of Health, "that attitudes can matter." 14

Some investigators believe that the immune and the nervous systems are so irrevocably intertwined that the immune system may actually function as one sensory organ. Dr. J. Edwin Blalock of the University of Alabama at Birmingham says that "the immune system serves as a sensory organ for such `non-cognitive stimuli' as viruses and bacteria." He goes on to say, "In effect, the immune system acts as our sixth sense." Dr. Blalock's research has shown that hormones produced by the immune system in response to invading mirco-organisms are the same hormones that regulate the neuroendocrine system." 15

Ted Melchenuk, at the Institute for the Advancement fo Health, supports Dr. Blalock's view. He says: "The immune system is beginning to look like a liquid sensory-motor organ." 16

I totally agree with both scientists. I think the immune system is one huge, flowing, responding-to entity, like a huge resonating thing. As you speak to it with love, stress reduction, yoga, music, sound, mantras, etc., you are caressing and tuning your immune system. It's a prime example of Einstein's theory of relativity; the fact that everything is in a constant flow of change. The immune system becomes resonating, alive, flowing, vibrating, constantly changing. It is also directly affected by your physical environment, the people you work with, your friends, etc. My work teaches people that a healthy immune system is normal; a normal state of being. And by being in this normal state of health, you win in life - more love, more attention, more success, more money. It's kind of an indirect way of educating the immune system.

And, of course, sound or music plays a very important role in this whole dance that the psychological, neurological, and the immunological systems, on a cellular level, are creating far us. I love the way Michael Hutchison, in his book "Megabrain", puts it. He says, "there is now evidence that neurons function cooperatively, with various subpopulations linked together in networks of millions of cells, each subpopulation responding to vibrations in a certain frequency, much the way a spider's web will vibrate throughout its entire structure when a single strand of it is touched, or the way a crystal goblet will resonate to a specific pure tone. Memory, thought, consciousness itself are products of a complex, intricate arrangement of all these neurons and neuron subpopulations firing together in a sort of orchestral harmony. The various neuron groupings and centers are like different musical instruments in the orchestra, each vibrating within its own characteristic frequency range, together producing the tune we hear as consciousness, the rich, subtle, infinitely expressive symphony that is the whole brain in operation." 17

And here's the real revolution that's happening in medical thinking. Scientists and some doctors agree that many of the major functions of' the so-called involuntary nervous system is really under our control. Most are signs of stress - high blood pressure, rapid heart beat, low skin temperature, excess perspiration, and a disturbed emotional state. By learning total relaxation techniques, in our case, by using specially designed tapes, you can control the "uncontrollables" with your brain/mind.

According to Dr. Richard M. Linchitz, a well-known specialist in chronic pain control techniques, here is where the East and the West have met. He says; "Taking their clue from Eastern medicine, which routinely channels the power of the brain to control what were once thought in the West to be uncontrollable actions of the body, the neurobiologists searched for the special language with which the brain talks to the involuntary nervous system - and found it. It's a language of images - not of thoughts, not of words, but moving pictures that you project on an imaginary screen in your brain. They are images that you create and direct -"guided images" the movies of the mind. With this newly discovered language, you can tell your involuntary nervous system what to do." 18


And, as many of you know, visualization techniques is what Dr, Simonton has spent many years developing and fine-tuning in his work with cancer patients, usually terminally ill cancer patients. In most cases, patients have lived three to four years longer than they would have without this method of healing.

Aside from the fact that we can now will our immune system to heal our bodies, we are discovering that the immune system does not necessarily deteriorate with age. This is what Dr. George Solomon, professor of psychiatry at UCLA has found with his studies of elderly people who are in good health. 19

Certainly our mental attitude toward our whole being, with all the intricate systems working together in harmony, can influence how those systems will interact to produce the desired end result. I agree totally with Dr. Barry Sultanoff, a well-known medical doctor who was one of the first to recognize our work at the John-David Learning Institute, when he states; "Our attitudes about our own strength, competence, and worthiness may be translated, through the language of the immune system, into the `competence' of our white blood cells (immunocompetence)" 20

So, not only is the East and the West Joining energies through the wonderful field of PNI, but this new discipline of neuroscience is linking together social psychologists, experimental psychologists, psychiatrists, immunologists, neuroendocrinologists, neuroanatomists, biologists, oncologists, epidemiologists, and other specialists in neuroscience. It's truly a beautiful, uniting and healing process for mankind.

NOTES


1. "The Mind and Unity", by Kirk Johnson, East/West Journal, Nov., 1986, p. 64.

2. "The Healer Within", by Steven Locke, M.D. and Douglas Colligan, p. 46. New American Library, Mentor book, New York and Scarborough, Ontario, 1987.

3. Ibid., p. 57-58.

4. Ibid., p. 58.

5. Ibid., p. 64-65

6. "Nerve, Immune link found on membranes", by J. Silberner, Science News, vol. 130, Aug. 23, 1986, p.118.

7. "Healer Within", p. 67.

8. Ibid., p. 88.

9. "Psychological Influences on Immunity", by Janice K.Kiecolt-Glaser, Ph.D., and Ronald Glaser, Ph.D. Psychosomatics, Sep. 1986, p. 621.

10. Ibid., p. 622.

11. Ibid., p. 624.

12. "Got a Cold? Have you tried willing it away?", p. 55, Business Week, Feb. 3, 1988.

13. "Healer Within", p. 92.

14. "The Mind and Immunity", by Kirk Johnson, East/West Journal, Nov. 1986, p.64.

15. Iibid., p. 68.

16. Brain/Mind Bulletin, Dec. 10, 1984.

17. "Megabrain", by Michael Hutchison, Beech Tree Books, William Morrow & Co., Inc., New York, 1986.

18. "Life Without Pain", by Richard M. Linchitz, M.D., Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., 1987, p. 84.

19. "The Mind/Body Connection: An Update", by Carolyn Reuben, Los Angeles Weekly, Jan. 16-22, 1987, p. 19.

20. "How to strengthen Your Immune System" , by Barry Su1tanoff, M.D., East/West Journal, Jan. 1986, p. 26.


FURTHER READING


"A Homeostatic and Self-monitoring Immune System" by Sir Macfarlane Burnet, p.158-161 in "Immunology", Readings from Scientific American, W.H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, Ca., 1976.

"Anatomy of An Illness", by Norman Cousins, Bantam Books, 1979.

"Beyond Feedback", by Dr. Elmer Green and Alyce Green.

"Encounters with Q1", by David Eisenberg, MD.D., W.W. Norton.

"Getting Well Again", by Stephanie Matthews-Simonton and O. Carl Simonton, M.D. and James L. Creighton, Bantam Books.

"Imagery in Healing", by Jeanne Achterberg, Shambhala Publications, 1985.

"Love, Medicine & Miracles", by Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., Harper & Row, 1986.

"Maximum Immunity", by Michael A. Weiner, Ph.D., Houghton-Mifflin Co. , Boston, 1986.

"The Nature of Autoimmune Disease", by Sir Macfarlane Burnet in "Immunology", p. 254-59

"Psychoimmunity & The Healing Process", Jason Serinus, editor., Celestial Arts, Berkeley, Ca., 1986.

"Psychoneuroimmunology", by Robert Ader (edit.), Academic Press, N.Y., 1981.

"Voluntary Controls", by Jack Schwarz, N.D.

"You Can Heal Your Life", by Louise L. Hay, Hay House, 1242 Berkeley St., Santa Monica, Ca. 90404.

"Emotions, immunity and disease: A speculative theoretical integration", by C.F. Solomon. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 1964:11:657-674.

"Health is a Trip", by J. Achtenberg, Utne Reader, No. 17, Aug./Sep. 1986.

"PNI - What Lies Ahead", by Dr. F. Patrick McKegney, Drug Therapy, Aug. 1982.

"Stress, immunity and illness - a review", by B. Dorian and P.R. Garfinkel, Psychol. Med. 1987:17:393-407.



WHAT ABOUT OUR FUTURE?


So where are we going with quantum leaps in information processing, technology at our fingertips, uncovering the hidden potential of each human being?

I believe that using today's measurement of human intelligence, we will all be operating at genius level within a few short years. This does not mean all will be at the same level some will still be at a higher level of genius than others.

So, you might ask, what can we do now to prepare for the emergence of our fully heightened mental capabilities?

I think that one of the most important things we can do is to begin to relearn that it's ok to be highly intelligent, to let go of all the threats of being a genius, highly intelligent. We can start to reprogram our educational systems that make gifted children no longer an oddity but a norm. We can also begin to change our lifestyle systems to make it possible for all children to have an opportunity to experience how truly beautiful and powerful they are. This process takes a social ok-ness, and it takes a bureaucratic ok-ness, and it takes a governmental budget ok-ness. And, in this process, we need to honor the educational system, the person's brain/mind, and those people who are willing to take their time to be teachers. We also need to give them an opportunity to do that within the proper system, which is very contrary to the educational system we have today.

Some of the aspects of this whole process of emerging human consciousness we can see already. It is now almost mainstream to work on your own motivation, to work on your own image of who you are, to change some of your learning patterns, your habits, your lifestyles.

Here's something else I find totally mind-blowing. In 1987, Shirley Maclaine's latest book sells 10 million copies. Only two years before, that same book ("Out on a Limb") would have sold perhaps 500,000 copies to a very limited metaphysical community.

John Nesbitt in "Megatrends" discusses, and Peter Russell in "The Global Brain", shows with graphs the timeframe of moving from the agricultural to the industrial to the information age. The next step is information consciousness, and, because the start-up time is so short in this age, the bargraph is almost totally straight as it's already starting to manifest itself.

So, being highly intelligent, being a genius, thinking and acting globally, will be a right that every single person living today will have by the early part of 1990. Being a genius is technologically accessible to a 7-month old child as well as a 70-year old person. What a totally glorious and exciting time to be living in!

I believe I speak for all my colleagues in the self improvement arena when I say that all of us see clearly that the whole traditional Western modality is now, as never before, interacting deeply with the more Eastern, and, up until a few years ago, unknown modalities. I would also like to state further that the work so far accomplished, particularly at the John-David Learning Institute, supports the merger of these two worlds. This process is also strongly encouraged by all the work of my colleagues, all the Institutes, all the traditional and alternative healers we have mentioned before - there is this wonderful merging of the East and the West happening. We are taking 5000 years of Eastern healing techniques, alternative techniques if you will, and giving them the left-brain, quantitative, qualitative repeatability of Western technology. And so, nothing has to be done by word of mouth any longer; now there can be some form of testing the results, of finding out what works and what doesn't work. I'm convinced that my purpose with this paper is to take a step forward in that direction.

I would also like to acknowledge that we are now in an experimental stage. We won't have all the answers in the next five years, if ever, and we probably won't have a lot more to go on until the 21st century. But more has been learned about psychoneuroimmunology and accelerated learning in the last three or four years than in all the years that make up the history of humankind. Those are quantum leaps.

So my intention with this paper is to move that whole merging process forward. And I want to acknowledge all the hundreds and thousands of people who are working both traditionally and non-traditionally in this field. I also want to thank the bureaucracies of state and federal governments, not only in the United States, but also in the other countries that make up our planet. And we want to acknowledge the more traditional, conservative medical and non-medical establishments for their openness, their tolerance as all healing practitioners begin to dance together, to merge together, to experiment together. I would urge that there be more tolerance shown by the traditional establishments so that even more cross-pollination between the Eastern and Western healing modalities can take place as we move into the most exciting century of our human history.


FURTHER READING


"The Brain Revolution", by Marilyn Ferguson, Taplinger Publishing Co., New York, 1973.


"The Emotional Brain" , by Laurence Miller, Psychology Today, Feg. 1988.

"Male brain, Female brain: The Hidden Difference , by Doreen Kimura, Psychology Today, Nov. 1985.

"Of Hemispheres, Handedness and More", by Linda Garmon, Psychology Today, Nov. 1985.

"On the Trail of the Brain Builders", by Joshua Hammer, California Magazine, Dec. 1987.

"The Social Brain", by Michael S. Gazzaniga, Psychology Today, Nov. 1985.

"Tapping the Healers Within", by Carol Kahn Omni, March, 1988.

"Three Heade Are Better Than One" , by Robert J. Trotter, Psychology Today, Aug.1986


RESOURCES


American Association For Music Therapy, 66 Morris Ave., P.O. box 359, Springfield, N.J. 07081

Halpern Sounds, 1775 Old Country Road, Suite 9, Belmont, Ca. 94002.

Institute for the Advancement of Health, 16 E. 53rd St., New York, N.Y. 10022. Ted Melnechuk, director of research communications.

The Institute for Consciousness and Music, Box 173, Port Townsend, WA. 98368. Music therapy tapes.

Megabrain, P.O. box 1059, Cooper Station, New York, N.Y. 10276. Mind-expanding machines.

Merritt Learning Systems, 3768 Front St., Suite #10, San Diego, Calif. 92103. Books on Accelerated Learning and Teaching.

The Monroe Institute, Rt. 1, box 175, Faber, VA 22938.

"Music and the Brain", a seven-part tape and video series exploring the psychological and biophysical effects of music processing as they relate to the neurological and endocrinal responses of the body. Order through Arthur Harvey, Dept. of Music, Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond, KY 40475.

Sound of Light, P.O.Box 38234, Dallas, TX 75238. Music by Don Campbell.

Tomatis Centre, 1121 Bellamy Rd. N., #12, Scarborough, Ont. M1H3B9. Research on Gregorian chants.



Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the contributions made by Katrina Sjoberg, who was research manager for this project; and to Joan Stark, research assistant.

We invite you to visit www.brainspeak.com

TUNING THE MIND AND BODY - Part II

PART II. THE LEARNING PROCESS AND MEMORY



A major part of the work at the John-David Learning Institute is involved in teaching human beings to access their hidden potential for absorbing (learning) more information at a faster than normal speed. Various so- called "accelerated learning" techniques are used in the seminars and workshops as well as on the tapes produced.

In addition to our own anecdotal reports, we're finding more and more evidence showing the marvelous results from the use of accelerated learning techniques. For example, in the Journal of the Society of Accelerative Learning and Teaching, Otto Altorfer reports on the results of some very Interesting research regarding Suggestopaedic techniques. Referring to his investigation of the claim that learning can be accelerated ten to twenty times by Suggestology and Superlearning proponents, he states: "The proofs were compelling: learning can Indeed be substantially accelerated, many people use only a small (4-7 percent) fraction of their energy, almost unlimited reserve energies are available in everyone." 1

May I share with you just one case from our files? This student wrote to me: "My mother told me I was mentally retarded. When my daughter was born, she was told I was mentally retarded. I entered the seminar acting and thinking I was mentally retarded. I was the `guinea pig' - if I could be helped, then everyone in the family would take the seminar. The night of the first day, I had the first breakthrough in reading, before anyone else in the class. I graduated your seminar at 14,000 words a minute, having started at 150 words per minute. Needless to say, five members of my family took the 5-day Total Immersion Intensive. All with the same results." 2

The researchers are also discovering that accessing "reserve energy" or "hidden potential" is more than using a technique. "Making reserve energy work has to do with an inner re-orientation, an inner `charge' according to Lozanov (1978), a new vista or attitude." Altorfer states further: "It is as if practitioners first go through a transformative process which brings them to a point where they let go of fears, restricted thoughts, attitudes and habits, arriving at a state of mind untouched by previous experiences, patterns, or beliefs. 3

I totally agree with the following observations made by Altorfer in the same report: "When the objective aimed at the conscious mind (e.g. education and management) is in contradiction to stored programs of the unconscious mind, problems arise in forms of credibility gaps, production errors, or unplanned behaviors. The first goal of mobilizing and using `reserve energy' is to re-align the submerged parts of the mind to the objectives of the conscious mind. This is done through processes which neutralize or `de-suggest' existing thoughts obstructive or restrictive to the current needs or objectives. The second step aims at establishing unity and balance, a mind where conscious and subconscious can embrace the desired goals in complete congruence and where intellectual understanding is supported by emotional acceptance. These steps make learning and functioning easy, positive and effortless." 4

Furthermore, Altorfer arrived at a composite of 12 learning elements present in the various modalities, with not a single modality containing all 12 elements. The 12 learning elements are: relaxation, emotion spontaneity, nonverbal expression, image power/visualization, self- observation, intuition, principle of suggestion, intention, reprogramming, autonomy/self-responsibility, "the Cosmic Link", learning by process. 5

I had the privilege to study one of the first educators to recognize that many of these elements were necessary to access and stimulate the subconscious. I'm referring to the brilliant pioneer in the field of accelerated learning and psychotherapist, Dr. Georgi Lozanov of Bulgaria. He had been to India studying the Yogis and their phenomenal capacity to memorize thousands of verses from their holy books. He continued his experiments with hypnosis, and, finally he concluded that those kinds of feats, considered miraculous, would be available to all of us if only we knew how to access our deeper selves. He determined that "supermemory" resulted from a particular state of mind, a condition where one is relaxed, yet extremely alert. As his work developed, he used various voice intonation, positive suggestions, and classical music. 6 In his book "Suggestology and the Outlines of Suggestopedy", he goes into great detail about this particular learning process, some of his research, and characteristics of this desuggestive-suggestive and liberating-stimulating system of learning. He states, "It must be underlined, however, that suggestopedy stimulates not only the memory, but the whole personality - its interests, perceptions, creativity, moral development, etc. 7

Dr. Lozanov explains further, "The artistic means are used not only to create a pleasant atmosphere during the process of receiving, memorizing and understanding the basic information given in the lesson, but also to enhance the emotional impetus, the suggestive setup, attitude, motivation, expectancies. By means of the art, adapted or specially created for suggestopedic instruction, part of the material is immediately assimilated." 8

What Dr. Lozanov was observing and experimenting with was, of course, what is now called "whole-brain" learning, or if you prefer, left-right brain integration.

The main focus for all the workshops and tapes at the John-David Learning Institute is to assist human beings in accessing both hemispheres of the brain. This is where the so-called "brain music" that we discussed earlier, comes into play. While listening to the many sounds, both organic and synthesized, the pathways between the two hemispheres become more opened, thereby allowing learning to take place in a faster and more integrated fashion.

The way I understand it, whole-brain learning is a 24- hour a day, 5-day experience. Our research, both clinical and anecdotal, shows that when you immerse a person 24- hours a day in sounds that carry powerful subliminal messages mixed with our sound patterns, with cognitive, intellectual and emotional processes going on simultaneously, while listening to these sounds, the amount of intake, recall and relearning is augmented quantumly beyond the time expended. The process is particularly supported as the person continues to listen going to sleep with specific tapes for a specific purpose. In that way, the person gets to anchor what s/he has learned during the day, and also, s/he gets to set him/herself up to learn in a certain style during the next day. So the learning in "whole-brain" learning is not linear but quantum in nature. You're getting 4, 5, 6 times the information.

If I may, I would like to take a look at the process of memory; what it is and how it works.



MEMORY

Some of the most interesting research concerning the biochemistry of memory is being done by Dr. Gary Lynch, professor of neurobiology at University of California, Irvine. (See Further Reading for references on his work). His research is focused on the molecular processes of memory, specifically the role of the hippocampus and the thalamus. In discussing the mystery of memory, he says "Biological systems are homeostatic, self-correcting. Everything in your body is designed to keep you steady. But memory is a process that apparently occurs in fractions of seconds but lasts for decades." 9 The mystery, then, is what biological events are going on in milliseconds to cause changes that persist a long time.

According to Dr. Lynch, information from the outside world is translated by the nervous system into rhythmic patterns of electrical impulses. These spark within the brain a chain of chemical reactions involving the enzyme calpain. By altering the connections, or synapses, that link together the billions of neurons that constitute the human brain, these chemical processes essentially create new brain circuitry - structures is which memories are stored. 10

There seems to be no agreement so far, as to exactly how the many connections are made, retrieved, repeated, or forgotten. However; most researchers and authors distinguish between short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). I have designed tapes that work on enhancing both of these areas with excellent results.

Well-known educator and writer Margaret Matlin gives the following summary for improving memory:

1. Recall is superior if it is processed at a "deep" level, in terms of its meaning or in terms of self-reference.

2. Recall is superior if the context at recall matches the context at encoding.

3. Recall is superior when people use imagery.

4. Chunking, or combining of small units into larger units, is usually applied to STM. Grouping in terms of meaningful units or rhythmic patterns aids recall.

5. Organization is a term that is usually reserved for LTM. People spontaneously organize items in memory. Constructing a hierarchy is a particularly effective way to organize material.

6. Mediation is an internal code in which extra material is added to items to make them more memorable. Two effective mediators include (a) composing a word or a sentence based on the first letter of each item, and (b) making up a story based on the items.

7. Other mnemonic techniques include substituting one kind of symbol for another kind of symbol for another kind of symbol; rhymes; ad hoc mnemonics created to recall a particular item; and external memory aids such as lists, notes, and timers. 11

Aside from learning techniques for memorization, etc., many other processes play important roles in the creation of memory and in the whole system of human information processing. Donald A. Norman takes up the issue of how much of our learning is on a conscious level and how much is learned on a subconscious level. He says: "What is known to each of us through consciousness is only a part of what actually takes place in our minds." 12. Why do we choose to remember certain things and completely suppress other memories? The psychology of learning and memory, particularly where the emotions are concerned, is an area of great interest with no conclusive evidence as of yet. David Rapaport, Ph.D. goes into great detail about theories and research done in this field. He cites a study by Prescott ("Emotions and the Educative Process") where he and Prescott come to the same conclusion, "that in the present state of knowledge the problem of emotional influence cannot be solved by investigating the concomitant physiological processes. His conclusion: "that a continuum of affective experience exists, varying from vague feelings of pleasantness or unpleasantness up to profound experiences which greatly disturb both mental and physical functions." 13

Rapaport summarizes his findings as follows:

a. The material surveyed here suggests that the phenomenon "emotion" is primarily a conscious experience, and that its understanding can be achieved only be developing an autonomous theory of psychic dynamics rather than by investigating its physiology

b. It has been found that neither the mechanistic theories nor the energy, instinct, or conflict theories established the dynamics underlying emotions, because they failed to assume that these dynamics are unconscious.

c. On the basis of psychoanalytic theory, which takes into consideration the unconscious dynamics underlying emotions, James's theory has been modified in three respects. (a) It is assumed that an unconscious process occurs between the perception of the stimulus evoking emotion and the peripheral physiological process. (b) The peripheral physiological process and the "emotion felt" are assumed to be discharge- processes of the same instinctual source of energy; thus either may succeed the other, or they may be simultaneous, or either may be absent. (c) The emotions evoked are assumed to be expressions of instinctual conflict.

d. A new terminology may be based on MacCurdy's suggestion that the subjective experience of emotions be called "affect" and the objective manifestations "emotions." 14


Two very prominent scientists, Larry Squire of the University of California, San Diego, and Gary Goldberg of Temple University have come up with new theories regarding learning and memory.

Larry Squire talks about two types of memory, "procedural" and "declarative". The "procedural" type of memory is unemotional and stored in the hippocampus. The "declarative" memory is processed by the amygdala, a brain region that seems to link memories and emotions to discriminate importance. Declarative memories seem to be installed more quickly because they involve an enzyme process that breaks down proteins, compared to the slow protein synthesis of the procedural type. 15

Gary Goldberg synthesized the work of numerous leading scientists, specifically focusing on the so-called supplementary motor area (SMA), which sits atop each hemisphere. Its proposed function would affect our understanding of movement, mastery of skills, learning and motor disabilities, infant development, forethought and self-mastery. 16
As the technology of the computer has become more central in our lives, many researchers have drawn the analogy between computer information processing and retrieval and human information processing. Some even think that there is a definite parallel between the brain and the computer. An interesting discussion on the subject is provided by Elizabeth Loftus and I would like to take a moment to quote her: "In many ways a computer is a good analogy to human memory. Its systems - information processing and retrieval - parallel those of memory's, and the role of the programmer, both as a source of the information and as an influence that can be altered or improved, is much like a person's relationship to his or her memory. It is the computer, in fact, which offers us the best and most sophisticated model of memory's malleable nature." 17 I particularly like the word `malleable' she uses here. What comes to my mind immediately is the analogy to how I and many of my colleagues are describing the immune system "responsive". How interesting!

After many comparisons, Loftus concludes: "The central message is that the human brain and the computer data bank are finite sources. Models of human memory have frequently ignored constraints upon the amount of data which might be stored and retrieved. But the cranial cavity is clearly a space with a finite volume. To use portions of that space to store information that will never be accessed, or to fail to include provision for pruning unneeded data from time to time, or to fail to provide for the replacement of one memory item by another, would be very poor design indeed." 18

On the other hand, Donald L. Hintzman, well-known educator, points out some other interesting facts. He says: "Psychologists have tended to ignore the fact that computers and human brains originated in completely different ways".19 "While it may be true that the human brain is a computer of some kind, there is no reason to believe that it is much like the electronic digital computer with which present-day theorists are familiar". He continues: "It has been argued that since neurons fare in an all-or-none manner, the assumption has neurophysiological support - but a neuron's readiness to fire is not all-or-none, and the rate of firing appears to be continuously variable". 20

While scientists and researchers continue their exploration into neuronal activity, looking for new answers to the many facets of brain processes, there are new, state-of-the-art tools available for all of you to explore your hidden reserves and to enhance your memory processes. I'm pleased to be a part of this revolutionary unfolding of human superintelligence.

Let me take this opportunity to provide you with a few more resources for your growth processes.

In addition to the already mentioned Hemi-Sync sound system by Robert Monroe, there is the Mind Mirror, the Synchro-Energizer, and the Graham Potentializer.

The Mind Mirror was invented by G. Maxwell Gade of Great Britain. It consists of a headband of seven or eight electrodes hooked up to a grid-like screen on which you see a readout or your EEG (electroencephalogram). The idea is to use visualization, breath control, and EEG biofeedback to try to reproduce a yogi's brain state.

Dr. Denis Gorges, an Ohio psychiatrist, has combined flickering lights, pulsating sounds, and vibrating electromagnetic impulses to create the Synchro-Energizer. This method alters brain waves and brings the right and left hemispheres into synchrony.

The Graham Potentializer was invented by David Graham. It is designed to recreate the mental effects of the rolling, tumbling, and swinging games from childhood. The motion of fluid in the inner ear is said to stimulate neurons. 21

Whatever method or whichever mind-expanding machine you might decide to explore for improving your learning techniques and for enhancing your capacity to remember, I think some of the following statements from our clients, students, fellow travelers and explorers will motivate you to perhaps make some quantum leaps of your own.

From West Germany: "... increased my creativity, my memory, my reading, teaching and treating my patients. Dr. John-David's Whole Brain Learning is indeed unique for successful self-expression, self-realization and self-fulfillment." 22

From North Carolina: "One thing I'm experiencing is increased physical coordination, in terms of having more conscious control over body movements... my reflexes are incredibly fast. Not only is there a mental increase in clarity and activity, but also a physical groundedness and responsiveness. I was really worried about becoming an `egghead', but that is not happening ... There is balance." 23

So when I conduct the 5-Day Total Immersion Intensive, I now have an opportunity to take my clients to levels never before created. What we have achieved in neuroscience and specifically in accelerated learning within the last three years, is equal to the combined total of all that has been learned about learning throughout history. 10,000 years of learning have been equaled in just the last three years. Isn't that incredible?

NOTES

1. "Mobilizing `reserve energy' at Work: A Composite of Common Learning Elements", by Otto Altorfer. Journal of the Society of Accelerated Learning and Teaching, 1985, 10(4), p. 227.

2. I. McS., Toronto, Canada, J.D.L.I. file.

3. "Mobilizing `reserve energy' at Work: A Composite of Common Learning Elements", p. 228.

4. Ibid. ` p. 229-230.

5. Ibid., p. 232.

6. "Successful. Non-stressful Learning", by Stephanie Merritt, Merritt Learning Systems, San Diego, 1987, p.3.

7. "Suggestology and the Outlines of Suggestopedy", by Georgi Lozanov, p. 251. Gordon & Breach, N.Y., 1978.

8. Ibid., p. 262.

9. "Magical Memory Tour", by Janet L. Hopson interview with Dr.Gary Lynch, Psychology Today, Apt. 1984, p .30.

10. "Memory: Learning How It Works", by George Johnson. N.Y. Times Magazine, Sec. 6, Aug. 9, 1987, p. 17.

11. "Cognition", by Margaret Matlin, p. 92. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, N.Y., Chicago, 1983.

12. "Learning and Memory", by Donald A. Norman, p. 12. W.
H. Freeman & Co., S.F., 1982.

13. "Emotions and Memory", by David Rapaport, Ph.D., p. 35. International Universities Press, N.Y., 1971.

14. Ibid. ` p. 34.

15. Science 86 (July/Aug.), as reported in the Brain/Mind Bulletin, July 7, 1986.

16. Brain/Mind Bulletin, July 7, 1986. See The Behavioral & Brain Sciences 8: 567-616 on Goldberg's work.

17. "Memory", by Elizabeth Loftus, p. 171. Addison-Wesley Publ. Co., Reading, Mass., 1980.

18. Ibid., p. 177.

19. "The Psychology of Learning and Memory", by Douglas L. Hintzman, p. 414.

20. Ibid., p. 414.

21. "Mind Machines", reported by Alexis Parks, p. 127, Omni, Oct. 1987.

22. Dr. K.S., West Germany. On file at John-David Learning Institute

23. B.L., D.C., North Carolina On file at John-David Learning Institute.


FURTHER READING

"Accelerated Learning", by Colin Rose, Dell Publishing, 1985.

"How the Brain Works", by Leslie A. Hart, Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1976.

"Left Brain, Right Brain", by Sally P. Springer & Georg Deutsch, W. H. Freeman & Co. , San Francisco, Ca. , 1981.

"The Metaphoric Mind" , by Bob Samples, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. , Reading, Mass. , 1976.

"The Mind", by Anthony Smith, Viking Press, N.Y., 1984.

"Principles of Learning and Memory", by B.R. Bugelski, Prager Publishers, N.Y., 1979. Excellent and complete discussion.

"The Anatomy of Memory,", by Mortimer Mishkin and Tim Appenzeller,

"Brain Research", SALK Institute, P.O. Box 85800, San Diego, Ca. 92138

"Biochemistry of Information Storage in the Nervous System", by Ira B. Black and others; Science, 236: 1263 f,
5 June 1987.

"Effects of Maintenance Rehearsal on Human Memory", by Robert L. Greene, Psychological Bulletin 1987, vol. 102, No. 3, 403-414

"Making of a Mind", by Kathleen McAuliffe, Omni, Oct. 1985.

"Memory", Newsweek, Sep. 29, 1986, p. 48-54

"Mind Control", by Mark Teich Z Giselle Dodeles, Omni, Oct. 1987, p 53-60.

"Mind-expanding Machines", by Michael Hutchison, New Age Journal, July/Aug. 1987.


For an excellent discussion and description of STM and LTM, and other mnemonic techniques, see “Cognition" by Margaret Matlin.


See Table I in S.A.L.T. Journal 1985 (10)4 for a comparison of traditional methods of education and emerging methods of education.

See Table II in S.A.L.T. Journal (same) for list of modalities claiming access to "reserve energy".

Stay tuned for Part III!

We invite you to visit www.brainspeak.com

THE IMPACT OF SOUND ON LEARNING AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

By
John-David, Ph.D.

(From his presentation in 1987; see the previous post for details)

INTRODUCTION

It is interesting to ponder the fact that since the Universe was created, human beings have constantly been exposed to and influenced by sound(s) of various forms. Yet as far as research about sound is concerned, our current knowledge is quite limited. It is even more limited when we focus on the effects of different sounds on different areas of the body/mind or brain/mind. Yes, we have a lot of physiological data regarding the structure of soundwaves, frequencies, pitch, etc.; yet, we have relatively little information about how the human being responds to sounds.

This paper will make an attempt to analyze those effects as have been observed by me and my staff at the John-David Learning Institute during several years of experimentation, using the very latest technologically advanced sound equipment and hundreds of subjects. Our focus is specifically the areas of the learning process, both intellectual and emotional, and the complex immune system. We have also compiled references for further research and study of those fields.

PART I. WHAT IS SOUND?

Recently I have been working more with the sounds of dolphins and whales. For years I have used the sounds of whales to support self-healing and the emotional clearing of blocks that prevents us from reaching the pinnacle of self-worth and success. So far, my work is very preliminary, but my sense from measuring EEG and DEG responses is that the results seem to be very positive. Whale sounds create some very positive emotional level intensity but the actual brain apparently goes into alpha and theta states, and particularly when listening to some of the dolphin sounds, there is a greater tendency to go down into low alpha and theta. As you may be aware of, most of the research in the field of neuroscience substantiates that when you are in low alpha and theta relearning is easier. You can relearn old habits better. This state is also excellent for taking a look at body/mind and psychoneuroimmunological processes.

How do sounds that we use specifically affect the learning process? experience from our research shows that the sound patterns have a tendency to `escort the subliminal messages to the subconscious part of the brain/mind' which is excellent for relearning a message such as "everything I learn I recall easily". That kind of message played while you' re reading supports the recall process in such a way that you're relearning the habit that rather than forgetting everything you're reading you get to recall everything with high efficiency. And you're hearing those sound patterns which are assisting you in being in a low alpha-theta state; so, this is an excellent state for learning and re-learning. Let me explain further: we're bouncing the sounds for you from theta, low alpha, which is your relearning part, into mid and upper alpha, where you're actually able to retain the didactic part of the book, the cognitive information. Then we're taking you back into your lower alpha-theta state for re-learning. Now my subconscious mind is telling me it's easy to read, I'll remember everything, my teacher loves me, information is easy, I love to be intelligent, it's ok for me to be a powerful man or woman. All that kind of stuff is being reprogrammed into your brain at the same time as you're being moved into upper alpha to get the didactic information off the page. It's all happening almost simultaneously, sort of a dual process, with the sound patterns escorting and assisting you in the process. We know that certain sounds are wonderful for didactic information, certain sounds are wonderful for emotional information, and certain other bounds are wonderful for upper, mid-theta states. So, you see, there’s a different purpose for each sound. I know from 20 years of research, including anecdotal information, that this is what the sounds do.

I would like to share with you what one of our recent participants in the 5-day Total Immersion Intensive had to say: "I own and have controlling interest in at least a dozen corporations. My wealth exceeds $10,000,000. Yet, I was constantly in fear someone would discover I was dumb. My reading retention was so low I created a way for others to `read to me' to avoid discovery. Now, after the tapes and taking the workshops, I read very rapidly with 82% recall even weeks, months later. Gratefully yours." 1 This is only one example of hundreds of people who have benefited from re-learning.

Let's discuss the definition of sound for a moment. According to Charles A. Culver, Ph.D. "sound is any vibratory disturbance in a material medium which is capable of producing an auditory sensation in the normal ear." 2 Sound is produced through the motion of a wave. This wave travels with some velocity, depending on the medium. A wave transfers energy; by virtue of the energy it carries from its source to its destination, a wave can perform work. In the ear, a sound wave makes the eardrum vibrate to create the sensation of sound. These sounds pass through the various membranes and parts of the ear organ eventually reaching about 30,000 nerve endings. Electrical impulses from these cell nerve endings are transmitted to the brain, which relates the sound heard to those previously experienced and interprets the signals as words, music, noise, and so on. Anthony Smith in his book "The Mind" says, "The most baffling property of the human ear, which may also exist among animals, is its ability to single out a sound, pay attention to it, and dismiss other noise. Individuals with normal hearing can listen to just one voice, no less single-mindedly than the eye focuses upon the face pronouncing it. How this happens, to quote one author has not yet `received a satisfactory explanation'. However, it is not the ear that is discriminating, or so it is assumed; rather it is the brain that chooses to hear what it wants." 3

HOW ARE SOUNDS USED AT THE JOHN-DAVID LEARNING INSTITUTE (Now WBLI)?

If I may say so, my work is distinctive in the field of neuroscience and sound in that it is state-of-the-art in application of psychoacoustics and audio/visual suggestion.

The sounds I use were gathered from all over the world through my 20 years of international research in the field of neuroscience. These sounds are integrated into and layered by classical music, environmental sounds and a wide array of carefully articulated organic and synthesized sounds. Each individual sound group and pattern is designed to `speak' to predesignated areas of the mind governing a wide range of skills, emotions, reactions, and sensations. Most importantly, different from the motivational or subliminal-message type tapes, the sound patterns are able to bypass the resistance and filters of the conscious mind.

My definition of sound is "Any audible noise, be it music, wind blowing, dolphins `singing', or dogs barking. In other words, sound is music and music is sound. The sound patterns used at the John-David Learning Institute can be called "brain music". Let me explain: if you like the sound, it's music, and if you don't like the sound, it's sound. I have taken both organic sounds (nature's sounds) and non-organic sounds (electronically produced) and technolized them. In this way, we have been able to make organic sounds more consistent in order to have consistent impact on the listener. Furthermore, we are able to pre-designate where we want the sounds to go in the listener, that is, to speak to pre-designated areas of the brain/mind.

When I enter the recording studio, I have a large library of catalogued sounds to draw from, and, depending on the purpose of the tape series, I combine them to create a new and distinct pattern of "brain music." The affirmations are spoken under the existing tracks and become imbedded into the sound patterns, making them "subliminal." (A representative sampling of the affirmations used on the various tape sets is available.) It is possible to hook a person up to an EEG or DMG machine and get distinctive and different wave patterns. The tapes are that specific.

Through the various sounds used at the John-David Learning Institute and the tapes produced there, the mind is given a "tune-up". I believe that lots of tapes, not just our tapes, may help people to enter a relaxed state, which has been shown to activate alpha and theta states. As you may know, these states encourage endorphin releases or other biochemical responses in the brain, which, in turn, may increase performance levels, multi-tasking, memory capacity, and build self-confidence, etc. The sounds are intended to free your mind, in essence stimulate your mind to let it know that it has absolute control over the body. There is increasing evidence that the mind and the immune system of the body are intricately connected and influenced by each other. I will discuss this subject in Part III­.

"What about computer-generated music?" someone asked me not long ago. Living in a world of machines, we probably will not be able to avoid these new sounds. They may have a benefit, but should not be overdone. I think that an organic sound resonates better with the nervous system than a computer-generated sound. And, if you cannot find the specific sound you're looking for, it's ok to use a synthesizer. The danger is that it might be easier to use the sound of a synthesizer rather than spending a month gathering the exact organic sound from somewhere on the planet. I would rather take that time and find the sound I'm looking for.

EFFECTS OF MUSIC AND SOUND ON THE BODY.

There is more and more evidence emerging as to the beneficial effects of music and sound on the body. Thanks to holistically minded therapists and musicians, the scientific community is beginning to rethink the role that music can play in the mind/body healing processes.

According to a summary of research edited by M. Critchley and R.A. Henson, there are at least three neuro-physiological processes that may be triggered by music: First, because music is non-verbal, it can move through the auditory cortex directly to the center of the limbic system, the midbrain network that governs most of our emotional experience as well as basic metabolic responses like body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. Second, music may be able to activate the flow of stored memory material across the corpus callosum, a collection of fibers connecting the left and right sides of the brain, helping the two to work in harmony. And third, music may be able to excite calling agents called peptides, or stimulate endorphins, natural opiates secreted by the hypothalamus that produce a feeling akin to being in love. 4

Larry Dossey, M.D., author of "Space, Time, and Medicine" discusses an interesting phenomenon called entrainment. He suggests that our perceptions of illness, in particular, pain, are inextricably tied to our perception of time - that people who experience pain ordinarily live in a contracted or constricted sense of time. And because the time sense is restricted, the experience of pain is often magnified - far beyond what seems appropriate. Research has shown that as a listener moves into music time - a moment-to-moment phenomenon involving the flow of melody and harmony, the adjustment of timbres, and the shifting of rhythms - such physical activities as heartbeat and blood pressure begin to synchronize with that of the music. 5

Several contemporary composers have been creating music specifically designed to imitate this phenomenon of entrainment. Steven Halpern, for example, designs music with a wide-open jazz sound intended to provide a relaxing ambience for anything from driving to making love to recovering from an illness. Another composer, Don Campbell, an internationally recognized expert in psychoacoustics, has recorded music for birthing incorporating sounds that mimic a mother's heartbeat, as well as other compositions for general relaxation.

You may have heard of an interesting and often cited research study was conducted by French physician Alfred Tomatis. He claims that the ear is the primary organ of consciousness and is intended essentially to provide a charge of electrical potential to the brain. The cortex then distributes the resulting charge throughout the body. In his study on the effects of Gregorian chants, for instance, he found that high frequencies (as in Gregorian chants) appear to have the greatest recharging effect. It appears, then, that listening to Gregorian chants is a valuable and proven source of energy for the mind/ body.

I would like to acknowledge the very important work of Robert Monroe, founder of the Monroe Institute in Faber, Virginia. He has been and continues to be at the helm of using technology to break through the barriers of the mind. He believes that "focused consciousness contains all solutions to the questions of human existence." An integral part of Monroe's technology is his Hemi-Sync sound tapes Monroe has built his work on the belief that certain sound patterns create a Frequency Following Response (FFR) in the electrical activity of the brain. Those sound patterns then lead the brain into an "appropriate state," such as deep relaxation or sleep. When separate signals are fed into each ear via the headphones, the two hemispheres of the brain act in unison to hear a third signal - the difference between the two sound pulses. This third signal is not an actual sound, but an electrical signal that can only be created by both brain hemispheres acting and working together, simultaneously. 6

The sounds used on my tapes may seem to appear in a random fashion but they are all very orchestrated. Let me explain. The sounds are chosen from years of experience according to what impact they've had on people. The order in which the various sounds appear depends a great deal on the purpose of the particular tape that is being produced. It's kind of like tuning up the brain and allowing the listener to have a conscious, left-brain experience, actually `feeling' the sound going to different parts of the brain. This has a much greater impact than no feeling the sound. I believe that the more tangible an experience you can give a listener, the better. The more feedback you can have while listening to the sounds, the more you're going to listen to them. People have a tendency to stop using certain tapes because the sounds may become too much of a right-brain experience.

I'm very happy to see, and I'm sure you would agree, that music as therapy is becoming widely accepted as an adjunct form of treatment for various physical conditions such as insomnia, headaches, nervous disorders and drug addiction. Janet Lapp, Ph.D., a psychologist at California State University at Fresno conducted an experiment with migraine sufferers using relaxation training in combination with either biofeedback or music. Overall, the results were better for the music group than for the biofeedback group, especially at the one-year follow-up. "At one year," Lapp says, "the music group had only one-sixth as many headaches as they had before training and those headaches were less severe and ended more quickly." 7

It has been known for centuries that music and sounds evoke different emotions in the human being. Kate Hevner, a psychologist doing pioneering work in the 1930's, looked at the effects of many musical elements but found tempo to be the single most important factor. More recently, psychologist Julian Thayer of Pennsylvania State University has found that people's reactions to music were related consistently to its pitch and tempo, with pitch affecting pleasantness ratings and tempo affecting `activation' (ranging from tension and excitement to relaxation and sadness) ratings. It seems also that our responses to musical tempo may be liked to our body's own rhythms. Normal heart rhythm is about 70 to 80 beats per minute. Coincidentally, most Western music is paced at this tempo. 8 Through EEG's it has been shown that drumming at certain frequencies can make the brain's rhythms become synchronized to these frequencies.

Julius Portnoy, a renowned authority in the field of music and musical theory, puts it this way: "Rhythm in music is what energy is to matter, what blood is to the body". 9 And Juliette Alvin, in her book "Music Therapy", says, "The dynamic and emotional, the primitive and spiritual forces that music integrates can serve man today in the battle of the body and the mind, as they have done since time immemorial." 10

Let's take someone who believes that to be ill is a form of getting attention, or someone who believes that the only way to treat yourself is through the traditional medical mode, or someone who has a belief system that to be ill is a natural result of being 90 years ( a natural deterioration of body and mind). You then allow that person to go into a relaxed alpha or theta modality. That alone, according to all my colleagues, so reduces the stress and causes such a bio-chemical reaction in the brain/mind that a lot of medical doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists are now accepting that there is a direct connection between the alpha state, that stress-reduction state, and the immune system, that self-healing system of the body. Take this process a step further, combine the creative imaging work of wonderful people such as Louise L. Hays with alpha-theta states add to that our sound patterns, and you'll have an audible-hearable as well as a subliminal hearable combination. This, then, is where you give powerful affirmations, powerful relearning techniques for getting the person away from negative belief systems. With alpha-theta consciousness brain patterns and a body that is relaxed, stress-reduced, laughable, happy, self loving, the automatic result will be, I think based on our anecdotal research, and so do many of my colleagues, an automatic, self-healing, self-worth process. And that's how we really document our work.

NOTES:

1. F.S. On file at the John-David Learning Institute.

2. "Musical Acoustics" by Charles A. Culver, Ph.D., page 18. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1956.

3. "The Mind" by Anthony Smith, page 184. Viking Press, New York, l984.

4. "Soul Music" by Pamela Bloom, page 59, New Age Journal, March/April 1987.

5. Ibid., page 60.

6. "The Technology of Transcendence: Robert Monroe's Hemi-Sync Tapes" by Marta Vogel. Article reprint, date unknown.

7. "Music Hath Charms to Soothe a Throbbing Head", page 14, reported by Paul Chance, Psychology Today, February 1987.

8. "Music. The Beautiful Disturber", by Anne H. Rosenfeld, page 51, Psychology Today, December 1985.

9. "Music in the Life of Man", by Julius Fortnoy, page 77. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1963.

10. "Music Therapy", by Juliette Alvin, page 163. Basic Books, Inc. , New York, 1975.

FURTHER READING
For an excellent detailed description of the organ of the ear and its various parts and their functions, see "The Physics of Sound", by Richard E. Berg and David G. Stork, pages 137-9. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1982, or "The Science of Musical Sound" by John R. Pierce, chapter 7, Scientific American Library, N.Y., 1983.

"A Bibliography of Electronic Music", by Lowell M. Cross, ed. , Toronto, Canada, Univ. of Toronto Press, 1967.

"Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells", by Sinyan Shen, Scientific American, April 1987.

"Cybernetic Serendipity. the Computer. and the Arts" by Jasia Reichardt, N.Y., Praeger Publishers, 1969.

Key Notes on the Mind", by Terence Monmaney, Omni, January 1987.

"The Liberation of Sound", by Herbert Russcol, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., l972.

"Psychology of Music", by Carl E. Seashore, Ph.D., McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 1938.

"Twentieth Century Music: An Introduction", by Eric Salzman, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967.

"Twentieth Century Music", by H.H. Stuckenschmidt, McGraw-Hill, NY., 1969.

Periodicals regarding electronic music listed further on page 302 in "The Liberation of Sound", by Herbert Russcol, cited above.

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Part II Next Time!
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We invite you to visit www.brainspeak.com